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Let your words and actions speak loud and clear & hashtag it #NAdoptAM in November

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It’s (the industry declared) “National Adoption Awareness Month” again.

We Bastards and (original) families have little choice but to be “aware” of adoption and our adopted status every day of the year,  but it’s long overdue we bring some of our kind of “awareness” to the industry’s adoption marketing attempts.

Thus for the month of November, those of us writing about some of the cold hard realities of adoption will be pulling together pieces of OUR broader narrative over the course of the month.

Consider it a sane alternative to the cotton candy, rainbows, and unicorns the industry will be shoveling down every media pipe they can get their talking heads into all month long.

Plenty of us will be pointing at one another’s important work and writings throughout the month, some featuring guest bloggers, others using their blogs to link across to solid pieces by other adoption reality supportive writers.

On twitter, a number of us will be gathering our posts together under a single hashtag, by adding #NAdoptAM to some of our posts.

(Hint- keep an eye on the #NAdoptAM search results over the course of the month to read some of the body of work produced.)

Along those lines, I’ve added and will be adding a #NAdoptAM tag to all my posts this month to gather them together in a single place.

Leaving it to the adoption industry or even adopters to dictate the terms adoption is discussed in is unconscionable.

We are adoption.

We live adoption every day of our lives.

Those willing to look beyond the industry’s teddy bears, balloons, and gotcha day videos will find some of the more unpleasant adoption realities in places such as #NAdoptAM.

By way of a few very basic suggestions of what you can do this month to serve as a counterpoint to the sealed records status quo:

1. Start by getting well grounded in terms of your own thinking.

Bastard Nation‘s booklet, The Basic Bastard, while a bit dated in some places, still contains the core arguments of the Bastard civil and human rights politic. Also see the BN FAQ, particularly in relation to the important distinctions between search and reunion and unconditional records access restoration.

If you’re not confident or well grounded in some of these nuances, and prepared to refute some of the typical nonsense flung at us when we do speak out, maybe November for you is more about setting aside some time to delve into an education process or making personal connections with others who have been in these battles before, who demand nothing less than full equality.

2. For others who are ready, November is a time to speak and act.

A few possible suggestions, in no particular order:

  • Write letters to the editor
  • comment on articles
  • blog
  • read and educate yourself
  • tweet
  • tag and hashtag it
  • get your voice and perspective into the broader conversation across the net and in person, particularly with those in your social circles
  • consciousness raise
  • work with others locally, and globally but be sure such efforts are grounded in a position or document similar to CALOPEN’s No Veto Resolution from the get go
  • educate
  • do radio and television interviews
  • help bring foster kids’ voices and experiences to the fore
  • meet with your representatives, work with them to introduce and pass pure unrestricted restoration of access to our records bills

November is no time to stay silent and let the industry control all discourse on the subject..

Let your words and actions speak loud and clear this November.

If people want to talk adoption, they need to start at the demand for nothing less than the restoration of full human/civil/identity rights of all adopted people.

Let your voice be heard.

Use it or lose it.

One Response to “Let your words and actions speak loud and clear & hashtag it #NAdoptAM in November”

  1. Baby Love Child » More important reads from this week’s #NAdoptAM blogshelf Says:

    […] Let your words and actions speak loud and clear & hashtag it #NAdoptAM in November […]

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