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PSARA Oral Histories Project: Lou Truskoff Return to Oral Histories Main Page Lou Truskoff Interview PSARA Advocate Archives April 2022 Page 3 Interview With Lou Truskoff By Angie Bartels Lou Truskoff cannot remember a time in his life when he wasn’t singing. Some people believe that babies in their mothers’ wombs can hear their mothers singing, and thus the learning and love of music begins from the very start of life. Lou’s mother loved the popular music of the 40’s and sang throughout theday while she was pregnant. And music is most definitely in Lou’s blood. When he was a toddler, his mother played the radio constantly and Lou continued to absorb popular music. One of his earliest songs was I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire, by the Ink Spots, as his mother related to him in later years. “I couldn’t remember myself singing it, but the fact that I was singing it gives some indication that it was cool, at least to me.” Lou was born and raised in Clifton, New Jersey, only 15 miles away from New York City. His family lived in an apartment just a few blocks from his grandfather’s tailor shop. Everyone in the extended family was leftist. That’s in his blood too. When Lou’s mother, Anne, was 12 years old, she joined the Young Communist League with her best friend Ruth. Anne told Ruth that someday she would marry Ruth’s brother, Lou, and indeed she did. As Lou the second grew into a teenager and young adult, Aunt Ruth loved to spend time with him. .During visits to their home, she would discuss politics and made sure that “I knew this or I knew that, and so forth.” His Uncle Bill, from the time of early teenage years, would pull Lou aside and say, “This is a really good book," or “Here’s a really good magazine.” “Uncle Bill was a little different because he followed a different line of the various strains of the leftist parties. He believed that China had the real solution, and the rest of my family believed it was the Soviet Union.” Lou’s grandfather, the tailor, loved to fish, although “he didn’t catch many.” He would go out on the lake by himself while the rest of the family picnicked in a nearby state park. He would return to the family sunburnt and happy. “On the way home, grandfather would start up a song (they were from Czechoslovakia, it was in Czech). My mother knew it because she grew up speaking Czech, and my grandmother knew it, and pretty soon we were all singing songs that my parents knew from their Paul Robeson records. I would join in where I could. I always enjoyed that family camaraderie around singing.” Lou attended public schools within walking distance of the apartment. He fondly remembers those years even though “from 4th grade on, geography and things they taught us turned out to be so wrong.” But he did enjoy the exposure to a world that he had not been aware of. “I was reserved and shy and not willing to speak out with classmates or other kids in the neighborhood. I just didn’t think they would understand my family’s politics or might think that I was not patriotic.” Although it was public school, “Every morning we had the reading of a psalm, then bowed our heads and recited the Lord’s Prayer, which I finally learned. (At first I would mumble because I didn’t want the other kids to know that I didn’t know it!) And then we would stand up, face the flag, and recite the pledge of allegiance. Then we would sing, My Country ‘tis of Thee. When we got to the singing part, that was all fine, because I was willing to sing just about anything, even then.” Lou particularly loved the weekly school assemblies where teachers played the piano and led the singing. He said it didn’t matter what they were singing, whether hymns, patriotic songs, or pop and folk tunes. He loved it all. In his school, “The eighth graders got the privilege of strolling through the halls as a group and singing Christmas carols. "From an early grade, I looked forward to the day when I could be in that eighth grade group singing through the halls. And guess what? The teacher didn’t choose me. She was the best teacher I had, grades K-8, but for some reason, she didn’t choose me. I felt so bad. But I had this good friend, Bernie, who was Jewish. He sang Christmas carols too, and he was chosen to sing. He knew how badly I felt. So, he went to the teacher and said ‘Louis feels really bad about not being chosen to sing with us.’ And the teacher didn’t miss a beat. She immediately said, of course Louis can sing with us. So due to my friend’s good deed, I got to sing in the halls.” Lou studied piano for only 2 1/2 years, and that was the extent of his formal music training. He taught himself to play guitar in his last year of college at Antioch n Yellow Springs, Ohio. (He also met his wife Joan there). “My parents knew that I liked to sing folk music, so they got me a very nice nylon string guitar.” By then, at college, Lou was associating with people who “really knew their stuff,” one of whom played banjo and guitar very well. They formed a trio and performed at a couple of campus gigs. “We even made tape recordings of ourselves because we thought we were so great.” Lou would watch guitar players and learn new techniques by observation. “I have a very good ear. That helps a lot. I would listen to recordings and gradually I got pretty good at accompanying myself. I started singing harmonies, and now I can sing harmony to just about any song.” In the late 1970’s in Seattle, Lou thought that there should be music and singing on the United Farm Worker (UFW) picket lines and demonstrations that he and Joan participated in. He started playing and singing songs that were relevant to why people were standing outside of grocery stores handing out leaflets for the boycotts. He soon met Peter Costantini and Mark Aalfs, who also became involved with the UFW’s activities. It was natural for the three of them to play and sing for a cause they deeply believed in. They were soon joined by Mara, a blind woman who busked on the Ave. She became interested in the UFW, so she started learning all of the farmworker songs. “Sometimes we would make up lyrics on the spot: Sunsweet Raisins, Sunsweet Raisins, Sunsweet prunes, Sunsweet prunes, Boycott Sunsweet Raisins, Boycott Sunsweet Raisins, Elections soon, elections soon.” In the late 1990’s, Lou was one of the founding members of the Seattle Labor Chorus. But that is a whole other story for the telling. Although Lou loves the song I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire, the fact is, he has done just that. With his music and song, Lou has helped to keep the flame of hope alive as we continue in our fight for peace and justice. It’s a mighty long road, but a good song lightens the burden and brightens the day. I cannot imagine a life and a movement without the likes of Lou Truskoff. Luckily, we don’t have to. Angie Bartels is PSARA's Membership VP. This interview is part of a continuing oral history project.

PSARA Oral Histories Project: Larry Gossett Return to Oral Histories Main Page Larry Gossett Interview PSARA Advocate February 2023 Page 4 Part I March 2023 Page 9 Part Ia July 2023 Page 8 Part II August 2023 Page 8 Part IIa A Story of the Great Migration North (As described by Larry Gossett) By Angie Bartels Larry Gossett is a former King County Council member, a longtime activist, and a member of PSARA's Executive Board. Angie Bartels is PSARA's Membership VP. This story is part of a series of interviews she's doing with PSARA members. Angie Bartels is PSARA's membership VP. This is one in a series of interviews she's conducting with members of PSARA. The Gossett family joined the Great Migration of Blacks leaving the old Confederate States between World War I and the end of World War II. Nearly 6,000,000 Black people headed for northern cities during this time period. Joining this historic migration were Nelmon and Johnnie Gossett. Johnnie was born in Nigton, an all-Black town- ship in southeast Texas.Nelmon was born in Marshall, a very small country town also located in southeast Texas. They had met while students at Texas College, a small historically Black college located in Tyler, Texas. The only work available to Black young adults was picking cotton, so that is what Nelmon was doing in May, 1944, whenthe white boss paid him only one dollar for working from sunup to sundown. Nelmon was no fool – his slip said he wassupposed to get $1.75 that day. He protested to the white boss man and demanded his full pay. The white man replied,“Boy, you don't talk to me like that. You're not going to get no $1.75, nigger. You keep talking, I'm going to whip your assand have you put in jail!” Nelmon was extremely upset and wanted to argue. But he knew there was no way he could win, given the operations of the Jim Crow south. He went home to his new wife, Johnnie, and said, “Honey, we're getting out ofhere, this is it! These white folks are crazy. We are going to leave before I do something I will regret or die from… Where's that place where your sister Editha moved to?” Johnnie said she and her husband Woodson had moved to Seattle, Washington. Nelmon didn’t know where Seattle was, but he knew it was up north. Editha told her younger sister that her husband justgot a job in the war industry up in Seattle. She said they were hiring Negroes in the lower-pay- ing jobs. Nelmon and Johnniepacked their things and joined the Great Black Migration to northern cities. It was mid-July, 1944, when they got on the Greyhound bus heading to Seattle. They had a box of chicken to eat when they boarded the bus in Tyler. Neither of them knew how far Seattle was. After aday on the bus, they got scared and asked the driver, “How much longer before we get to Seattle?” He said, “It will takeabout one more day.” They both wondered, “Oh, my God, where is this place?” The bus driver explained that they weregoing up near Canada, which made them even more nervous. They didn't know what to do, so they just stayed on the busthat sec- ond day and eventually disembarked in Seattle. Nelmon got a job working at Todd Shipyards making $8 a day, way more money than he had ever made picking cotton down South. When they arrived in Seattle, Johnnie went to a doctor and found out she