Guest Blogger – Rachel Easterbrook

I spoke with Tony Radovich about the AMP, the new event series called AMP’d Up Fridays coming this month, and more.

The Beginning (The AMP)

The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway is a place for remembrance and reflection. The plaza sits in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, at the north end of Cal Anderson Park (named after Washington state’s first openly gay legislator), next to the bustling Broadway and Barbara Bailey Way. Capitol Hill is known for being “the” neighborhood for the LGBTQIA+ community and has been since the late 1970s; it only makes sense that a memorial dedicated to the local queer history lives here. The AMP has three goals: • Use public art to create a physical place for reflection and remembrance • Share stories of the epidemic and the diverse community responses to the crisis • Provide a call to action to end HIV/AIDS, stigma, and discrimination But the AMP had to start somewhere. Tony Radovich was involved with The AMP from the very beginning. 

Tony speaking at AMP’d Up Fridays

Who is Tony Radovich? Tony Radovich is a sixty-four year old queer elder fairy faggot (their words, not mine!) third generation Seattleite. (Tony uses they/them pronouns, although “any pronouns” can be used as long as they are respectful.) Tony tells me they’ve been called a troublemaker, rabble-rouser, and delusional (which we both agree can be “all good things.”) “I’ve been told the community loves me, and I try to do ‘good trouble.’” Tony Radovich is important in part because they are a queer elder of the Seattle community but also because they are a part of a founding group of community members of The AMP. My goal in speaking with Tony was to learn more about the ideas and stories behind The AMP and to learn more about their idea for the “call to action” – which led to “AMP’d Up Fridays.”

The Impetus

“My friend Paul Feldman called me up and said there was a proposal from Tom Rasmussen of the city council to set aside some money for a memorial and [he told me] what that would look like…the city approved some money and the initial project was started on that day.” Between 2015 and 2016, a Steering Committee and Community Action Group was formed. The Community Action Group included members of Seattle’s LGBTQ+ communities, “many of them having been involved in the first local responses to the epidemic” (https://theamp.org/about/).  “Everybody was dedicated, and I think it was reflective of what we wanted to do at the time. We were cast to come up with a list of people in the community who we wanted to center…to say important pieces around. We wanted to prioritize, to ensure that we capture such an integral part of the history of HIV in our city… The AMP committees worked together between 2017 and 2018 to pick a site and develop the stories that would go into the 80-page plan to guide the artistic direction of The AIDS memorial: a place not only to celebrate the queer community but to memorialize those living with HIV and those who have passed from  AIDS-related complications; something Tony felt was missing from Seattle. We talked for a moment about the history of HIV and AIDS in Seattle. The Bailey-Boushay House, with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was the first end-of-life facility for people with AIDS, and progressed to provide a continuum of care. HIV and AIDS continue to affect BIPOC communities; HIV/AIDS is not a curable condition. In 2022, there were an estimated 31,800 new HIV infections in the US. In 2025, it is less likely for HIV to progress to AIDS. But in 1995, 500,000 people had died of AIDS-related complications.  Tony just passed their 40 years of living with HIV, which is a testament to “modern medicine,” but it’s a stark reminder that HIV and AIDS are not old and bygone. Tony says something that strikes me quite hard: “I want a place where we can come together, because everybody’s mourning and everybody’s whispering but not saying anything, and we’re not coming together.”

The Present & Future (AMP’d Up Fridays)

“Art is how we decorate space; music is how we decorate time.” – Jean-Michel Basquiat (When I asked Tony my specific question, “What’s the impetus, or an inciting moment, for AMP’d up Fridays?” Tony laughs on the other end of the line, so I know the answer will be a good one!) “Every time I pass through the plaza where the big X is, I always fall upon groups of young people hovering underneath the sculpture, and they have a boombox or something, and it’s always young queer kids – and [we] intended it to be a gathering place for them, under Christopher Jordan’s sculpture, which is just beautiful. It really encapsulates the intention, and so when I see that happening organically, that gets me really excited.” The last piece of the mission statement [of The AMP] is the “Call to Action.” What better action is there than to bring the different generations together to celebrate the past, present, and future?  Tony reflects on the younger generation and the purpose The AMP can have: “We wanted to have a place where people could come and reflect and tell stories.” Grieving can look like celebration, and it certainly doesn’t have to be quiet.  “Community can be the spark to create things. Now is more prescient than ever!” Tony worked with Eddy Chavez of Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center and Aaron Carr to work out more details, including the financial and administrative ones ( which Tony and I talked about briefly). Eddy shared Tony’s vision of a multi-generational community coming together (no puns intended here, this is a family-friendly place!) and celebrating through music. (Tony acknowledged they can’t take ownership for every idea – shout out to Eddy and Aaron!) The purpose of AMP’d Up Fridays is simple: it is an invitation to the community of Seattle to join us; come together, see what’s going on. “I can’t imagine walking down the street on Broadway and there not being something magical happening!” Bonus Content I asked Tony three (3) final “personal” questions. What do you want the (non-queer) people of Seattle to know about the queer (LGBTQIA+) people of Seattle? “We are vibrant, we are diverse, we are young, we are old. To find words that encapsulates such a rich history…I don’t know how else to answer that!” What or who are some of your favorite music artists/groups? Arthur Russell, Sylvester, and Ofra Haza. Anything else you want to say? “ACT UP, Fight AIDS” and “Keep Good Trouble”

Rachel is an Indiana defector, now residing in Seattle. Her favorite music is anything with a good beat or bass line, and her favorite foods are most of them. This is her first blog post, which she’s very excited about! :3 My Instagram is: @r.m.e.93