With March being Women's Appreciation Month, I have decided to profile different women making grandeur strides and differences in their particular line of work or organization. I am truly in awe of how I continue to be surrounded by great woman after woman since moving back to Chicago.
Before I moved back, I had heard plenty about The Red Pump Project but never knew the faces behind the work and the great details that makes The Red Pump Project what it is. The Red Pump Project does an awesome job of making people aware of HIV/AIDS through various forms of discussion, education and initiatives. The Red Pump Project is known for the Rock the Red Pump Campaign, The 2nd Annual Rock The Red Fashion show as well as a plethora of other projects and nationwide events.
I feel an urgent responsibility to share their work with anyone that will listen and that's the purpose of this blog post. Get to know all about The Red Pump Project as Karyn & Luvvie answered some questions below about what they do, why they do it and how you can help.
| The Red Pump Project Founders Karyn Brianne Watkins & Lovette "Luvvie" Ajayi |
What inspired the Red Pump Project? Was it based on personal experiences or a general desire to educate and inform?
In February of 2009, Luvvie and I randomly had a conversation discussing how HIV was an issue that we cared passionately about. She mentioned that she had an idea to do a formal event centered around a red shoe, and that was pretty much the end of that conversation. I later learned that National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was approaching and reached out to her about creating a social media campaign to get the word out to our peers and discuss how this disease was affecting us as women. Luvvie designed a blog badge, I came up with the name, "The Red Pump Project," and we started reaching out to our blogging peers asking for their support. Over 100 blogs participated in the campaign and from there, we had to ask ourselves, "What's next?" That's how we decided to turn our "idea" into a nonprofit organization.
What actions were involved that brought the Red Pump Project from just an idea to a full blown movement including a successful blog, events, campaigns and ambassadors?
This experience has really taught us that nothing is random in life. After March 10th, we saw that there were people who were inspired by this movement and we knew that we had to keep the momentum going. We assembled a team of supporters and friends and started laying out the groundwork to evolve from "Red Pump" the campaign to "Red Pump" the organization. Luvvie and I both work full-time, and it hasn't always been easy. But, knowing that this is our passion and there's so much work to do, we realize that we can't give up. I can tell you this...None of this would be possible without our core team, our ambassadors in different cities, and people who believe in the greater cause of HIV/AIDS prevention.
Does the Red Pump Project target a certain age group of women?
No, Red Pump doesn't target any specific age group. Being so grounded in social media, we've found that our movement has really found a home with women between 18-30, but women of all ages support what we're doing. It's great to see young women and older women really unite around fighting HIV/AIDS. There's so many key lessons that both age groups can learn from each other.
Why do you feel that HIV/AIDS is still such a taboo topic in the black community?
There's this stigma attached to the disease that can be SO difficult to overcome and it's killing us. Although we represent only 12% of the U.S. population, we account for 45% of new HIV infections. That's HUGE. Our community is being disproportionately affected by this disease and our lack of education is really one of the things that serving as a huge disadvantage. So many of us think that HIV/AIDS is still a gay man's disease, but that's not the case. Black women and teens are making up a greater number of new infections. For instance, Black women account for 61% of new HIV infections among women while Black teens (who make up 15% of the US teens) now represent 68% of new HIV infections among all teens. We've been raised to think that sex is a taboo topic, so we brush things under the rug. Teachers, pastors, parents, neighbors...we all have to start talking about HIV/AIDS in an open and honest way. And, Red Pump wants to do our part to help start and maintain those conversations.
What does it take for us to open up the dialogue about the topic so that we can comfortably be informed and protect ourselves?
First, we have to let go of the judgement. Then, we have to start with the facts. There are many people in our community who don't talk about the issue because they don't know any of the facts. Even when we do those two things, I think that our community needs to accept that every conversation is not going to be comfortable but it will be real. And, real talk, real facts, and real action are exactly what we need to fight this epidemic.
What are the top three misconceptions about HIV/AIDS?
1. You can only get HIV/AIDS if you're gay or a drug user.
2. There's a cure for HIV/AIDS.
3. You can't contract HIV/AIDS from oral sex.
What are various ways that men and women can openly help the Red Pump Project? How can someone get involved?
For starters, just talk to your family and friends about HIV/AIDS and get the dialogue going. Anyone who knows us knows that we're some communicators and that's the base of this whole thing! When it comes to directly helping Red Pump, people can support us by "Rocking the Red Pump" badge on their websites, hosting a Red Pump event in their community, creating content for our blog, and supporting events held by our Red Pump Ambassadors. We are all over the web (literally) and encourage people to earn more about what we're doing and keep up with the events and programs that we're rolling out this year. Our website is www.theredpumpproject.org, and we're also on Twitter (@RedPumpProj), Facebook, and Tumblr. People can also feel free to directly shoot us an email at karyn@theredpumpproject.com or luvvie@theredpumpproject.com.
I encourage EVERYONE to get in the know about your status and begin the dialogue with others in your circles. Change begins small and with you. We as a whole are definitely powerful beyond measure and have the ability to come to solutions regarding the hard conversation & issues of sex and HIV/AIDS.
I'm currently in the process of planning a #SweetheartConversation LIVE where we will have an in-depth, candid discuss about sex, STDs, HIV/AIDS, and how we relate to one another sexually. Until then, join me tomorrow on Twitter as a moderate #SweetheartConversation as it will pertain to the taboo topic of sex. I feel that this is a serious matter that we all need to discuss openly and respectfully. I hope you'll all join me.
#SweetheartConversation
March 17th, 2011
8c/9est
Use the hashtag #SHConvo to join in!
Much love,
#AmericasTweetheart
@CharriseRenee
Facts from HIV/AIDS 101 via The Red Pump Project
■Every 9.5 minutes, someone in the US will be infected with HIV.
■There are more than 1 million adults and adolescents in the United States living with HIV. Approximately one-fifth of them (21%) do not know that they have been infected.
■In 2006, women made up 25% of the persons living with HIV in the United States. Women also represented 27% of new HIV infections in 2006.
■High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women in the US.
■From the beginning of the epidemic through 2005, almost 86,000 women have died of AIDS and AIDS-related complications.
■The largest number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses during recent years was for women aged 15–39
■Seven of the 10 states with the highest case rates among women are in the South.
■In 2006, the CDC estimates that almost 46,000 young people, ages 13-24, were living with HIV in the US. Women comprised 28% of these HIV/AIDS cases among 13-24 year-olds.
■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.
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