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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING RAE LEWIS-THORNTON, AUTHOR
WHEREAS, Rae Lewis-Thornton is an ordained Minister, Emmy Award winning AIDS activist and renowned Social Justice Advocate, Author, Award Winning Blogger, Social Media Expert, Jewelry Designer and Tea Connoisseur. RLT has been living with HIV for 38 years and AIDS for 30; and
WHEREAS, Rae received national acclaim for her story of living with HIV/AIDS in a cover story Facing AIDS, for Essence magazine December 1994 issue. With this cover story, Rae is credited with changing the face of HIV/AIDS for Black women in America. Rae received the National Association of Black Journalists Award Second place in print for Facing AIDS. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has requested to catalogue her groundbreaking Essence magazine cover; and
WHEREAS, Rae has published three books: Unprotected: A Memoir, The Politics of Respectability and Amazing Grace Letters Along My Journey and has been featured in countless magazines and National news, radio and talk shows, such as, CNN, Nightline, The Oprah Winfrey Show, HLN, BET, NPR, WGN, Glamour, O-The Oprah Magazine, Woman's Day, Essence, Jet, Ebony, Emerge, Black Excellence, Heart and Soul, Poz and The Crisis, as well as many newspaper outlets, including The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-times, to name a few; and
WHEREAS, RLT has become a pioneer in social media as a way to educate and challenge stigma around HIV/AIDS and to promote issues of health and wellness. Her integrated use of social media has gained her national acclaim. She was featured on BET News, and in a cover story for the Chicago Tribune, which was picked up by the Associated Press on her savvy use of social media. RLT's award winning blog Diva Living with AIDS has had unprecedented success. She has received the following Social Media awards, CBS Most Valuable Blogger in Health and Wellness, The British Academy of Tweet Award in Public Se...
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