Summer Book Club starts July 16
The summer season of the Local 3005 bookclub is kicking off Thursday July 16th from 12-1PM in Gotham Room 19-27 and on zoom. We'll be reading Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination by Alondra Nelson.
Please contact L3005.book.club@gmail.com if you would like to join book club, host in-person meetings at your worksite, or borrow a copy of the books.
In Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination, Alondra Nelson examines how the Black Panther Party’s community health programs became a powerful tool in the struggle for racial justice. Through free clinics, health education, and advocacy, the Panthers challenged medical discrimination and advanced the idea that healthcare is a fundamental right. Nelson shows how grassroots organizing around health laid the groundwork for ongoing efforts to address racial inequities in medicine and public health.
Goals:
- Examine how the Black Panther Party connected health care, racial justice, and political organizing, using collective action as a tool for social change and community empowerment.
- Explore historical examples from the Panthers’ health programs, community clinics, and advocacy efforts to identify strategies used to challenge medical discrimination and address systemic inequities in health care.
- Reflect on the relationship between public health and social justice, and consider how lessons from the Panthers’ health initiatives can inform contemporary efforts to advance health equity and community well-being.
Calendar:
July 16, Introduction: Serving the People Body and Soul
July 30, Chapter 1: African American Responses to Medical Discrimination before 1966
August 13, Chapter 2: Origins of Black Panther Party Health Activism
August 27, Chapter 3: The People’s Free Medical Clinics
September 10, Chapter 4: Spin Doctors: The Politics of Sickle Cell Anemia
September 24, Chapter 5: As American as Cherry Pie: Contesting the Biologization of Violence
October 8, Conclusion: Race and Health in the Post–Civil Rights Era