Inspiration for Activism Part I

Rula Al Safar

/ Peggy L Chinn / Leave a comment

Inspiration for Activism

  • Advocates for medical neutrality
  • Stood up to injustice in Bahrain during the Arab Spring in 2011 & put her life on the line to treat injured protesters.
  • Jailed & held for 5 months in a Bahranian prison where she was tortured.
  • President of the Bahraini Nursing Society

More information here and here

Harriet Tubman (1822-1913)

/ Adeline Falk-Rafael / 2 Comments

Inspiration for Activism

  • Escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist
  • “Conductor” on underground railroad, leading many to freedom
  • Worked as a nurse, cook, and spy in U.S. Civil War
  • As the first woman to lead an armed expedition in war, led Combahee River raid in South Carolina, freeing more than 700 slaves.

More information

Carolyn McCarthy (1944 – )

/ Peggy L Chinn / 2 Comments

Inspiration for Activism

  • Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York’s 4th district. In office Carolyn_McCarthy_2012_portraitJanuary 3, 1997 – January 3, 2015.
  • Tireless advocate for gun control
  • Pursued legislation benefiting the elderly, including hearing loss detection, prevention & treatment, pushing for affordable hearing devices for all.
  • Fought for special education and health services for children
  • Always stated in interviews: “I am a nurse and I look at the issues from a nursing perspective.

More information

See the recent policy statement on gun violence from the American Academy of Nursing

Cathy Crowe (1952 – )

/ Adeline Falk-Rafael / 2 Comments

#3 “Inspiration for Activism”

  • Canadian nursing activist
  • Appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada (1998) for her tireless work in advocating for adequate and affordable housing and in its absence, advocacy for safe and sufficient shelters for homeless people
  • Co-founded (1998) with other social justice advocates, the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC), which equated homeless, a social disaster, with natural disasters
  • Co-founder of Nurses for Social Responsibility and co-editor of its magazine “Towards Justice in Health”
  • Wrote 2 books and participated in numerous documentary films about homelessness
  • Put forward a number of resolutions to professional nursing organizations, urging them to take action on a variety of social injustices witnessed by nurses who care for homeless and disenfranchised people
  • Speaks truth to power – policy makers, newsmakers

Visit Cathy’s website more information

Jo Ann Ashley 1939-1980

/ Peggy L Chinn / 4 Comments

# 2 “Inspiration for Activism”

  • Leading voice in nursing for 2nd wave feminism
  • Author of landmark book “Hospitals, Paternalism and the Role of the

    Jo Ann Ashley

    Nurse” uncovering the history of gender and class bias in healthcare

  • Advocate for nurses to claim the right to control our own practice, to demand safe working conditions, to practice to the full extent of our education, and to fight for economic justice.

More information:

Jo Ann Ashley papers, 1942-1980. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/live/files/1826-pu-n-mc-115-jo-ann-ashley-papers

Kagan, P. N. (2006). Jo Ann Ashley 30 years later: legacy for practice. Nursing Science Quarterly, 19(4), 317–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318406293121

Wolf, K. (Ed.). (1997). Jo Ann Ashley: Selected Readings. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Retrieved from https://market.android.com/details?id=book-242diP_sDdkC

View Video

On September 2, 1976, WNED public television in Buffalo, New York, produced a segment as part of their “Woman” Series titled “New Image for Nurses: Part 1“. This episode featured a conversation with Jo Ann Ashley, Ph. D., June Rothberg, Ph.D.,  and Jean Spero, Ph.D.Dr. Ashley was an Associate Professor of Nursing at Northern Illinois University. She was also on the board of trustees of NCAP (Nurses Coalition for Action in Politics) at the time of the interview. Dr. Rothberg was Dean of the School of Nursing at Adelphi University. She was a co-founder of NCAP and the immediate past president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Dr. Spero was Dean of the School of Nursing at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She was Chair of the Board of Review of Baccalaureate and Higher Degree Programs of the National League for Nursing.

The video portrays Jo Ann’s fiesty and courageous personality!  She was fearless in speaking the truth. The archive video is available here. 

Follow up to this session: https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_81-440rz1r6