On this World Aids Day, we look at the legacy of a Nashville advocate for those living with HIV
by LATONYA TURNER for WPLN’s This is Nashville
DECEMBER 1, 2022
Much has changed about AIDS since the days when most who were infected died. And the stigma was real. Now, HIV can be treated and prevented. But there’s still work to do, which is why local artist and health educator Cynthia Harris wrote the play, “The Calling is in the Body.”
The play is based on her experience as a teenager in Nashville, when she met a brave advocate who was working to stop the spread of HIV by going public with her own status.
“It’s a hero story,” Harris says. “It’s my thank you to a woman who did something very brave and that we look at as our patron saint of radical visibility.”
She is a self-described Writer/ Performance Artist/ Dancer/ Activist/ Health Educator/ and proud southerner. A natural sign watcher, very much in tune with her surroundings, Ms. Harris finds it almost impossible not to hear the stories hovering around people. Growing up in a multi-talented family, she always felt at peace pursuing her creative interests. However when it came time to choose a career, Cynthia chose to focus on her parallel interest in health and graduated from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University with a BS in biology in 1999. Her subsequent work in the field of women’s reproductive health research fed her appreciation for the analytical and gave her the opportunity to study human behavior, leading her to not only be a vocal advocate for women’s health issues, but to create stories of empowerment.
Ms. Harris developed her weaving voices technique as she deepened her understanding of the intersection of performance art and public health. In 2017, Ms. Harris completed her Master of Public at Tennessee State University. In 2018, How to Catch a Flying Woman premiered and was commissioned in 2019 by Nashville Public Library. In 2022, The Calling is in the Body debuted with Actors Bridge Ensemble.
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