[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E478]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING THE RED PUMP PROJECT

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                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 24, 2010

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to and recognize 
The Red Pump Project on the occasion of their one year anniversary. The 
Red Pump Project is an initiative of The Red Project Collaborative 
(RPC), a Chicago non-profit organization that seeks to raise awareness 
about the impact of HIV/AIDS on minority communities. Through its 
initiatives, The Red Pump Project and The Red Tie Project, RPC is doing 
work online, with over 135 bloggers and on the ground to motivate 
action and encourage dialogue about the effects of the disease.
  Through their work, co-founders and noted bloggers Karyn Brianne 
Watkins and Lovette Ajayi have spent countless hours and endless energy 
to raise awareness of this life-altering disease. Their work has been 
so fruitful, Madam Speaker, that The Red Pump Project is now a national 
initiative, raising and donating funds to the Chicago Women's AIDS 
Project, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Project VIDA. Currently The 
Red Pump Project features 40 ambassadors in 20 states around the 
country ``Rocking the Red Pump'' to raise awareness about this epidemic 
and is continuously moving toward its goal of having representation in 
all 50 states.
  As the Red Pump Project celebrates their 1 year anniversary in 
fashion and style on March 25, 2010, they will also be honoring Emmy 
Award-winning HIV/AIDS activist Rae Lewis-Thornton with the ``Ultimate 
Red Pump Rocker'' Award for being a living legacy. Ms. Lewis-Thornton 
has faced the disease with dignity, class and undeniable courage for 
over 20 years, and has been on an endless crusade to raise awareness 
about HIV/AIDS around the world.
  Madam Speaker, as the Centers for Disease Control reports African-
Americans account for 13% of the United States population but a 
staggering 49% of HIV/AIDS infections, it is through initiatives like 
The Red Pump Project that transmission can be reduced and ultimately 
this disease eventually eliminated. I am honored to recognize The Red 
Project Collective (RPC) and privileged to enter these words into the 
Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives.

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