A large and appreciative audience turned out last night for the screening of "Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution" at the DC LaborFest's February screening at the Takoma Busboys and Poets. The crowd included a number of nurses and health professionals from co-sponsors National Nurses United and the DC Nurses Association, who were moved by the gripping story of how the twin struggles for racial justice and healthcare intersected in the 1960s to create Medicare and desegregate thousands of hospitals at the same time, virtually overnight. A spirited discussion after the screening focused on local struggles -- including Providence, and the new East End Hospital -- and the need for Medicare for All. The film will screen again next Tuesday at the Shirlington Busboys and Poets; RSVP here.
photo: NNU's Steven Frum at post-screening discussion; photo courtesy NursesHealDC Twitter feed
photo: NNU's Steven Frum at post-screening discussion; photo courtesy NursesHealDC Twitter feed