Bread & Roses Film: Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution
Date and Time
Feb 19, 2019 6:00 pm
Location
Takoma
235 Carroll St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20012
Feb 19, 2019 6:00 pm
Takoma
Bread & Roses is a monthly labor series that features a variety of events focused on workers and organized labor. Each month brings a new topic through interactive discussions, film screenings, and performances. The hope for these events is that attendees walk away with a greater understanding of organized labor, its role in shaping history and current relevance. The name "Bread & Roses" was inspired by a poem/song written by James Oppenheim that appeals for both fair wages and dignified conditions.
Bread & Roses (Takoma): Film: Power to Heal: Medicare and the Civil Rights Revolution
Tue, February 12, 6pm – 8pm
56 minutes; Directed by Charles Burnett & Daniel Loewenthal
Narrator: Danny Glover
Hosted by the DC LaborFest. Co-sponsored by National Nurses United (NNU)
FREE; RSVP here
The untold story of how the twin struggles for racial justice and healthcare intersected: creating Medicare and desegregating thousands of hospitals at the same time. This is an especially timely story with the ongoing local struggles at hospitals, including Providence, East End, Holy Cross and more.
POWER TO HEAL tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country practically overnight.
Before Medicare, disparities in access to hospital care were dramatic. Less than half the nation's hospitals served black and white patients equally, and in the South, 1/3 of hospitals would not admit African-Americans even for emergencies.
Using the carrot of Medicare dollars, the federal government virtually ended the practice of racially segregating patients, doctors, medical staffs, blood supplies and linens. POWER TO HEAL illustrates how Movement leaders and grass-roots volunteers pressed and worked with the federal government to achieve justice and fairness for African-Americans.Â
