Citizen Actions

Below are only a few examples of many citizen actions over the last few years. Prior to 2009 the media tended to do very little national reporting of these actions. So it is no surprise that most Americans know very little of the complete list of citizen actions. They are too numerous to mention here, because the supporters and teams related to this website are focusing on the Million Letters campaign and on the real life stories.

Connecticut

• June 1, 2007 — 22 arrested in Hartford sit-in at capitol
  • Video 3:32 minutes
  • Organizations, as reported by www.pww.org: Local 371, United Food and Commercial Workers; Region 9A, United Automobile Workers; American Federation of Teachers; International Association of Machinists; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the Teamsters, the Service Employees International Union; Working Families Party; and Connecticut Citizens Action Group.

New York

• March 29, 2007 — 30 arrested in New York City, 8 reported on video to be PNHP members
  • Organizations: AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and supporting organizations
  • ACT UP’s New Urgency
  • ACT UP renewed, and transformed
  • Video 4:59 minutes — stop this video promptly at 4:35 minutes if you prefer to not see a sign at the end of the video with foul language

Texas

• March 20, 2008 in Houston — Medical student association demands healthcare for all
  • “About 1,000 medical students and their supporters held a rally here at city hall Mar. 14 to demand healthcare for all. The event was organized by the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) as part of its annual convention and supported by the local SEIU and Justice for Janitors movement.”
  • “Our association is in favor of a single payer system. That would cover everyone within our border regardless of income, race, citizenship or economic status,” (Bennett) concluded. “We believe you should be able to see a doctor if you’re sick.”
    • Leah Bennett, who is the Health Disparities Task Force coordinator for AMSA and a medical student at the University of Arizona at Tucson told the World, “We’re an association of 70,000 medical students from across the country. We have a 40 year history of fighting for our patients.”