Awesomely Luvvie » AIDS

iRock the Red Pump

Luvvie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States. This is this year’s theme for National Women and Girls’ HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD). Created by the Office of Women’s Health, NWGHAAD is March 10th of every year. Its goal is to serve as a day for women to come together to encourage dialogue and educate women and girls about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and its increasing impact.

I am proud to be the co-founder of The Red Pump Project and one of the people “Rocking the Red Pump” to commemorate this day with millions of other women across the country.

I “Rock the Red Pump” because:

• Black women make up 66% of all new diagnoses of HIV in women
• Women are the caretakers and when we get sick, it truly affects those around us
• HIV is nature’s natural oxymoron. Sex is supposed to bring forth life, not take it.
• HIV is one of the deadliest diseases in the world, yet it’s one of the few that isn’t communicable (like malaria) or initiated within the body (like cancer)
• I want women to be empowered to live well with the disease (if they are positive) and for those who don’t have it to make sure they don’t get it

I also “Rock the Red Pump” because I feel like it’s my life’s work.

For these and countless more reasons, I will continue to “Rock the Red Pump.”
So this is the 2nd of many NWGHAAD where you will find me “Rocking the Red Pump” to represent the strength and courage of those women affected directly and indirectly by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Awareness is always in style.

Here’s a list of other blogs that are “Rocking the Red Pump” today:

::fbi:: {feel beautiful inside} the blog | *EssenseVibez | A Day in the Life | A Lady’s Perspective | A Taste of Angel Cake | AAUW | Adventures in Divorce | Aesthetic Design Style | Affrodite | Afrobella | Aisha Turman | Allegory of an Underage Femme Fetale | AroundHarlem.com | Art Aids Art | Artiatesia Deal | AS USUAL | Ask Sassy Scribe | Awesomely Luvvie | BeautySchooled | Belle Noir Magazine | Big. Beautiful. You. | Belle Black Girl Blogging | Black Gives Back | Black is Breezie | Black Vixen Beauty | Black Woman Lost & Found | Bourgie, Interrupted | Brownngirl | C’est La Vie | ChiTown Fashionista | Chronicles of a Skinny Black Girl | Chronicles of an Uppity Chick | Circa 1982: Ramblings of a Little Brown Girl… | Clumps of Mascara | Coming of Age | Curvatude – Living Curvy and Plus Size with Attitude | CurvyGurl Chronicles~ Living La Vida Inspired! | Da Fashionist | Diary of Curvy Jones | Diva Living with AIDS | Divas Ranting | Dream As If You’ll Live Forever | Elbie | Elegant Ignance | Empress Says | Enlightn Me | Enlightn Me Events | Fabulous Moms in Charlotte | Fantastical Randomocity | Fashion. News. Updates. Shoes – Pumpsicle | Fear is no Factor | Feel Free to Answer Your Questions | Finding Me | Flaimahmy Magazine | [Fung'Ke][Blak][Chik] | Get Yoself Together | Happy Being Me | Having My Cake and Eating It Too | Healthier, Happier, You!!!! | Hey You Asked! | Hope Is Our Path | I’ll Think of a Title Later | I’m Just Teling You How I See It | Idaya Magazine | Idiosyncratic Thoughts of an Unheeded Prophetess | Ifelicious | Illustrocity | Intellectual Soul || Music with an I.Q. | Inverted Reflection | Ironically Aaronica | Island Mompreneur | Jenifer Moore Online | Jenny P. || INSPIRATION | Jessica’s Jewels | La Petite Maitresse | Lady Spin Doctors | Living Outside the Stacks | Luvv Divine | MamaLaw: Evidence for Our Insanity Plea | Max Logic | Megan’s Minute | Miss Jia: She Ain’t For Everybody | Moving Towards Peace | Mrs Windy City UnPluGGed | MsQuitey’s Place | My 927 Charlotte | My Beautiful Cocoon | My Black Girl Site | My Brown Baby | My Legal Belle | My Life – A Work In Progress | My Life…in Pics & Words | My Polar Opposite | Naked and Natural | Negrita’s Chronicles | Nola Girl in Transition | Not So Idle Thoughts and Musings | Nu Kynk | Of Service: A Life Lived for Others Pampered Sweet Tooth | Pigments and Potions | Planting Seeds | Pontificating Brother | Pop Rockets | Pretty Investigations | Project Nefertiti | Random and Pressing Details | Reaching Within | Reads4Pleasure | Reflections of a Gemini Artist | Reina’s Song | rellisonphotography | RSVP Event Planning and Management | Sable Verity | Secret Diaries of a Wannabe Yummy Mammy | Shannon Sez So | Shoes N Booze | Situations with Sassy | So Tenacious | Sojourners Verdad | Stripped | SURRENDERDOROTHYBLOG.COM | Tea and Such | That One Chick | The Anti-Hair Slave | The Atlanta Mompreneur | The Attic of My Mind | The Bead Dreamer | The Beauty XChange | The BlogRollers | The Broken Brown Egg | The Cocoa Diaries | The Essence of Full-Figured Entertainment | The Evolution of the Cubicle Crusaders | The Fabulous Do Gooder | The Fabulous Giver | The Fit Lounge | The FoolProof Diva | The Glamizon Chronicles | The Plus Academy: Ready to Runway | The Sassy Peach | The Single Dame (R) | The Soundtrack of My Life | The Young and Disenchanted | Things Aren’t Always as They Appear | ThinkAct: Proactive Black Blogging | This Ain’t That | Thoughts of a Jersey Girl | Thoughts on Being Seen | Total Life Prosperity Blog | Urban Perspective | Victor Amos Blog | We Are Black Women | A Blog Network With A Positive Difference | What DC People Hate | What Would Thembi Do | Where in the World… | Where My Ladies At? Women in Hip Hop | Whittier Rio Hondo AIDS Project | Wife Mother First Lady | Women of the African Diaspora | Www.krystalgrant.com | XI Magazine Online | Young Lioness

