ABSTRACT

This paper explores the lived experiences of former NBA player Magic Johnson, and the late ‘Godfather of Gangsta Rap’ Eazy E to examine how their everyday realities as Black men with different socio-economic opportunities around the Civil Rights era affected their fight against HIV. Johnson contracted HIV nearly 30 years ago, and continues to live a healthy, productive life. Eazy E on the other hand, contracted the virus around the same time and later succumbed to AIDS. The differences in the lived experiences of the two men warrant scholarly attention, particularly now amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Their differences in social position, stemming from the uneven inequities of the culture and racialization of poverty, much like the wider global epidemic of HIV/AIDS itself, are crucial in the spread and survival rate of those that contract HIV. Overall, then, this paper aims to address the following research question: how do social issues of space and racialized poverty affect the lived experiences of African Americans with HIV? This paper will examine the production of social space and spatial structural violence, as well as racialized poverty, and their effects on likelihood of infection and survival of HIV and infectious disease more broadly.

摘要

本文探讨了前NBA球员魔术师约翰逊（Magic Johnson）和已故的“帮派说教教父（Gangsta Rap）的教父” Eazy E的生活经历，以研究他们在民权时代身为具有不同社会经济机会的黑人的日常现实状况如何影响他们与艾滋病的斗争。约翰逊在30年前感染了艾滋病毒，并继续过着健康，多产的生活。另一方面，Eazy E大约在同一时间感染了病毒，后来死于AIDS。这两个人生活经验的差异值得学术关注，尤其是在Covid-19大流行期间。由于文化不平等和贫困种族化造成的社会地位差异，就像更广泛的全球艾滋病毒/艾滋病本身流行一样，对于感染艾滋病毒的人的传播和存活率至关重要。因此，总的来说，本文旨在解决以下研究问题：空间和种族贫困的社会问题如何影响非洲裔美国人感染艾滋病的生活？本文将更广泛地研究社会空间和空间结构性暴力的产生，以及种族化的贫困，以及它们对艾滋病毒和传染病的感染和生存可能性的影响。