was pregnant with their first child. The only clinicthat would accept her as a low income patient was Thompson Clinic, located on East Broadway Street near the old KingCounty Hospital. When Johnnie, Nelmon, and Editha arrived at the clinic with Johnnie in labor during the early morninghours of February 21, 1945, the white nurse at the front office immediately saw that Johnnie was a “colored girl” and toldher she would have to pay $175 for childbirth care. Nelmon didn’t have any money on him, so the staff said Johnnie and Editha could stay, provided that Nelmon went home and brought back the money. They agreed, and Nelmon went to see if hecould hustle the money up. In the meantime, Johnnie’s water broke while they waited for a room. When the nurse announced to Johnnie and Editha that a birthing room was ready, they were told that this was the roomthey used “for colored girls.” As they walked into the dark and dingy room, the nurse went on, “You colored girls are always having babies, anyway.” The nurse went on with her ignorant and stereotypical lecture, “You colored girls know theroutine.” Then she left the room. Johnnie was only 20 years old and Editha was 26. Neither of them had ever had a baby.They just looked at each other in fear and anxiety. They were young Black women from the South, so they didn’t speak up.And unfortunately, they really didn't know anything about having babies. Johnnie’s labor intensified, and she thought that she had to go to the bathroom. There was a bedside commode, so Edithahelped Johnnie onto it. Johnnie felt like she was having “the worst bowel movement ever.” She kept pushing, and suddenlya baby popped out. The young women were stunned! The nurse had left the room, and neither Johnnie nor Editha knew what to do. Johnnie remembered that she had seen a movie recently with Nelmon in which a baby was born. She remembered the doctor slapping the baby’s behind to get it to cry. So Johnnie slapped her baby’s behind, and itbegan to scream. After the newborn started screaming, then and only then, did a nurse run into the room and finish thebirthing process of properly cutting the umbilical cord, etc. Johnnie finally asked, “What is my baby?” The nurse said he was a boy. Upon Nelmon’s return, he was told that he had aboy. Johnnie and Nelmon proudly named their baby boy Lawrence (Larry) Edward Gossett. Nelmon and Johnnie went on to have five other children: Brenda born in ’47, Ricky in ’49, Glen in ‘52, Theresa in ’53, andPatrick in ’55. And in spite of the ugly racism that weighed against them, they continued to have high hopes for their six children. Johnnie and Nelmon Gossett, Larrry’s parents, stayed with Johnnie’s sister, Editha, the first three months they were in Seattle. In October of 1945, they were lucky enough to secure a one-bedroom apartment in Duwamish Bend, a low- income housing project located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. During the end of World War II, it wasn’t easy for a newly married Black couple to move from the deep rural South to a bigNorthwest city like Seat- tle. Both Larry’s parents had lived their entire lives in rural Texas, where the racial restrictions wereenforced in an ironclad fashion. In addition to Larry’s parents receiving slave wages for jobs they did in Texas, it was illegalin the South for most Blacks to quit their jobs without the permission of their white bosses. Johnnie and Nelmon Gossett, Larrry’s parents, stayed with Johnnie’s sister, Editha, the first three months they were in Seattle. In October of 1945, they were lucky enough to secure a one-bedroom apartment in Duwamish Bend, a low- income housing project located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. During the end of World War II, it wasn’t easy for a newly married Black couple to move from the deep rural South to a big Northwest city like Seat- tle. Both Larry’s parents had lived their entire lives in rural Texas, where the racial restrictions were enforced in an ironclad fashion. In addition to Larry’s parents receiving slave wages for jobs they did in Texas, it was illegal in the South for most Blacks to quit their jobs without the permission of their white bosses. Larry said, “When my parents left the South, it was a veritable police state – they had to use separate toilets, water fountains, and restaurants. Blacks were treated as being inferior to ALL white people, and the police kept them under control.” In the North, the white man’s rules weren’t as restricted. Larry’s parents could eat in any restaurant they wanted. They could drink from any water fountain and use any toilet available. Neither of them was called “Nigger” in the days after they migrated to Seattle, but some of the fears learned down South remained within their consciousness. Around December of 1945, Larry’s parents got on a Seattle bus to ride downtown. The bus was very crowded, so they were not able to sit together. Johnnie sat in one of the horizontal seats, while Nelmon sat nervously nearby in a vertical seat next to a white man. After a few more stops, the white man next to Nelmon disembarked. About half a mile later, a young white woman