User:Araceli95/gap analysis

Kia Labeija

 * What is the title of the article in which you identified a gap. If no article exists at all, what should the title be?

Kia Labeija
 * Document the gap you found, describe how you identified it, and analyze its impact on knowledge.

I came across a knowledge gap in Wikipedia when I attempted to do a quick internet search on the artist and HIV/AIDS activist, Kia Labeija, and realized that there wasn’t a page providing information on her. The convenience of having a page with detailed information on an individual on a database like Wikipedia is how accessible it is to the public. In this case, since there isn’t a Wikipedia page on Kia Labeija to visit most individuals will not take the time to do further research on her and miss out on the contributions she has made as a feminist. A knowledge gap is created in the sense that Kia Labeija is an unknown representative of being a queer artist who is a woman of color, but also an important activist for promoting HIV/AIDS awareness considering she is a person who has lived her whole life with the HIV virus. The gap that Wikipedia creates by not providing information on Kia Labeija also causes erasure of people of color, especially women of color, who have lived their lives with the HIV virus or AIDS. Since there isn’t any information of Kia Lebeija on Wikipedia then the public cannot read about how the artist has contributed to the HIV/AIDS community with their art. In fact, without any information on Kia Lebeija it denies the public of being knowledgeable and aware of a queer female artist who creates art based on her history with the HIV virus and the media which she uses to express herself.


 * Propose a paragraph of new or substantially edited content based on reliable sources. (If you are editing existing content, post the current version along with your edited version, and clearly mark which is which.)

Kia Michelle Benbow or Kia Labeija as she is artistically known is considered to be a U.S. contemporary artist who chooses to use photography, mostly self-portraits, as well as dancing performances, and installations as a way to communicate and advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness and to challenge the stigma surrounded people who live with the virus.

Kia Labeija was born in 1990 and has lived her whole life in New York City’s Midtown district Hell’s Kitchen. Born from an unfortunate incident of incest and rape, Kia Labeija was born being HIV positive. Though it wasn’t until 1993 when the artist was three years old that she and her mother were actually diagnosed with the virus. For ten years her mother was an activist for HIV/AIDS awareness until she developed health complications and died. Growing up with the virus and with the memory of a mother who had dedicated her remaining life to educating people on HIV/AIDS influenced Kia Labeija to do the same, but through art.

In college she was hired to work in Webster Hall where she gradually became familiar with the night life and eventually got involved with the performances. In time she became a voguer for the House of Labeija where she changed her surname to Labeija. Her education consists of being an Alumnus of Juilliard School as well as Ailey School where she practiced music and dance. She is also a graduate of New School University with a BA in the Arts.

Her debut series is a set of three self-portraits that she titled “24” in reference to her age when she created the piece and the amount of years she has lived in her New York apartment that features in her photographs. With her series she hopes to share her story and empower people, especially women of color as well as children who have remained invisible during the discussion of those affected with HIV/AIDS.


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