This week, the media world is mourning the lack of Ananda Lewis, a former media powerhouse and activist who made house for Black women to be sensible, trendy, and unapologetically themselves on display. As beforehand reported by theGrio, Lewis had been battling breast most cancers for years, and on June 11, her household confirmed that she handed away at 52.
“I liked laborious and lived loud and didn’t again away from issues,” Lewis instructed Kelley Carter in 2024 when requested how she wished to be remembered. “[That I] liked this life and was okay with letting it go, too. It’s a short lived state of affairs, so do your finest; that’s all we’re all doing is our greatest.”
And her love and the legacy she constructed with it would actually be remembered. Lewis was a cultural mainstay, providing a blueprint for what it meant to shine in entrance of the digital camera with out compromising your values. Her rise from “Teen Summit” to MTV to outspoken advocate confirmed a era of Black viewers that media may very well be a spot the place we not solely existed however thrived.
“Ananda Lewis was actually a media blueprint in so some ways— on-air correspondent, host, mannequin, activist. She was the knowledgeable It Woman of her period. Such an inspiration,” one consumer tweeted.
Tributes have been pouring in not simply from followers, however from her inside circle and friends throughout industries. From her longtime finest pal Stephanie Elam to AJ Calloway, Kelly Rowland, DL Hughley, and plenty of extra, individuals are taking to social media to replicate on what Lewis meant to them and the tradition.
“She was good power and pleasure. She was fiercely loyal and deeply loving. She was an superior mom, a devoted auntie to my daughter, a giving human and he or she was my finest pal for two-thirds of our lives,” Elam wrote on Instagram reflecting on how the 2 met at Howard College at simply 17 and 18 years outdated. “Her first day on the air on MTV, I used to be there – simply off digital camera – to cheer her on. She was there for me for each birthday, once I obtained divorced, when my Dad died and on 9/11 in NYC once I couldn’t get residence. We had been there for one another within the huge moments and the quiet on a regular basis ones – the no make-up mommying days and our annual “framily” traditions with our youngsters – which we by no means missed.”
“I’m so glad she’s not in ache however I’m not fairly certain tips on how to life this life with out her,” she concluded the tribute submit.
“She was the queen of the campus with out ever needing a crown. Clever, fierce, and effortlessly stunning straight outta the West Coast, humble but a boss,” “106 & Park” alum, AJ Calloway, captioned an Instagram submit honoring the “coolest pal” he had at Howard College. “She introduced a definite voice and unmatched power that made the world cease and take discover…We’ve misplaced an excellent, stunning soul far too quickly.”
Journalist Jemele Hill mirrored on the primary time she met Lewis, shortly after she moved to Los Angeles, and particularly recalled how full circle it felt assembly the“Teen Summit” host: “She was my huge sister in my head again then and I used to be form of nervous once we frolicked. I simply couldn’t imagine I used to be hanging out with THEE ANANDA LEWIS.[…] RIP, Ananda. Thanks for all the time dwelling comfortably in your pores and skin and thus giving us permission to stay comfortably in ours.”
From her days anchoring “Teen Summit,” to redefining cool at MTV, to holding house as a chat present host and later utilizing her platform as a well being and wellness advocate, Ananda Lewis embodied a grounded brilliance that made you are feeling seen. Her presence was all the time a reminder: you didn’t should dim your mild to guide with reality.
And that mild received’t be forgotten.
