Who Was…? biography series for middle grade fascinates with the story of Harvey Milk who was one of the first openly gay men to run for and win an elected position in the US, and who advocated for gay rights in San Francisco, California.
Harvey Bernard Milk (1930-1978) was born on Long Island, New
York. Both his parents came from Jewish families who came from Lithuania.
Harvey’s father followed the traditional rules of their faith. His mother
wasn’t as strict about the rules. What mattered to her was - tikkun olam –
helping to fix the world. Thus, she volunteered in projects helping to feed the
poor.
Harvey was outgoing, liked making people laugh, loved being
the center of attention, full of energy, bit of a troublemaker.
He was proud of being Jewish but he didn’t like the religious
rules. He believed in having a choice.
When he was eleven, he fell in love with opera while
listening to it on the radio. He even pretended to be a conductor while
listening to it.
At fourteen, he went to opera in NYC and discovered different
kinds of people. He saw men being attracted to men but he wasn’t ready to
reveal it.
He didn’t know what he wanted to study after High School, so
he followed his parents’ advice to become a teacher. He kept himself busy
during his college years. He wasn’t good enough in sports to join a team but he
still practiced different disciplines, became a coach and joined the newspaper
staff to write about sports. Later, he started writing about other subjects
that mattered to him, like discrimination within fraternities and sororities.
He also liked the idea of having an important role at the
college. So he ran for treasurer and tried to join one of the school’s honor
societies. He lost in both, but this was a good practice for him to teach him
about persistence with his determination.
After graduating from college, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to
teach and it was a time of the Korean War. So he joined the navy.
He was sent to Officer Candidate School to learn how to
become the navy’s future leaders. At school, he discovered that he liked
deep-sea diving.
In 1953, he was sent to a naval base in San Diego, CA. During
his free time, he visited gay bars, not that it was safe to do it.
In 1955, after four years in the navy, he was honorably
discharged. When he returned to NY, at twenty-six, he got his first job as a
teacher. Even though, he was a good teacher, he wasn’t sure he wanted to do
this for the rest of his life.
After only one year in teaching, he left the position with
his partner and moved to Dallas, Texas. Eventually, he got a job at an
insurance company, but that got boring to him. This led him to moving to
different places: Puerto Rico, Miami, then back to NY where he got a job at
Wall Street. But the position at Wall Street wasn’t exciting for him.
He continuously searched for something he’d feel passionate
about. Around 1964 when he met a theater director and composer named Tom
O’Horgan, he spent the nights at the theater and sometimes on stage.
In 1972, he moved to San Francisco where he was introduced to
a more open culture. People weren’t afraid to show who they were.
In 1973, he opened a store with his partner where they
developed pictures. This led him to being pro-active in challenges that life
was sending him. And that further led him to run for a city supervisor as he
felt that there was still discrimination against gay people, and also against
people of color.
He wasn’t elected but that didn’t discourage him from being
proactive with challenges. He joined forces with Allan Baird who represented
Teamsters worker union.
Allan wanted beer delivery businesses to join union. Harvey
agreed to help in exchange for union hiring gay people. Harvey with his friends
created a boycott and won all companies except one.
Harvey’s shop became a place to go if you were new to the
city. Harvey helped people to find a place to live and work. He got a nickname
the mayor of Castro Street (from the street where his shop was located at).
He decided to run for a city supervisor again and lost again,
but with each attempt he was gaining support of other groups. At his third
attempt in 1977, he won.
He wanted to make sure that there were affordable places to
live. He saved a library in his district from being closed. He fought against
Proposition 6, which wanted to prevent gay people from working in public
schools in California, and won.
His life was cut short. On November twenty-seven, 1978 he was
shot by a former colleague.
He spent less than a year in office, but people still
remember him and what he was able to accomplish in such a short time.
This biography exemplifies a man who didn’t know what he
wanted to do in life. Thus, he constantly tried different things to find out
what he was passionate about. Nothing would hold him back, even a prestigious
job at Wall Street.
Source: Penguin Workshop, 2020
TRENDING INSPIRATION: “If you are not personally free to be
yourself in that most important of all human activities – the finding of love –
then life itself loses its meaning.” – Harvey Milk
“Hope will never be silent.” – Harvey Milk
“I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have
tasted.” – Harvey Milk
Traits:
·
From young age, he was taught to help others. It was
engrained in him as part of tikkun process he was taught by his mother.
·
He was full of energy and throughout his life he used his
energy well. As soon as he found something being boring to him, he’d move to
his new venture which eventually led him to his passion – speaking out for
human rights and taking action.
·
He was proud of being Jewish but he didn’t like the religious
rules. He believed in having a choice. For him it was more important to be a
good human being and of service to others rather than following some strict
rules.
·
He kept himself busy during his college years. Even though,
he wasn’t good in sports, he still practiced different disciplines, became a
coach and joined the newspaper staff to write about sports. He used his college
years well, not just studying theory but also finding out in practice what he
liked to do.
·
He ran for treasurer and tried to join one of the school’s
honor societies. He lost in both, but this was a good practice for him to teach
him about persistence with his determination.
·
He joined the navy before getting his first job as a teacher at
twenty-six. Even though, he was a good teacher, he wasn’t sure he wanted to do
this for the rest of his life. So he quit.
·
He moved to a few different places and tried different
vocations but none of them was exciting to him. Eventually, he moved to San
Francisco where he opened a shop and became known as the mayor of Castro Street.
·
His college years gave him a good preparation for rejections
he received when trying for political positions. His life was cut short as he
was assassinated. He spent less than a year in office, but people still
remember him and what he was able to accomplish in such a short time.
FURTHER INSPIRATION AND RECOMMENDATION:
Tikkun Olam stands for “repairing the world,” and is a central Jewish concept emphasizing active human responsibility to improve the world.
If you’d like to get a better understanding
what tikkun is about and use the wisdom of Kabbalah for personal growth and abundance,
this is very well explained by David Ghiyam on his podcast under his name
@DavidGhiyam
His courses of Your Infinite Soul (1,2,3) are
excellent tools for understanding what Kabbalah is about or rather
understanding yourself. Each course is based on pay what feels right. You can
pay only $1 and get access that can have a profound change on your life. If it
ends up being not right for you, you only lose $1 or $3 in total if you take
all three courses, but at least you’ll know that you tried something new and
different – something that Harvey Milk would embody.
Also, Harvey Milk was full of energy and he
naturally knew how to use his energy, so it wouldn’t become stagnant. Many
people get stuck or feel blocked, it’s because the energy flow is stopped.
Instead being a conduit of energy, letting it flow like a river.
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