Oh and these are the ACTUAL Red Pumps I’m Rocking today:

Ladies, upload YOUR Red Pump pictures to our Flickr group or our Facebook page!

—————
P.S. Join us for a Twitter Townhall at 1pm CST. We’ll be moderating a discussion on Twitter asking folks “Why do you Rock the Red Pump?” and other questions pertaining to HIV/AIDS and women.

Rocking that Red Pump. Are you?

Luvvie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:04:00 +0000

Hey AweLuvvers! By now, you probably know that my heart is the organization I founded my girl Karyn of The FabGiver. The Red Pump Project is the reason why I’m up until 2am or 3am every night. But I can’t fee

Anywho, six weeks ago, we launched our “500 in 50″ blogger outreach campaign to get 500 blogs “Rocking the Red Pump” badge in the 50 days leading up to March 10 (National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – NWGHAAD). The response has been great but we are nearing the end of our campaign and we are still short of our goal. Tell your friend to tell a friend about this campaign!

To get the code, go to here and embed the badge on your sidebar. Then send an email to rocktheredpump@theredpumpproject.com with your site links and we will add your blog to the list of 500 in 50 participants. This list will be posted online shortly to highlight everyone who is “Rocking the Red Pump” for our cause.

The goal of our campaign is to bring awareness to NWGHAAD and to create an open dialogue about HIV/AIDS and how it impacts our community. Here are some steps you can take on March 10:

Dedicate your blogpost to the issue of HIV/AIDS and women. You could even write on the topic of “Why I Rock the Red Pump.”

Wear Red Pumps on that day, and upload a picture of them to our Flickr group.

Join us for our Twitter Townhall. Starting at 1pm CST, we will kick off a discussion on Twitter surrounding issues around HIV/AIDS and women. We want to hear what you have to say about the epidemic and its effect on women. Be sure to use the hashtag #redpump

Be empowered!

If you don’t have a blog, you can also “Rock the Red Pump” by making your Facebook profile picture the Red Pump badge on. Just right click and save this badge, then upload it to your Facebook profile page.

So GETCHU a piece of that!!! See? i’m not ALL jerk. Just 65%.

P.S. Check the timestamp. Yes, it’s accurate. See how much I LOVE this org???

World AIDS Day is 21!

Luvvie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:06:00 +0000

World AIDS Day turns 21 today. If the day was a person, it can now drink alcohol, put the picture up on Facebook and NOT have campus police show up at it’s door. The day is grown!

In honor of the day, I designed this:

If you gon do HoSh*t, please make sure you use some saran wrap or something. Or take your partner on a “Get Tested” date. There’s nothing segzier than a HIV-negative test result. Giggity giggity *pelvic thrust* to that.

I actually wrote a for real post about HIV/AIDS here.

