Heart and Sole: The Red Pump Project

Rocking the Red Pump

FACT: Every 47 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States.
FACT: HIV is the leading cause of death for Black women ages 25-34.
FACT: When HIV affects one of us, it affects all of us.

These facts inspired bloggers, Luvvie Ajayi and Karyn Lee to found the Red Pump Project in 2009 with the goal of inspiring bloggers to bring more awareness to National Women and Girls HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day. (Shoes N Booze Rocked the Red Pump in 2009 and 2010.) Since then, the organization has grown beyond a social media campaign to a network of ambassadors in 5 major cities (Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, DC), signature events and prevention outreach workshops.

As a national nonprofit organization, The Red Pump Project encourages conversations that attempt to remove the stigma around HIV/ AIDS, empower women and girls to make healthy, educated decisions regarding their bodies and create safe, non-judging environments for those who have been affected by the virus to express themselves.

Shoes N Booze applauds the efforts of The Red Pump Project, and I, Nafeesa (AKA StyleScrybe) rock my red pumps in solidarity.

I hope you'll visit theredpumpproject.org and find out how you can get involved.

My red snake print wedge pumps. (A clearance score from Joe Fresh)

How I'm Rocking the Red Pump: With my J. Aubrey Designs Tee. 

Rocking the Red Pump: National Women & Girls HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day

Life or Death

Nice shoes, right? They're Georgina Goodman's Sparkle Pumps. Normally I'd post a picture of my own red pumps, but I need new ones, so these will have to do. Done swooning? Good... now READ...

Fact: Every 9 and a half minutes someone is infected with HIV in the United States.

Fact: Every 35 minutes, a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States (and that's only the women who are actually getting tested!)

Fact: Both of those statistics can be drastically changed if we as women take more responsibility for our health by getting tested regularly and having open, honest conversations with our partner(s) before engaging in sexual activities with them. 

Today is National Women & Girls HIV/ AIDS Awareness Day. Shoes N Booze is Rocking the Red Pump in hopes that our readers will see it as a catalyst to take control of their health. Ladies, if you're in a casket, your shoes don't matter. After work cocktails may be fun, but antiviral ones aren't. That said, no one will protect you if YOU don't. Know your status, and don't get into bed with a man (or woman) if you don't KNOW his (or hers). 

*Facts were obtained from www.TheRedPumpProject.com. Please pay them a visit to learn more about the disease and how you can get involved in the fight. Please also tune into "Rise: the Resurrection Show" this Thursday night at 8 PM Eastern to learn ways of healing, not only for those INfected with the disease, but also those AFfected by it.

Shoe News:Jimmy Choo, Project PEP and YOU

Put Some (Project) PEP in Your Step

Fact: After exposure to HIV, a person has 72 hours AT THE MOST to receive Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) treatment for it to even be POSSIBLY effective. Basically, in HIV cases, PEP has been shown to help keep the virus from attaching to and attacking cells... meaning, it gives a person a greater chance of not getting the disease after exposure.

What does that have to do with shoes? Well, Jimmy Choo has partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to launch the Project PEP collection, which supports the Simelela Rape Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The Centre was set up in 2005 to provide victims of abuse with HIV preventative PEP medicine and to give them access to medical, counseling and legal support. Jimmy Choo will donate 25% of net sales from Project PEP (JimmyChoo_72 on twitter) to to the Elton John AIDS Foundation in hopes that the funds raised will enable the clinic to stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This way, more women will receive treatment within that crucial 72 hour period.

To raise awareness about Project Pep, Jimmy Choo has initiated the "You, Your Shoes and 72" photo competition. Entry is pretty simple. Just upload a photo HERE based on the aforementioned theme (and cross your fingers). The grand prize winner will receive 7 pairs of shoes and 2 bags from Jimmy Choo. However, more than 100 winners will be chosen to receive other exclusive prizes from the Project PEP collection, and many of the winning images will be displayed at the the Project PEP launch event at Selfridges London on October 29th and at other Project PEP events globally. Click here for additional info.