Nykesha Sales along with five other panelist and 200 teens from the Newark NJ area participated in BET’s “Rap-It-up Teen Forum”. The topics discussed in the forum were social issues that effect teens and the rise of HIV/AIDS in the African American community. An on-site HIV testing program took place during the discussion, which was provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation and by the BET “Rap-It-Up” campaign.

The “Rap-It-Up” campaign, which was started in 1997 by the Kaiser Family Foundation and BET, is a public education campaign seeking to help the African American children and families protect against HIV/AIDS related illnesses and diminish the incidences of HIV/AIDS, especially in those areas most ravaged by the disease.

Since its launch in 2000, BET’s “Rap-It-Up” Campaign has tested over 5,300 people nationwide for HIV infection; received over 900,000 calls to its toll-fre hotline, hosted community teen forums in over 27 cities for over 5,000 young adults; and reached millions of viewers via HIV-related programming on the BET Network.

December is “Light to Unite” month which is a global fight against HIV/AIDS. For more information log onto to www.BET.com/rapitup .