They sleep in gymnasiums, churches, and cheap hotels. They are forced to share medications and accept each other’s differences. People of different ages and races bound together for their survival on this journey across the country. Closer To God is the quintessential American road movie. It is the story of how a group of strangers find in each other the strength and will to change the world.
This story is not just about their extraordinary journey, but where these riders come from and where they are heading. Tommy, a Native American, Vietnam Veteran, and grandfather. Mika, the homeless mother who just lost her baby to adoption. Joey, the self-proclaimed “hillbilly” whose partner was murdered because he is HIV-positive.
On the road there is joy and sadness, victory and defeat. Despite increasing illness and the loss of some riders, the caravan pushes onward. Upon reaching Washington, the members of the caravan join thousands of other similarly determined souls from all 50 states, holding five days political action featuring congressional visits, educational programs, and acts of civil disobedience. These caravan riders are part of the Campaign To End AIDS, and they are journeying to Washington to end AIDS once and for all, even if it means sacrificing themselves in the process.
Closer To God is both a validation of the valiant efforts of these caravan riders and a searing exposition of the legions of Americans who have been marginalized by our culture and forgotten by our government. People whose only real objective is to be treated as they are: human.
