First of all, I’d like to give all honor and glory to God for allowing me to celebrate my 40th birthday today. He has blessed me with so much: good health, a loving family {some by blood, many by choice}, friends who mean the world to me, and this platform that allows me to reach so many with the truth of His love and grace.

Today, the United States will recognize National Women and Girls HIV/AIDs Awareness Day, an initiative established in 2006 by the Office on Women’s Health to raise awareness about HIV/AIDs infection among women and girls. I have dedicated today’s blog post to The Red Pump Project, a grassroots organization that raises awareness about HIV/AIDs prevention and offers support for those whose lives have been touched by the disease.  The Red Pump Project was started by Karyn of The Fabulous Giver and Luvvie of Awesomely Luvvie. The red pump symbolizes the strength and courage of women fighting HIV/AIDs or who have been affected by it both directly and indirectly.

I’m honored to be joining with these women and hundreds of other bloggers as we Rock the Red Pump {or the red cowboy boots}.
Rock the Red Pump {Living Outside the Stacks}

Some important facts about HIV/AIDS to keep in mind:

  • Every 47 minutes a woman in the U.S. will be diagnosed with HIV
  • HIV/AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death for women in the U.S., ages 25~44
  • 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

If you you’d like to support women and girls who’re living with HIV/AIDS, you can:

  • Participate in the Twitter discussion, by following @RocktheRedPump and @RedPumpProj and using the hashtag #RocktheRedPump
  • Snap a picture of yourself wearing your Red Pumps and share on FacebookFlickrTwitter or Tumblr

Please, ladies, protect yourselves, get tested, and know your status!

 

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