Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/854923
20 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 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 M AY | J U N E 2 0 1 7 U nder the rallying theme, "Beyond Resistance," National Nurses United RNs and its allies convened in Chicago this June for the second consecutive year at the People's Sum- mit—an event that has instantly become the country's most important annual gathering of preeminent progressive activists and organizations jointly committed to building the social movement needed to win social, economic, racial, and environmental justice in the United States and more. "We are brothers. We are sisters. We are fighting for the same thing," said Jean Ross, RN and a copresident of NNU, during one of the summit's opening presentations. "I recog- nized as a nurse years ago that what my patients and family mem- bers were saying about how poorly their lives were going, and it was getting worse, was not going to be changed just by what I did through my union at my hospital. I couldn't continue to patch them up at the hospital every day and send them back out into a world where sometimes they didn't have a home to go back to, where they didn't have any insurance to back them up to do the care they need- ed when we gave the discharge instructions. This is not the world I was born into. This is not the world that we should expect for our children and grandchildren…We have to change our political system and I am bound and determined to do it." For three days, activists from around the country shared stories and strategies through workshops, gained political education in seminar courses, heard from some of Ameri- ca's most prominent progressive thinkers, and collaborated on next steps for action in their hometowns, districts, and states. "We're not just here to hang out," said Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist who helped organize the 2017 Women's March and is a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. "I want you to show up at the different programs and trainings. People worked hard to provide a program to give us all the skills, resources, and tools we need to continue to ignite this political revolution. I want you to build transformative relationships. Give out your phone number and your email. Get to know one another. You know why? Because we can only protect one another if we know one another." Some of the highlights of the summit included hearing from Jane Sanders about her new Sanders Institute, a nonprofit pursuing pro- gressive solutions to social, economic, racial, and environmental issues; from grassroots activists like Tobita Chow of Chicago's Peo- ple's Lobby and Rukia Lumumba of Malcolm X Grassroots Move- ment in Jackson, Miss.; from notable journalists such as Naomi Klein and Amy Goodman; from progressive firebrand Nina Turner, a former Ohio state representative who is outspoken about rejecting STAFF REPORT SomeAssemblyRequired At the 2017 People's Summit, the country's most progressive thinkers and doers gathered to continue building our collective movement for social, economic, and racial justice.