Nashville Nurse-In Wrap Up.

Here in Nashville we co-created a beautiful and empowering action this morning!!

The babies & children were fantastic and adorable, the dads were supportive and invaluable in their presence, and the mamas rocked the house!! Together we assembled a delightfully warm, peaceful, articulate and personable group – we shone light on a lifestyle, family and health issue in just the right way to illuminate the natural, normal beauty of the nursing relationship in its many facets. I am proud to have been among the folks who participated.

Present were: 9 nursing mamas, 1 grandmother, 3 fathers of nurslings and 12 babies & children. 25 total participants.

We stayed for close to two hours at BNA and our action was covered by the three major networks (no Fox) & an AP reporter & photographer for the Tennessean. Most of us were interviewed AT LEAST once. Dads, too. I was so proud of my son and of my husband. Both were fully engaged and fabulous.

With the exception of perhaps two or three quizzical glances, we nursing families were met with great welcome, kindness and support. Two older women who’d nursed their babies years ago stopped to congratulate us and cheer us onward. One even was interviewed by the news. Another older couple stopped to speak with some mamas; the gentleman worked for Delta and wanted to express his support of us. An airport employee gave stickers to all the kids and an American Airlines flight attendant stopped to tell us that not all in her profession were offended by breastfeeding, that she herself was so glad to see us.

We left feeling good and strong and hopeful.

Link to the story that ran this morning here.

More by and by.

Nurse In TOMORROW at Airport.

Please come join me / us tomorrow!! Your peaceful presence is needed!! With recent passing of legislation in our state and more like items current nation wide, your pro-nursing selves are needed. You do not have to nurse in public. You can choose instead to simply show up and support the rights of nursing pairs. Please wear lactivist / pro BFing wear if possible. Be peaceful! Bring signage to both commend Delta for taking initial right action and to call for further action (see below) and to support BFing in general. Commending Delta is a critical piece of the pie here. They HAVE moved in the right direction; we want to encourage their moving further along the path of protection and advocacy for nursing families everywhere.

Here's the scoop!:

What: National Nurse-In

When: tomorrow, Tues 11/22/06 -- 10 AM local (plan to stay for an hour, as mamas and children often run late... come early if you can)

Where: near / in front of Delta check in and ticketing counter Nashville International Airport

Why: See below.

Please call / write to let me know you'll be participating. I need a head count. Can you bring signage? Can you bring children and friends? Husbands? Partners?

Are you a media person? Do you want me to send you a really nice media kit? Holler at me. This nurse in is NOT affiliated with any particular group, though there may be members of groups present a the nurse in. This in a grassroots volunteer effort.

Quote:


Breastfeeding Rally To Take Place At Airports Nationwide

Nursing mothers and their supporters will be gathering on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 10 AM, local time, at Delta airport counters across the country.

Emily Gillette was flying with her husband and 22 month-old daughter, on
October 13, 2006 out of Burlington, Vermont on a Delta/Freedom Air flight
when a flight attendant asked her to cover up with a blanket. Ms. Gillette
declined and informed the flight attendant of her legal right to nurse her
daughter. The flight attendant then told Ms. Gillette that Ms. Gillette was
offending her and subsequently a gate agent removed the family from the
flight. Ms. Gillette and her family complied. They were rescheduled on a
different flight the following day.

Ms. Gillette has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission regarding the incident. A woman's right to breastfeed wherever she is legally allowed to be is protected in Vermont under the Public Accommodations Act. Although Delta has issued a public apology, the Gillette family has still not received any personal apology.

The goals of this action are:

- Insist that Delta/Freedom both apologize to the Gillette family and
offer written proof that policy and training procedures have been changed.
- Call for all airlines to revisit their breastfeeding and transport of
pumped breastmilk policies to support traveling families.
- Call for immediate passage of pending Federal legislation that offers
civil rights protection for breastfeeding women in the workplace; and new
legislation to protect, on the Federal level, a nursing mother and child's
right to do so whenever and wherever they are legally allowed to be.
- Introduce a new breastfeeding accessibility icon and call on American
businesses to adopt and use it. Participants will be wearing the logo on
t-shirts, stickers and buttons.

The issue of breastfeeding goes far beyond just a woman's right to nurse; it also encompasses a basic human right for children, the right to eat and to receive comfort and nurturing at the breast.

The Nurse-Ins have been coordinated completely by volunteers.





Please contact Paige La Grone Babcock in Nashville for more info.
paigelabab@comcast.net

Tonight!! Salon & Social.

Please share this with friends and family members!! All kinds of families are
welcome!!
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I hope to see some of y'all here!!

Need incentive? In addition to door prizes,  it'll be my first real outing since
our whole family has been sick all month. You can be among the first to see me
with hair whacked off. AND you can meet my in laws. And see my walking talking
wonder boy in hot pursuit of MAU potluck goodies and crayons (in equal measure).


Tonight: We're writing letters of congratulation and promise to our newly
elected officials, telling them we'll be holding them to the promise of a better
day for all our children and we'll be visiting them in person soon. (Field trips
are in the planning stages.)

All children are asked to come and draw pictures and / or make their own letters
for inclusion.

Please bring to share: crayons, stationary, envelopes, paper, potluck dish,
stamps or change for the pot. Some of all of the above will be provided!!


Nashville Mothers Acting Up BRING THE FAMILY POTLUCK SOCIAL & SALON


Host:
Nashville MAU

Location:
Friends' Meeting House
530 26th Avenue North, Nashville, TN View Map

When:
Friday, November 17, 5:45pm

Series Schedule:
Occurs the third Friday of every 1 month(s).

Final Date of the Series:
Friday, August 17, 2007

This month's Bring The Family Potluck Salon is a post-election /
pre-Thanksgiving gathering.


Please come join in the fun for food, fellowship and education!!!

Bring a dish to share. Some drinks will be provided.

There will be door prizes!

Bring the family!! There will be child wranglers in a beautiful shared space;
all are welcome. Our gatherings are always nursing friendly and open to ALL
kinds of families. Likewise, mamas OR daddies are welcome to come without their
little ones, if that suits you better.


Mothers Acting Up is a mother-fed, mother-led movement of mothers (and others)
passionately and publicly advocating for the world's children.

http://www.mothersactingup.org

Give Your Values Voice: Vote!!

(Cross posted to / from Mothers Acting Up and Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You.)

If you haven't yet done so, please exercise your civic responsibility and give your values a voice by voting.

If your traveling sideshow of children and others isn't being hosted or supervised by volunteer mamas, school or another caregiver, consider taking your child(ren) with you to vote.

Yes, the lines may be long, but there's so much to take in, from neighbors you don't see often enough to ingraining the process and the importance of same early on.

Both my Mister and I hit the polls this morning here in East Nashville-- our thirteen month old came along for the experience and I am so glad he did, even though we waited for over an hour to mark our ballots.

One of our most powerful parenting responsibilities is instilling in our children the spirit of acting on values and following one's moral compass. As Mothers (and Others) Acting Up, we're in for the long haul. Leading the next wave onward by example and immersion in community is critical to the growth of the world we want our smallest citizens to inherit and inhabit.

MAU National Blog is UP.

Check it out.