At 29, Kennedi Lowman was thriving. A respected medical lab scientist working at a hospital in Atlanta, she had built a promising career in healthcare.
But everything changed after a routine blood donation. A voicemail from the American Red Cross urged her to call back immediately—a message she instinctively understood, yet dreaded. As a healthcare worker, she knew the signs.
The news: she was HIV-positive.
“I remember thinking, ‘What is wrong with me?’” Kennedi tells Madamme Noir. “I had a sinus and respiratory infection and norovirus. Looking back, I now understand those were early symptoms.”
She believes she contracted the virus in 2015. But rather than being the end of her story, that diagnosis became the start of her transformation.
From Silence to Sisterhood
In the two years following her diagnosis, Kennedi lived in silence, telling only her sisters. She struggled with shame, believing myths that she was unlovable, infertile, and broken. That internalized stigma eventually gave way to a powerful realization: if she didn’t see stories like hers being told, she would become the person to tell them.
On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2018, she went public with her diagnosis.
“I didn’t see young Black women in Atlanta living with HIV talking about it,” she explained. “So I became that person.”
What followed was the founding of LOTUS—Loving Ourselves Through Unity and Strength—a national support network for cisgender women living with HIV. Based in Atlanta, the organization addresses a glaring oversight in the public health conversation: the erasure of women like her.
“It’s like the world looks at everyone else living with HIV except for cisgender women,” she says.
Through LOTUS, Kennedi fosters community. Whether it’s holding space for women to cry, checking in with a newly diagnosed student, or organizing peer support, she is there.
“Support is everything,” she says. “It can change someone’s life.”
Living—and Thriving—as a Long-Term Survivor
As the country recognizes National HIV Testing Day on June 27, Kennedi reflects on what it means to live—and thrive—as a long-term survivor.
“In the 1980s, people were told they had two weeks to live. If you made it past that, you were a survivor,” she says. “Now, I’ve made it eight years. When I meet women who’ve lived with HIV for 15 or 20 years, I think—I’m going to make it, too.”
Kennedi now lends her voice to national conversations on HIV care equity through her role on the HIV Health Equity Task Force at the Morehouse School of Medicine’s Satcher Health Leadership Institute. Her work ensures Black women are no longer left out of the dialogue.
Reclaiming Pleasure, Power, and Protection
One of Kennedi’s greatest missions is dismantling the myths that limit women living with HIV, especially the belief that they are no longer “allowed” to enjoy healthy, sexual relationships.
“There are plenty of serodiscordant relationships—where one partner is HIV-positive and the other is not,” she says. “I’m not putting myself in a box.”
Living with HIV has taught her to advocate—for her health, her joy, and her pleasure:
“If you’re not walking away from sex feeling seen and satisfied, maybe that experience wasn’t for you. Or maybe it’s time to speak up about what you need.”
She wants Black women to know they deserve both pleasure and protection, whether they are HIV-positive or negative. That empowerment extends beyond the bedroom.
Her Message: “You Don’t Have to Carry This Alone”
Kennedi recalls meeting a woman at her first community event who couldn’t even say the word “HIV.” That same woman, through support and encouragement, went on to get her GED, purchase a home, and now leads healthy relationship workshops.
“She built herself up,” Kennedi said. “And I got to witness that transformation.”
To women who are newly diagnosed, she offers clear advice:
“Find your people. Get support. You don’t have to carry this alone.”
And to women who are HIV-negative?
“Use your voice. Know your worth. Get tested. And always demand the care and pleasure you deserve.”
Level Up Your Self-Love: Get Tested
Observed annually on June 27, National HIV Testing Day is a nationwide call to action that reminds everyone of the power of knowing your status. This year’s theme, “Level Up Your Self-Love: Check Your Status,” emphasizes that caring for yourself starts with understanding your health.
Whether you’re positive or negative, Kennedi Lowman’s journey reminds us all of a powerful truth: living with HIV is not the end of a story—it can be the start of something life-affirming.
“Life is for the living,” she says. “And I’m gonna live it.”
Need a test? Find free, confidential HIV testing near you: gettested.cdc.gov.
