Could You...Rock The Red Pump?

Pump: CARLOS by Carlos Santana Venetian

The Red Pump Project, found in March 2009 by Luvvie Ajayi and Karyn Watkins was born out of the twos desire:

1.      To get a conversation started on the issue of HIV/AIDS, and

2.      To ask others to do the same. With this the Luvvie and Karyn put out a call for bloggers to “Rock the Red Pump.”

The project raises awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. Their mission is to promote HIV prevention through education, and open dialogue about the issues that surround sexual and reproductive health.

The red shoe is used as a symbol of empowerment to represent the strength and courage of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The incorporation of fashion into the message of HIV prevention is the founders’ contribution as they hope to show that Awareness is Always in Style!

Red Pump along with The Red Tie Project™ (which focuses on men), embody The Red Project Collective™, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on minority communities (women, people of color, LGBT). The Collective is doing work online and on the ground to motivate action and encourage dialogue about the effects of the disease.

With this year’s 3^rd campaign launch (January 18^th) bloggers from across the country were invited to join in commemorating NWGHAAD and to use their voice, platforms, and influence to help us raise awareness about the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls.

The goal? To get 500 blogs to place one of the six available Red Pump badges on their sidebars in the 50 days leading to NWGHAAD (March 10th). As of February 11^th they have surpassed that goal - 650 blogs are officially Rocking the Red Pump!

 

And so now that you’re informed would you join in? It’s a simple request for a great cause.

REMEMBER:

When: Annually, March 10^th

What: National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD), a nationwide initiative to raise awareness about the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women & girls and encourages ladies to take action.

Why: Women still represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses, with African-American women accounting for 66% of that group. This year focuses on this statistic, “Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States.”

How can you help: 1^st, Educate yourself, 2^nd, Educate a friend, a loved one, a stranger, and 3^rd Just Rock the Red Pump!

VISIT: The Red Pump Project

On Egypt...

Will Egypt follow Tunisia's lead?

By the CNN Wire Staff

Just the other day I was watching the world news. Yep, I watch it sometimes. And prior to being interrupted by a kid wanting to watch Yo Gabba Gabba, the news casters were discussing Egypt. As we all know (well I hope you know) there's a crisis going on over there. I thought, well I felt a little troubled...as I sort of just slightly ignored what was happening. I then decided to go online and research articles on Egypt and "how Egypt got to where it was today", etc. 

My findings? Well, some of the articles and write ups were still a little unclear - which made me feel even worse. To say the least I tried but I still feel like I need to know more or have a better understanding. Strangely today, in the midst of working work/surfing I came along the blog: Magnificent Minimalist and the post: Dear, Egypt (see post)...

I feel a little better now. Thanks.

Articles:
Will Egypt follow Tunisia's lead?
By the CNN Wire Staff | January 25, 2011

This Sunday: All Angles of the Revolt in Egypt
The View From Here | David Gregory | January 30, 2011

I ♥ Art: Baltimore

Etsy + the Baltimore Etsy Street Team (BEST) + the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Master of Professional Studies in the Business of Art & Design (NEW PROGRAM) 

= the I Heart Art: Baltimore collaboration.

A series of five free two-hour workshops hosted by MICA - each workshop emphasizing the important aspects of running a small business for creative professionals. Hey I said FREE!

The first workshop, Realities of Runny an Indie Biz, was Tuesday, January 25th (last night).  I had the opportunity of attending this workshop.  The workshop was lead by Greg Conderacci, who owns Good Ground Consulting.  He brings 40 years of marketing and communication experience as a Wall Street Journal reporter, head of marketing for major companies, a sales coach, and a business school faculty. 

Overall I can report that there was a pretty good crowd, parking was do-able, and the speaker was engaging and a bit animated. They even opened up the workshop to the first 100 Etsy members via webcast.  I enjoyed the workshop, some of the information presented I had been aware of. However, it was great being around creative folk and actually sitting in a classroom after 10 years – OUCH!  Unfortunately I was extremely tired from staying up late the past few 100 nights – not a good thing and certainly not the facilitator’s fault (hence it’s 3AM, Wednesday morning and I haven’t been asleep yet).  

I’ve signed up for four of the five workshops as I’ve deliberated on applying to MICA’s new program. I am hoping these workshops will give me a bit of insight to MICA and what it may have to offer (although I know it’s a great school). 

If you are in Maryland you should definitely check out some of the workshops along with MICA. I think this collaboration was a good move on BEST’s, Etsy and MICA part. Kudos to them! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