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Tenacious, selfless, inspiring fighter
for HIV-AIDS awareness
By
AMANDA BROUSSARD
She appears to have it all together while wearing
top-of-the-line clothing and accessories and having had a very
successful political career, serving as the national deputy
youth director for Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign as
well as participating in Carol Moseley-Braun’s U.S. senatorial
campaign.
Lewis-Thornton was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 at the
tender age of 23 after she donated blood and received a letter
that she thought was a thank-you letter, but was actually
telling her that something was wrong with her blood.
Lewis-Thornton went to The Red Cross and was diagnosed
with HIV. She was diagnosed with AIDS about four years later.
During the time that Lewis-Thornton was diagnosed, AIDS was new
and the majority of people knew very little about it.
She does not know who infected her and says that it really
does not matter because she made the decision to have sex, so
she has to deal with it.
Lewis-Thornton has a very straightforward approach about
her disease: “If I woulda shoulda means nothing in this world
because this is the only life I got. At the end of the day, the
best that I have going for me is to die with a little bit of
dignity.”
When asked how she felt about Lewis-Thornton’s attitude,
Sydney Silverthorne, a junior nursing major said, “At first I
thought she was too straightforward, but then I thought it was
refreshing.”
Lewis-Thornton held a Q&A session with the students at
One of the most popular subjects was her personal life.
Students wanted to know if Lewis-Thornton was still sexually
active, if she had children, if she was open about her illness
and how she dealt with her illness personally.
She was very open with her responses, often showing
frustration about how polite the students were with their
questions. Lewis-Thornton has decided not to be sexually active,
has no children and is very open about her illness.
She said, “I am not confused, God is in control. God kept
me here long enough to benefit from medical science.”
Lewis-Thornton not only believes in physical and spiritual
health, but places a large emphasis on mental health.
Kris Hopkins, a senior nursing major, said, “I liked that
Rae spoke about mental health and depression because help is
key.”
Lewis-Thornton said she has no children, so she helped
raise other people’s children.
One of the women she has helped to raise is Taisha Green,
a sophomore communicative science and disorder major at When asked to describe Lewis-Thornton with three adjectives, Green said she is “Tenacious, selfless, and an inspiration.” Lewis-Thornton said that her speeches are about “The Psychology of AIDS because it is a preventable disease. The context doesn’t matter; you can’t take back the sex.” Broussard is a student at the Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.
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