Dear Reader,
I knew this day would come. I had an opportunity to write a protest letter (my specialty) to a local hospital for quietly removing a physician and midwife from their practice there. The hospital has been successful in keeping the details from coming to light, so no one really knows what happened. As I was about to don my 'birth activist' hat and pen my letter, it occurred to me, that someday, I might want to petition for my nursing students to have clinical hours there, and and that such a petition might be impeded by the presence of a ' protest letter' with my name on it.
I knew that choosing to represent an organization (i.e. getting a job) would interfere with my, shall we say, more 'covert activities' and I have the feeling this is just the beginning. Can revolutionaries really be on the payroll?
Labor Repose
LaborPayne during her 6th homebirth (9th baby) at age 44
2 comments:
Could you write it and have it be anonymous, or have someone else sign it? That way, you get to exercise your specialty and a needed letter gets written, while still preserving your ability to work from the inside without causing waves and/or friction.
-Kathy
I hear what you are saying Kathy, but I have an ethical issue with anonymity. Basically, I want credit for my words. I want to claim my work in the world. I once orchestrated an event that involved picketing a conference. Because my employer was the host of the conference- and paying for me to attend- I did everything behind the scenes, even recruiting someone else to be the face of the event. This event ended up getting tons of press and even a write up in a national journal. I get to claim NONE of it. My name is mentioned NO WHERE in any of the press. When I mention it now, I have to get the face person to vouch for me (don't get me wrong, the work she did was real, but I was feeding her info and directing things). I don't want to do things that way again. I'm trying to make a name for myself, and ANONYMOUS ain't it.
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