New Voices Pittsburgh

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(PITTSBURGH)RED Events

There are a host of activities on World AIDS Day.

The Highmark Building Squire will be lit red all week.
The City-County Building portico and lobby will be lit red all week.
Two banners will drape the City-County Building to commemorate this day.
10,000 World AIDS Day will be distributed to the community with a red ribbon to be work on December 1.
1,000 (Pittsburgh)RED t-shirt will be given out as well.

7am-7pm: FREE Testing
Mobile @ City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, 9am-5pm
Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, 5913 Penn Avenue, 7am-7pm

10am: Press conference with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl
City-County Building, 414 Grant Street

6-9pm: REAL Talk: World AIDS Day 2009
ONEChurch, 937 Liberty Avenue, Downtown

The event hosted by New Voices Pittsburgh and is co-sponsored by Raising Women's Voices for the Healthcare We Need, The GOAL Project and ONEChurch. Sheila Taylor, local HIV/AIDS Community Activist, will share her story as a woman of color who is HIV+, a remembrance vigil and we will show clips from the documentary film, Why Us? Left Behind and Dying by Claudia Pryor Malis about HIV/AIDS in Pittsburgh at the intersection of community violence. This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome.

WORLD AIDS DAY 2009 - December 1, 2009

World AIDS Day is a global day of awareness of the AIDS pandemic observed on December 1 of each year. The first World AIDS Day was observed in 1988 and over twenty years later, World AIDS Day touches the lives of those from Japan to Peru to South Africa to the United States.

The Red Ribbon has become an international symbol for those who live, work and love in solidarity with people living with HIV/AIDS. The Red Ribbon is a symbol to honoring those who we have loved and lost to HIV/AIDS. On this day, we also celebrate life and hope and prevention justice.

World AIDS Day centralizes global awareness, education, prevention, testing and action. This year's theme is Universal Access and Human Rights as prevention, treatment and healthcare are viewed as Human Rights for all people. World AIDS Day is a reminder of how far we have progressed and how far we have to go with an estimated 33 million people, 2.5 children, living with HIV/AIDS globally (Centers for Disease Control).

For the United States, about 1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in 2006. In 2007, 42,655 new cases of HIV/AIDS in adults, adolescents and children were diagnosed (CDC).

The Breakdown (Sex, Race, Age, CDC)
- Men (74%), Women (26%)
- African American (51%), White (29%), Latino (18%)
- 40-49 (27%), 30-39 (26%), 20-29 (25%)

Women of Color and HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for both African American and Latina women ages 25-34 and 35-44. In 2006, 72% of women living with HIV/AIDS were infected through heterosexual contact (CDC).

Black women and Latinas account for 79 percent of all reported HIV infections among 13- to 19-year-old women and 75 percent of HIV infections among 20- to 24-year-old women in the United States although, together, they represent only about 26 percent of U.S. women these ages (Advocates for Youth).

(PITTSBURGH)RED

Locally, 20+ organizations have partnered for the the (Pittsburgh)RED Campaign which is apart of the global (RED) campaign. This is a partnership with worldwide brands (Gap, Apple, Starbucks) to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Maleria through its (RED) branded products. A portion of profits invests in AIDS programs in Africa with a focus on women and children.

HIV/AIDS in Southwestern PA*

According the PA Department of Health:
- 3,649 individuals from Allegheny County have been reported as diagnosed with HIV or AIDS
- Of those: 1,476 (40%) have died, 325 of those who have died were young people under the age of 30
- 2,173 are presumed alive
- 2,737 individuals are known to be living with HIV or AIDS in Southwestern PA
- Of those: 1,214 are reported as having HIV and 1,523 reported as having AIDS
- 79% reside in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh Metro Area)

Demographics for Allegheny County:
- 13% of the total population is African American, but 39% of the population living with HIV/AIDS is African American.
- 20 % of people living with HIV/AIDS are female and 79% are male
- 18% of people contracted HIV/AIDS through heterosexual contact
- 24% of individuals living with HIV/AIDS are age 29 or younger
- An estimated 20% of people who are infected with HIV are unaware of their infection
- In 2007, 92 new incidents of HIV were reported in Allegheny County.

*Pennsylvania Department of Health, “HIV & AIDS Surveillance Summary Report,” December 2007

Out of the silence, we come
In the name of nuestras abuelas,
In honor of our mamas
In the spirit of our petit fils,
In tribute to ourselves
We come crying out
Documenting the torture
We come wailing
Reporting the rape
We come singing
Testifying to the abuse
We come knowing
Knowing that the silence has not protected us from the racism
the sexism
the homophobia
the physical pain
the emotional shame
the auction block
Once immobilized by silence
We come now, mobilized by collective voice
Dancing in harmonious move-ment to the thick drumbeat of la lucha, the struggle
We come indicting those who claim to love us, but violate us
We come prosecuting those who are paid to protect us, but harass us
We come sentencing those who say they represent us, but render
us invisible
Out of the Silence, we come
Naming ourselves
Telling our stories
Fighting for our lives
Refusing to accept that we were never meant to survive

We Stand Up

"We will not bow to your racism / We will not bow down to injustice / We will not bow down to exploitation / I'm gon' stand / I'm gon' stand!"

- "Freedom" , Panther Soundtrack, 1995

Who We Are

New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice is deeply committed to building a local movement for Reproductive Justice and we intend to elevate the powerful voices of women of color on human rights, reproductive oppression and the totality of our experiences as women of color.

Our Story

New Voices Pittsburgh was founded in 2004 to mobilize women of color in Southwestern PA to attend the March for Women’s Lives. Since then, NVP has become the forerunner in using the Reproductive Justice organizing framework to build a local movement with young women of color and allies in the Pittsburgh region.

Our Mission

The mission of New Voices Pittsburgh is to engage women of color with the Reproductive Justice Movement, educate communities of color about Human Rights and develop new voices for leadership in Pittsburgh. NVP primarily serves women of color ages 12-35 through social change activism, civic engagement and leadership development.

Our Vision is Reproductive Justice

As an organization, we interpret Reproductive Justice to mean the following:

A movement to ensure that all women have all choices about our bodies, sexuality, labor and reproduction;

A human rights-based organizing framework that seeks to ensure our:
- Sexual Rights
- Pregnancy Rights
- Birth Control & Abortion Rights
- Birthing Rights
- Parenting Rights
- free from individual, family and state-sanctioned violence;

The affirmation of the intersectionality of our identity and the eradication all forms of oppression thereby connecting to existing social justice movements;

The complete physical, emotional, spiritual, political, economic, environmental and social well-being of women and girls and it will be achieved when women, our families and our communities have the social, economic and political power to make decisions for ourselves, our families and our communities in all aspects of our lives; and

A mechanism to transform the lives of all people through the healing practice of self-help inspiring us towards justice and social change with a revolutionary transformation of the human spirit.

Join New Voices Pittsburgh

If you want to particpate in our local movement for Reproductive Justice, email us at newvoicespgh@gmail.com or call 412.389.3081.