But really folks… HIV is nature’s oxymoron. Sex is supposed to bring forth life, but now, it can potentially destroy it. Let’s ALL stay safe. Know your status. Get tested. Drop the stigma.

I will continue to Rock the Red Pump (TM) in honor of the impact HIV/AIDS has around the globe.

The Red Tie Project

Luvvie — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:50:00 +0000

Reason I thought this was appropriate for today is because I’m on my favorite blog Very Smart Brothas and there’s a thread in there that I’m all up in discussing HIV/AIDS. Then I realized that I haven’t told you all about:

In March 2009, Karyn (The Fab Giver) and I launched The Red Pump Project to help bring awareness to the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. However, as we branched out and met more and more people, we kept hearing one particular question: What are you doing for men?

Very good question. We now welcome The Red Tie Project. Much like The Red Pump Project, it will serve as a resource for local and national news and discussions related to HIV/AIDS but from a male perspective. If you would like to get more information or become involved, you can email theredtieproject@gmail.com.

Key Snapshot of the U.S. Epidemic Today

* Every 9.5 minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV
* Number of new HIV infections, 2006: 56,300
* Number of people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million, including more than 468,000 with AIDS
* Number of AIDS deaths since beginning of epidemic: 583,298, including 14,561 in 2007
Percent of people infected with HIV who don’t know it: 21%

Key Statistics Regarding Men and HIV/AIDS

In 2006, men accounted for 73% of new HIV diagnoses, with 53% of cases coming from gay and bisexual men

While 67% of new male diagnosis were the result of male-to-male sexual contact, 16% of new male cases came from high-risk heterosexual contact.

Between 2001 and 2006, among males between the ages of 13 and 24, there was annual increase of 12.4 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for men overall

From 2004-2007, there was a 26% increase in HIV diagnosis amongst men who have sex with men, and a 9% increase among heterosexual males

These statistics were pulled from The Center for Disease Control’s website. You can find more information there.

The Red Tie Project will not just be focusing on issues around HIV/AIDS and MSMs (men who have sex with other men). It will be exploring the role men that men play in the epidemic as well as the impact the disease has on men and boys.

So fellas (or ladies, if you please). Wanna “Rock the Red Tie” on your blog or be involved? Shoot us an email at theredtieproject (at) gmail.com or leave a comment and info will be sent to you. Also follow The Red Tie Project on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!

Rocking the Red Pump!

Luvvie — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0000

In honor of today, National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, myself and 95 other female bloggers are Rocking the Red Pump to raise awareness and to represent the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease both directly and indirectly. Karyn and I came up with this initiative and never thought it would receive such great feedback, but we are pleasantly surprised at how people have embraced it.

HIV/AIDS & Women in the United States
————————————————
*There are approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. & almost 280,000 are women

*Among those who are HIV positive, 35% of women were tested for HIV late in their illness (diagnosed with AIDS within one year of testing positive)

*HIV is the 5th leading cause of death in women in the United States, ages 25-44

*High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women

HIV/AIDS & Minority Women
———————————–
HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects minority women in the United States. According to the 2005 census, Black and Latina women represent 24% of all US women combined, but account for 82% of the estimated total of AIDS diagnoses for women in 2005.

HIV is:

*the leading cause of death for black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years.

*The rate of AIDS diagnosis for black women was approximately 23 times the rate for white women and 4 times the rate for Latina women

*In 2006, teen girls represented 39% of AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Black teens represented 69% of cases reported among 13–19 year-olds; Latino teens represented 19%

These statistics were pulled from The Center for Disease Control’s website and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Fact Sheets (which cited the CDC). Get more information about the effect of the epidemic from these sites.

We definitely would like to thank those bloggers who are Rocking the Red Pump:

For more information on National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Day, and to find out events going on in your area, go to http://www.womenshealth.gov/NWGHAAD/events/.

If you’re in Chicago, come to The Red Pump Happy Hour at Plush Restaurant & Lounge (1104 W. Madison from 6:30 – 8:30 to network, socialize, and raise funds & awareness about the effect of AIDS on women and girls. Proceeds are going to the Chicago Women AIDS Project.

In Kansas City, GlamStarr is hosting a Red Pump Happy Hour at The Bulldog (1715 Main St.) from 5:30 – 8pm.

Come join us at these Happy Hours and visit the official Red Pump Project Page for more information!

P.S. Ain’t the Red Pump fabulous! I would SO rock it if it could be manufactured! I thoroughly enjoyed designing it. Channeling my inner Louboutin! *coughs* If they are looking for an apprentice at the Louboutin factory, I’m ya girl!

