Much of the assembly focused on revealing and analyzing the polit-
ical and economic global forces, led by transnational corporations and
right-wing governments, that are putting the squeeze on working peo-
ple to extract as much profit as possible from our labor, from our
public resources, and from our planet. Conversely, nurses and allies
shared their stories of organizing, of challenges, and of victories in
their struggle for health care, social, economic, and racial justice.
Many of the assembly speakers praised nurses for their special
role in society. "Your ability to connect people, through the work that
you do and people's trust in you, will continue to save lives," said
Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, San Francisco Bay Area office.
Indeed, many of the panelists encouraged nurses to conceptual-
ize their caregiving work and mission as the antithesis of
profit-seeking corporations and endeavors. "I call care work 'the
work of life,'" said Tithi Battacharya, an associate professor of South
Asian history at Purdue University and author of Feminism for the
99%. "This life work is a prerequisite to building the rest of society."
Noted author and activist Naomi Klein pointed out how caring
for patients, caring for people is, in contrast to the fossil fuel industry,
A Whole New World
