She's Positive

She’s Positive uncovers the hidden truth about the HIV epidemic in America by sharing the inspiring stories of Black women whose voices have previously been erased.


Despite the profound impact that HIV has had on Black life, the stories of African American women and their relationship with HIV have been systematically neglected. Even during unprecedented and challenging times, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic and social reckoning over racial injustice, the world has failed to notice the overlapping crises unfolding in Black communities in the United States.


She’s Positive reveals the often-invisible burden of racism and disease by featuring the voices of Black women who experience it every day. Using a combination of personal stories and photography, Thurka Sangaramoorthy centers African American women’s voices and journeys of finding meaning and community in the face of persistent violence and trauma. The book includes ethnographic research, oral history interviews, and portraits with numerous women in the Washington, D.C., area over eight years, showing how the afterlife of an epidemic still intimately and publicly shapes Black women’s lives. It reveals how the prevailing history of AIDS is embedded in white supremacy, erasing the disease’s continued and devastating impact on Black communities.


Presenting a firsthand perspective on Black women’s significant contributions to the cultural history of AIDS, She’s Positive highlights the radical moments of care, love, and determination that enable the afterlives of Black women living with HIV.