SHARE honors Dr. King’s approach to the truths and paradoxes of our complex reality, and his influential ideas about love, nonviolence, and justice.
MLK AND HEALTHCARE
Dr. King recognized the stark disparities in health outcomes and access to care among diverse communities. His advocacy underscored the fundamental right of every individual to access quality healthcare, regardless of socioeconomic status, race or background. Dr. King championed specific changes in programs and policies to reduce racial inequity in social determinants of health.
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.”
MLK AND ORGANIZED LABOR
During the Civil Rights era, hospital and healthcare workers were left out of labor laws. Our work was not considered “real work” by politicians in Congress. Dr. King, together with Corretta Scott King, campaigned for years to ensure that hospital workers won the same right to form a union. After Dr. King’s death, Coretta served as the national chairwoman of the hospital workers organizing committee with 1199 SEIU, which successfully changed the law in 1976 to cover hospital and healthcare workers.
“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
REALIZING THE DREAM
This story is not over, however. The arc of history is long. Harsh inequalities still persist in our workplace. SHARE CHA recognizes these disparities and our obligation to continue the tradition of nonviolent social change. We are grateful to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s model as we foster our relationships with each other, and work to take care of those around us.
“We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself. We will try to persuade with our words, but if our words fail, we will try to persuade with our acts.”
OUR FUTURES ARE INTERTWINED
We have succeeded in organizing, and we will ultimately win our union. With our union, we provide ourselves with an independent source of power, the right to negotiate, and a collective voice. Our success as clinicians is closely linked with our broader community and with the success of our hospital. We form our union not only for us, but for our patients. We work together to bring about social change and address injustices in healthcare.
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’”
