Enjoy this live interview with a courageous Dawud Bey, just an ordinary individual who lives in Cary North Carolina & was recently accosted by the local CPS (Child Protective Services), for having a natural home birth. According to Bey the CPS were given an anonymous tip by a family member who did not agree with Dawud & his partner’s decision to have a natural home birth.
The video which inspired us to bring Dawud on Bull City Bulletin Live can be seen below, and features Dawud & his partner fearlessly but effortlessly resisting the CPS advances & their claim to “Need to see the child.“
The video peaks when Dawud simply informs CPS & the Wake County Government that he nor his child is is their property & “does not need to show them anything!”
Since this is still fairly recent we expect that this will be an ongoing situation & wanted to capture Dawud’s perspective as it develops. In lieu of the interview, we reached out to Dawud to get a little background on the situation for those who are not acquainted with the timeline of events. Dawud writes;
Monday, June 23, 2014
On the afternoon of April 9, 2014, Dawud Bey and his partner delivered their daughter in their Cary, NC home to “Isn’t She Lovely,” by Stevie Wonder. 5 days later, a relative made a threat on social media to call CPS to report the home birth. On the 6th day, Child Protective Services agent knocked at their door with 2 police officers and a scene complete with a fleet of 3 squad cars and 1 detective vehicle. The agent’s constant “I need to see the child” phrases were followed up with accusations of medical neglect. He was met with responses he had never heard in his career, for who in America knows their rights anymore? Not even the accusing agent. He was banking on receiving the usual serving of fear and compliance most being investigated by CPS deliver. 45 days of investigation without Dawud and the mothers cooperation led to the agency filing a pro se order with a judge to force them to comply with the investigation, which was not granted. The story begins and ends with two parents who faced down their fears and CPS simultaneously to tell their story of courage, self-empowerment, and knowing the law.
For months, Dawud studied the home birth process- the anatomy of a pregnancy from start to finish. Life should be introduced into the world where the living is taking place. Neither believed that labor and delivery should happen in a facility caring for the sick, hurt, and dying, so they researched the laws on home birth in North Carolina. Upon finding out that unassisted childbirth is not illegal in the state, they decided that that option was the best way for them to have their baby. The morning before the CPS visit, Larisha had called a local holistic practitioner to set up an appointment for their child to be seen. They were still looking for a pediatrician who would understand their choices to deliver at home and deny the pumping of vaccines, vitamin K, and silver nitrate in and on their baby prior to CPS’ arrival.
http://bullcitybulletin.com/2014/06/25/does-the-city-government-cps-own-your-children-find-out-live/
They think they own everything and therein lies the problem.
Admirably, this man stood his ground.
-flek