Nikki N. - The Midnight Train to NOLA

The Midnight Train to NOLA just returned from V to the 10th. We had an amazing journey together. The 50 women who journeyed together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of V-Day evolved into a community of conscious ambassadors ready to bring what they heard, saw, and felt back to the city of Atlanta. And do we have stories to tell...

We create this blog to share those stories and reflections.

My personal journey to New Orleans has been a very long road and a whole lot of work. Last April, Eve Ensler joined us in Atlanta for an incredible production of The Vagina Monologues at the Tabernacle. Jane Fonda, Pearl Cleague, Sara Blakely, and many others performed. At the end of the evening, Eve shared with us that the 10th anniversary of V-Day would be celebrated in New Orleans. She challenged us to show up and show up strong. Eve joined us again in September of last year for the Atlanta premiere of A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer and the Midnight Train to NOLA began to be born.

When we arrived at the Superdome, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Just being at the dome was a challenge for me, I was overcome by the images I had seen of the tragedies that happened there, and I felt like the dome was haunted by the pain and abandonment that was endured there. Entering the dome and seeing the amazing stage, the art, the people - we walked through the entrance which had been transformed by a large art installation into something like a vaginal canal, women dancing and drumming as we walked through the doorways. I felt the power of the energy, the fact that all of this started with one woman and a play, a woman who opened her life to a calling so much larger than herself. There I was, 8 years after I saw the play for the first time and my life was changed forever. The emotion took over and the tears began to flow in an overcoming wave. The community of women I was with surrounded me with love, touch, and empathy, and I was able to breathe again.

The journey of V to the 10th began there and turned into a series of moments that challenged and inspired me. Like that first time I heard the words, "We were worried. We were worried about vaginas..." my heart was changed again. I was there in the dome. I remember.