Mike Frisch

Background: Mike is a Quaker who is knowledgeable about non-violent demonstration. 

Role in ACT UP: Mike is one of the civil disobedience trainers.

Groups/friends at the meeting: The civil disobedience trainers

Specific tasks at the March 13, 1989 meeting: From minute 4:10 to 18:28 of the video entitled ACT UP Pre-Action Meetings on this page, Mike Frisch and Gregg Bordowitz are leading a civil disobedience training (Mike is the leader with a mustache and glasses). Together with Amy Bauer and the rest of the civil disobedience trainers, Mike and Gregg will lead a similar exercise during the March 13, 1989 meeting.

Mike is also on the agenda later with Gregg Bordowitz to explain the Wave structure of civil disobedience:

- Announce that a pre-action meeting will take place on Thursday at 7:30pm

- All affinity groups planning to engage in civil disobedience should attend, or at least send a representative

- At Target City Hall, the Wave structure will work as follows: At 7:30am, the demonstration starts with pickets forming. Affinity group members should find their support person. At 8am, the first affinity group will do their action, then the second affinity group will go at 8:15am, then the third affinity group will go (adjusting as necessary based on how the previous actions have gone).

- We don’t need to know (and don’t even want to know) what your specific actions will be, but we need to know approximately where it will take place so we can coordinate press and video, and so everything doesn’t happen (and everyone doesn’t get arrested) all at once.

- Distribute a Direct Action Guideline Sheet