P.P.S. *If you are wearing red pumps in honor of today, you can upload your pics to our Flickr group!

Here’s MY Red Pump

The Red Pump Project

Luvvie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:00:00 +0000

I would love for you to be part of a campaign I’m initiating, along with Karyn of The Fabulous Giver. National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is Tuesday, March 10th. It’s a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages ladies to take action. While progress has definitely been made in the areas of AIDS prevention and treatment, women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group.

In observance of this day, Karyn and I came up with the idea of The Red Pump Project. The concept is simple: Rock the Red Pump on your blog to represent the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDS or affected by the disease both directly and indirectly. We ask that on that day (March 10th), you embed the Red Pump Widget within your post with a short snippet of its significance, or you can rock the widget on your sidebar for the day. Besides, the Red Pump will add a touch of FIERCE to your already FABULOUS blogs!

We want you to join The Red Pump Project and help spread awareness of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. To sign up to participate, please just reply to this email. If you sign up, I will send you instructions and the html code of the widget. Also, your blog will be linked on a post on my blog that will run on March 10th. For more information on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, you can head on over to www.womenshealth.gov/NWGHAAD. Here, you will be able to learn how the initiative started and look up any local events in your area! Your participation in this campaign would be GREATLY appreciated.

Luvvie

World AIDS Day

Luvvie — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Today is the 20th anniversary of annual World AIDS Day, to raise awareness of one of the biggest public health threats today. HIV/AIDS is also one of nature’s biggest oxymorons. Sex’s inherent function is to create life, but it now has the potential to destroy it.

Let’s just remember that it is 100% preventable. We must wrap it up, and know our status. So to all those affected by the disease, my thoughts are with you. I want to dedicate today to this.

Will be back tomorrow with my real post. This week may be a 5-post week because I have a lot of posts lined up. So sit, back, relax and enjoy the IG.

SHOP to help fight the AIDS pandemic in Africa

Luvvie — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 05:05:00 +0000

If you have a hard time reading the manifesto, it says:

ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL. THEY ARE NOT.
AS FIRST WORLD CONSUMERS. WE HAVE TREMENDOUS POWER. WHAT WE COLLECTIVELY CHOOSE TO BUY. OR NOT TO BUY, CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF LIFE AND HISTORY ON THIS PLANET.

(RED) IS THAT SIMPLE AN IDEA. AND THAT POWERFUL. NOW, YOU HAVE A CHOICE. THERE ARE (RED) CREDIT CARDS, (RED) PHONES, (RED) SHOES, (RED) FASHION BRANDS. AND NO THIS DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE ALL RED IN COLOR, ALTHOUGH SOME ARE.

IF YOU BUY A (RED) PRODUCT OR SIGN UP FOR A (RED) SERVICE, AT NO COST TO YOU, A (RED) COMPANY WILL GIVE SOME OF ITS PROFITS TO BUY AND DISTRIBUTE ANTI-RETROVIAL MEDICINE TO OUR BORTHERS AND SISTERS DYING OF AIDS IN AFRICA.

WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN CONSUMERS ARE OFFERED THIS CHOICE, AND THE PRODUCTS MEET THEIR NEEDS, THEY WILL CHOOSE (RED) BECAUSE IT IWLL MAKE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE TO DO SO, AND MORE LIVES WILL BE SAVED.

(RED) IS NOT A CHARITY. IT IS SIMPLY A BUSINESS MODEL. YOU BUY (RED) STUFF. WE GET THE MONEY, BUY THE PILLS AND DISTRIBUTE THEM. THEY TAKE THE PILLS, THEY STAY ALIVE, AND CONTINUE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILIES AND CONTRIBUTE SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.

IF THEY DON’T GET THE PILLS, THEY DIE. WE DON’T WANT THEM TO DIE. WE WANT TO GIVE THEM THE PILLS. AND WE CAN. AND YOU CAN. AND IT’S EASY.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS UPGRADE YOUR CHOICE.

The participating BRANDS:

GAP — Product (RED) Apparel
Motorola, in conjunction to U.S. Cellular— The (RED) Razr
Converse — Special Chuck Taylors
Apple — The Red iPod Nano
Emoprio Armani — Product (RED) Watches
American Express — The (RED) Card

PLEASE support this if you can!! Thousands of Africans are dying EVERY DAY from HIV/AIDS!