Political Notebook: Recalling Harvey Milk’s B.A.R. political column

On the morning of November 27, 1978, both the city and the nation were shocked to learn of the assassinations of San Francisco progressive politicians Harvey Milk and George Moscone inside City Hall. Forty-seven years later, the anniversary of their untimely deaths is falling on the Thanksgiving holiday.

The annual vigil in their honor hosted by the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday evening. It will begin with remarks at Harvey Milk Plaza, the parklet above the Castro Muni station at Castro and Market streets, followed by a candlelight march to 575 Castro Street where Milk operated his Castro Camera shop.

That day of the week also coincides with the current publication day for the Bay Area Reporter. Back in the 1970s, Milk had penned a column for the then semimonthly now weekly LGBTQ newspaper to opine on politics both local and national. Called “Milk Forum,” the pioneering gay civil rights leader filed 102 columns under his byline between October 2, 1974 and November 22, 1978.

He had continued the column even after making history in the November 1977 election by winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. In doing so, Milk became the first LGBTQ person elected to public office in both the city and state of California.

After being sworn into his District 5 seat that ran from the Haight through the Castro and over to Noe Valley, Milk worked closely with Moscone, then the mayor, to push forward groundbreaking LGBTQ laws and other reforms. He was a firm believer in the power of civic engagement and citizen organizing to achieve political goals.

That sentiment is reflected in his column published in the 1974 Thanksgiving issue of the B.A.R. (Back then the paper came out on Wednesdays, so it was dated November 27 that year.) With an emphasis on neighbors coming together and organizing politically to assist one another, its theme mirrors the breaking of bread and finding of common ground by friends and family, whether chosen or blood relatives, taking place at Thanksgiving dinner tables across the Bay Area and the country Thursday.

In light of this week’s paper coinciding with the annual observance of Milk’s passing, the Political Notebook column is reprinting the Milk Forum that originally ran in the November 27, 1974 edition. A digital version of that day’s paper is available via the Internet Archive, one of the online repositories for archival issues of the B.A.R. from May 1971 through July 2005.

In his column, Milk refers to the political dynasties of the late Republican president Richard Nixon and the late Democratic San Francisco mayor Joseph Alioto, who led the city from 1968 to 1976. It was subtitled "Vox clamantis," the Latin phrase for "a voice crying."

With the midterm elections of 2026 fast approaching, Milk’s clarion call for citizens to pay attention to who is representing them in the halls of power rings as true today as it did when first published 51 years ago. As he urged back then, be sure to register to vote to hold the powers that be and those who want to serve accountable to the needs of the people they represent.

Milk Forum
Vox clamantis…
by Harvey Milk

At some time in the remote past, a cry went out and man began to come to the aid of his fellow man. As the race grew, man formed into units. Into nations. Somewhere in the process, man lost touch with his unit...his neighbor. He belonged to the nation. He was lost in the mob and out of that grew the Nixons, the Aliotos. Man’s needs on a local level were lost to the needs of the nation. Man’s cries were no longer heard. Things got worse. The problems of the nation, of the state, of the city got worse. Man was stepped on. His cry was not heard as the powerful grabbed whatever they could. Then someone remembered. They remembered the unit.

“Block by block until we drive from office all who are unresponsive.” The cry has gone out. Everyone will claim that he or she was the first to raise the cry. That is meaningless, except to the ego of those who want to be the first. What is important, is that the cry is out: “block by block.” It is starting in many areas of the city: Bernal Heights, the Haight, Castro and on and on....Neighborhood by neighborhood. The only way that the city of man will be heard is to reform the unit. Unit by Unit...until all are linked together. Only then will City Hall understand man’s needs.

Many in the city have been doing it for some time. Many groups are already formed. All are being formed for one reason: To take City Hall away from the politicians and return it to the people. You too can help...in fact you must help in order for it to work. Each person should help to organize his or her own block into a unit. No bigger. No outside help. No outside “know-how.” Each block in this city has people who are intelligent enough themselves to know what to do. Appoint yourself temporary block leader...talk to everyone on your block. Call small meetings...large meetings...talk over what you feel your block and you want from city hall. Make sure all are registered to vote. Make sure all who move into your block join and get registered. Give your block a name: the 3400 block of 15th street, whatever. Start to write letters to the candidates for mayor. Tell them how many people reside in your block. Tell them what your unit wants. Tell them what your unit wants in the way of government... start it now. Keep your block unit together and DO NOT COMMIT YOURSELVES TO ANY CANDIDATE NOW...make them all aware of your unit’s needs...make them come to you and not for you to jump on their bandwagon.

If the government is ever going to be returned to the people, it will only be returned when the people demand it. It will be so stated when the people throw off the political machines, the public relations’ speeches and the crumbs thrown to keep you quiet...it will come when each and everyone of you forms your block into a unit. 2,000 blocks. Each must stay within its own. Each must not try to sway others to think their way. Each must remain active. Each must let their presence be known to city hall. Each must speak out.

It is almost an impossible task. As long as it remains impossible, the Aliotos’ will control our lives, and the police will continue to arrest you for obstructing the sidewalk... (someone else was arrested on a recent Monday at 2 am and there were all of five people on the street). The only way city hall will get the message is not through talks with leaders, but in the numbers of units we form. Go out and form your unit...your block. It is for your own protection...that is what the caveman learned to do...we must learn from him. His forming into units beat back the wild animals. We must also beat back those who prey upon us. Unit by unit. Block by block. Start today with your next door neighbor. “Until we drive from office all who are unresponsive.”

Political Notes, the notebook's online companion column, will return Monday, December 8.

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Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected].