Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/1305400
character of racism and how that impacts health care, how that impacts policing, how that impacts incarceration," said panel guest Angela Y. Davis, activist, academic, author, and professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "And so I think the most important way to think … is to ask what can I do, how can I create new arenas for struggle?" In a year when the need for guaranteed health care for all was more obvious than ever, Medicare for All was also top of mind. "Do you know how many people lost their health care where our international guests live? Zero. Because health care is a right in their countries, not a fringe benefit … It's never been clearer: We need Medicare for All," said Sandy Reding, RN, of Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., who also stepped up as a new CNA/NNOC pres- ident during the convention. Continuing education courses covered critical topics such as Covid-19 and the climate crisis, the future of our health care system, healing the Covid-19 economic crisis, and more. With Burger point- ing out that "business as usual is not working for the vast majority of our society," panelists also spoke about growing grassroots power. "We have no choice but to build a mass movement that is prepared to challenge the bosses, the white supremacists, the corporations, local state and federal government, anyone who is prepared to make profit and power off of our suffering," said Thenjiwe McHarris, leader and strategist in the Movement for Black Lives. Of course, no convention would be complete without some cele- bratory performance. So we were truly honored to experience two evenings of entertainment by big-name performers who expressed their love for nurses through art. On Sept. 9, we witnessed the world J U LY | A U G U S T | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 25 onal Gathering solidarity was real. B Y K A R I J O N E S THIS PAGE clockwise from top left: CNA/NNOC Presidents Zenei Cortez, RN and Cokie Giles, RN introduce that day's events; major stars such as Lily Tomlin gave life to historic speeches and writings in The People Speak per- formance; and a plenary on racial justice featured Angela Davis, Thenjiwe McHarris, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Cathy Kennedy, RN, with Khadijatu Kabba as host. OPPOSITE: The CNA/NNOC convention featured original artwork by noted artists of nurses in personal protective equipment.