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Rae Lewis-Thornton and the Crafting of a Public Persona

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Rae Lewis-Thornton and the Crafting of a Public Persona BLACK WOMEN, HIV/AIDS, AND THE MEDIA: COMMUNICATING AN EPIDEMIC IN THE HIP HOP ERA BY CAROLYN A. RANDOLPH DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communications in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Paula Treichler, Director of Research and Chair Professor Isabel Molina-Guzmán Professor Ruth Nicole Brown Professor Aisha Durham, University of Southern Florida ABSTRACT This study examines the mediated representation of HIV/AIDS and blackness. Using black feminist thought, and its organizing principles— intersectionality and the matrix of domination—this analysis investigates how race, gender, class, and disease work in concert to inform media texts by and about black women living with the virus. Furthermore, this examination employs a textual analysis of the AIDS storyline on the black situation comedy Girlfriends, the AIDS character Ana Wallace in the HBO film Life Support, and the self- representation of Rae Lewis-Thornton on her personal health blog “Diva living with AIDS.” Each text generates alternative representations of HIV-positive black women that contest familiar stereotypes and clichés. Overall, this study helps scholars better understand the various meanings and definitions surrounding black women in the contemporary AIDS epidemic. Key words: HIV/AIDS, black women, media, popular culture ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All praise belongs to God. Thank you to my committee: Paula Treichler (chair), Aisha Durham, Isabel Molina-Guzmán, and Ruth Nicole-Brown. Each is amazing and brilliant and loving in ways that make me and this dissertation better. To the collective: Celiany Rivera-Velazquez, Jillian Baez, Himika Bhattacharya, Susan Harewood, and Shoshana Magnet. Your ways of knowing and being shape me as a scholar and human being. I am forever grateful to all of you for your love, encouragement, and support. Thank you to my mother, Vera; father, James; and sisters, Joyce and Gwen. You taught me a love of God, self, and community. More importantly, you created a space for black girl genius—for thinking out loud, making mistakes, learning how to rebel, and how to receive love. I also want to thank the Kato family who welcomed me into their hearts and home, in Chicago, on a balmy summer’s night. You listened as I talked. I’d like to think that all of you were amazed by me, but it was I who was amazed by your quick wit, simple smiles, and gracious reception. I’m proud to call you my family. Lastly, I want to thank the family of my own making: my husband, Todd and son, Elliott. Todd, your humanness; however, fickle and at times demanding, is the light I need in these dark times. You kept your promise to love me—to help upon request, but not interfere in my process. You continue to keep that promise and to respect who I am as your love and enduring companion. I am in awe of the force of you. Elliott, my dear child, you are raw energy. I watch you in amazement. How could I have been so blessed to bring you into this world? You are joy. You are all. iii To the Randolph and Kato Family iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: IS THIS OUR EPIDEMIC? ...................................................................1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Several problems of representation .................................................................................... 8 Language, definitions, and terminology ..................................................................9 Under and over-representation ...............................................................................11 Politics of silence and respectability ......................................................................16 Review of literature............................................................................................................17 Communications and Media Studies .....................................................................18 Gender and Women’s Studies ................................................................................20 Africana Studies .....................................................................................................24 Theoretical framework .......................................................................................................25 Black feminist thought ...........................................................................................26 Hip hop feminism ..................................................................................................27 Intersectionality......................................................................................................29 Methodology ......................................................................................................................32 Interpretive qualitative research .............................................................................32 Textual analysis .....................................................................................................35 Overview of Chapters ........................................................................................................36 Chapter two “She stole my man” and that’s not all: The AIDS storyline on UPN’s Girlfriends ..................................................................................................37 Chapter three Communicating an epidemic: The character Ana Wallace in the HBO film Life Support...........................................................................................38 Chapter four “Diva Living with AIDS”: Rae Lewis-Thornton and the crafting of a public persona .................................................................................................39 Chapter five Epilogue ................................................................................................................40 Figures................................................................................................................................41 CHAPTER TWO: “SHE STOLE MY MAN” AND THAT’S NOT ALL: THE AIDS STORYLINE ON UPN’S GIRLFRIENDS .......................................................................42 Introduction ........................................................................................................................42 Race, gender, and the post-network era .................................................................44 Season three ...........................................................................................................48 The AIDS storyline on Girlfriends ........................................................................51 Take this poem and call me in the morning ...............................................52 Howdy partner ...........................................................................................55 The pact ......................................................................................................59 The fast track and the furious.....................................................................68 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................73 Figures................................................................................................................................77 v CHAPTER THREE: COMMUNICATING AN EPIDEMIC: THE CHARACTER ANA WALLACE IN THE HBO FILM LIFE SUPPORT ..........................................................79 Introduction ........................................................................................................................79 HIV/AIDS on television ........................................................................................84 “New era” of AIDS ................................................................................................86 HBO HIV/AIDS films ...........................................................................................88 Filming the black underclass .................................................................................91 Andrea Williams ....................................................................................................92 Finding support ......................................................................................................94 The character Ana Wallace .....................................................................................100 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................117 Figures..............................................................................................................................119 CHAPTER FOUR: “DIVA LIVING WITH AIDS”: RAE LEWIS-THORNTON AND THE CRAFTING OF A PUBLIC PERSONA .........................................................................122 Introduction ......................................................................................................................122 Rae Lewis-Thornton ............................................................................................124 The “quintessential buppie” .................................................................................128 The “diva” ............................................................................................................132 Prima donna no more: Facing HIV discrimination
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