From Right to Left:
Christopher Sandoval, Alan Pughe, Marta Segovia Ashley, Jacqueline Peoples, Alfredo Cavillo, Don Carlson, Reggie Williams, Robert Henderson
Photography by Judi Iranyi
In 1985, Shanti Project formed an Affirmative Action committee in order to address the lack of outreach done to communities of color on the part of the organization. This committee was one of the first attempts by Shanti to address the issues of race and gender, and to a lesser extent class, when it came to their staff and volunteer base. But, it wouldn’t be until 1989 with the hiring of Eric Rofes as executive director that a thorough, intense, and controversial move to actively not just “address” issues of embodied differences like race and gender; but to alter aspects of Shanti’s internal belief system that could be deemed as inaccessible to marginalized populations of PWAs who were/are people of color and women of all races. This process was known as The Multicultural Plan, one of the most challenging eras of Shanti’s history, and will be expanded on in the future of this exhibit.
But, before The Multicultural Plan between 1989-1992, there was Shanti’s efforts to build an affirmative action committee and do joint events with organizations like Black and White Men Together. While Shanti was heavily criticized by the local media and members of the LGBT community in San Francisco for its lack of representation in its staff and board; Shanti was also recognized as one of the few AIDS organizations that consistently made efforts to address its limitations. With this particular committee, at least four members left Shanti with hard feelings and in the midst of what was known as “The Jim Geary Scandal” shared their negative experiences with the media.