boarded the bus and took the seat next to Nelmon. After a few more stops, Johnnie looked over at her husband and saw he was sweating profusely. Then she heard him say, “Johnnie, we gotta’ get off this bus. I am not feeling well.” They immediately got off the bus, and Johnnie nervously asked Nelmon if he needed her to try and get an ambulance. Nelmon responded, “No, I don’t need an ambulance, honey. The problem is that was the first time in my life I had ever sat next to a white woman, and I was scared to death.” This is a classic example of Black reaction to the ways of white folks in the North versus the South. Larry’s Daddy knew that if had he sat next to a white woman in the South – anywhere in the South – he would be attacked, beaten, jailed, or pos- sibly lynched. In Seattle, Larry’s Dad wasn’t sure what could happen to him if a white woman sat next to him. His southern conditioning made him very scared. By 1956, Nelmon had the best blue- collar job of his life – working for the United States Post Office in West Se- attle. And he had accumulated enough money to buy the family’s first house. Nelmon told Johnnie, “Honey, I want to look for a house out here close to the West Seattle Post Office, so I don't have to drive a long distance to work.” At that time, most Black people in Seattle lived in the Central Area, but Nelmon wanted a house in West Seattle close to his new work place. He went to not one, but two white realtors, both of whom told him the same thing: “If I show a Negro a house in West Seattle, I will get run out of business. But I will show you a house in the Central Area.” The first time he heard this, Nelmon got really mad and went home and devised a new approach. He decided that he would approach a second realtor differently than he did the first. He confidently told the second guy, “I'm looking for a house.” The realtor said, “Okay, why don't we take my car and check a few out.” Nelmon thought they were going to drive around West Seattle, but instead, the realtor drove onto 35th Ave SW headed towards the West Seattle Bridge. At this point, Nelmon knew his cause was hopeless and resolved that he would not get a house in West Seattle. Instead, he bought a house on the corner of 18th and Alder, right smack dab in the middle of the Central Area, where all their new neighbors would be Black. The Gossetts learned that white people in Seattle practiced de facto segregation. “There were no laws saying you can only live in the Central Area, but that was the only place a white real estate agent would dare show you a house. After that experience, Daddy started calling Seattle “up south.” He controlled his anger and got on with it, always working to get the best for his family where it could be gotten. For the first time in his life, Larry was enrolled in an elementary school that was 98.6 percent Black. “The only thing white about that school was the teachers, nothing else,” Nelmon said. But Larry, Brenda, and Ricky adjusted quickly and attended Horace Mann Elementary. Larry made a lot of friends at his new school. His friends introduced him to the Rotary Boys Club, where they played ping pong and basketball. In the 7th grade Larry was sent to mostly-Black Washington Junior High School. There he played on the varsity basketball team as a 7th and 8th grader. “When I was in 11th grade, my daddy purchased his second home on Beacon Hill. I transferred to Franklin High School, which by 1962 was 85 percent white. That was the first time that I consciously went to school with a majority of white kids, and I wasn't as scared as my daddy. I rapped on the white girls and they were responsive. That was an interesting phenomenon because when white man rules, you can't power talk to no white girl. I was an athlete. I wanted to stay at Garfield because I was a basketball player, they were a fabulous team and the kids I grew up with. But I enjoyed Franklin High School in ‘63. Now, I didn't have no racial consciousness or anything like that. “I dated white girls, many of them. Also, some of the white girls started the Larry Gossett Fan Club when I made the varsity Basketball Team at Franklin High School. They wore buttons that said Gossett Fan Club and they were 99 percent white. There was one Chinese girl who became a city council member, Cheryl Chow. She was in the Gossett Fan Club and went to high school with me. My sister kind of got fed up. One day, we’re just sitting around after school and she said, ‘Big Brother, so embarrassing. He doesn't shovel any coal, just snow.’ So Momma didn't know what Brenda was talking about so she says, ‘Brenda, doll, while we were living in High Point, your daddy and Larry shoveled coal into that furnace so we would have heat!' And my sister Brenda got upset with me. ‘Momma, he doesn't go out with any Negro girls, he only goes out with white girls!’ Momma said, 'Oh, that's what you mean! Well, honey, he can go out with whoever he wants.' Poor Brenda left the room in disgust. “I was an athlete in high school, and that had its privileges. I got pretty good grades because I wanted to play college basketball, even though I was very short, 5’7”. So I told my daddy that I wanted to go to junior college because I thought that would be my best chance to start in basketball. And Daddy said, ‘I have something else in mind for you Larry. I've already checked your grades. Your grades are good enough to get into the University of Washington.’ My daddy was the first person I ever heard reference the University of WA as the University of Washington. ‘And that's where I want you to go, boy.’ Daddy called me boy, I don't know where he got that from! And I said, ‘No, Daddy, I want to go to junior college.’ And then Daddy looked at me and said, ‘Boy, now I got to thinking. I'm gonna’ take you to the Registrar’s Office at the University of WA and enroll you.’ And I don't know if you're aware of this but back in the fifties and early sixties, you don't be saying ‘no’ to your black parents. I was 17 so I didn't talk back to Daddy. “The next week he set an appointment with the Registrar and he took me to the University of Washington. The Registrar and Daddy went over my transcripts and she said, ‘Yeah, Larry's grade point average is right up there. But he needs to take geometry.’ I'd had algebra and you couldn't get in the U back in those days without geometry. So Daddy said, ‘What can we do, because I'd like to get him in.’ And she said, ‘Okay, I will enroll him in the University beginning winter quarter, but not in September of ‘64. Then she turned to me and said, ‘I need you, this summer and fall, two quarters, to enroll in geometry at Central Seattle Community College.’ We were living on Beacon Hill then, so I could get over to Broadway easily. ‘But he has to get at least a C in geometry.’ Daddy said, ‘Yes, I'm going to enroll him in school to start winter quarter.’ So, I got a C both quarters, and they let me in the UW in January ‘65. So that's how I got to be at the University of WA. And I knew that I was way too small to try to be able to make the team at the UW. I wanted to but I didn’t get there until January, the third month of basketball season in college. So I didn't even try out. I just focused on becoming a graduate of the University of Washington.” Part II: Black Power Captures Larry Gossett’s Soul While in Vista The American war in Vietnam was escalating in 1965 as President Lyndon Johnson doubled the number of men drafted into the armed services. During this time, selective service requirements, deferments, and exemptions changed rapidly in the government’s efforts to make the draft appear “fairer.” By 1966, a draft lottery was instituted, which no longer provided exemptions to college students. Young men were all given a draft number between 1 and 366, corresponding to their birthday, and lower numbers were called up first. It was at this time that Larry Gossett's life changed dramatically. “I found out in late fall of 1965 that there were only two ways you could avoid the draft, and that was to join the international Peace Corps or the domestic Peace Corps, which was called VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). The international Peace Corps required a two-year commitment to serve poor people abroad. That made me nervous, because I had never been outside the boundaries of the United States. I had lived my entire life in Seattle, except for the brief period of time that I lived in Los Angeles. But because I learned that VISTA was only a one-year commitment for volunteers to live and work in a poor urban or rural area in the US, I decided to apply. That felt right to me, and fortunately, I was accepted. I became a VISTA volunteer in March of 1966 and was sent to Toledo, Ohio, for three months of training. “All our training instructors were professors or graduate students at University of Toledo. We lived and worked in the Black community of Toledo during our VISTA training. Like most cities in our country, Toledo was racially segregated. I lived on Door Street, and everybody on that street was Black and lived in big ghetto houses reminiscent of those located in the Central Area of Seattle. “Our instructors gave us an interesting list of exciting and inspiring books to read. The most memorable was The Other America, by Michael Harrington, an awe-inspiring historian. His book was very enlightening as it told the truth about what it is like being poor across our nation. I had never read any book like this before, and it had a surprisingly dramatic impact on me. This book made me realize the extent of poverty in Appalachia, among the poor Mexicans, and of course, poor Blacks and Whites. Mr. Harrington’s writing made me empathetic and caring about being poor in America. We were then assigned to read highlighted parts of Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown, another book which raised my awareness about a poor, young Black kid growing up in Harlem. The streets he had to survive on were far tougher than anything I had experienced in Seattle or even knew existed in our country. Once again, I was surprised by the feelings of anger and frustration I felt about what I had read. “Then our VISTA trainers introduced us to Before the Mayflower, a History of Black America, by Lerone Bennett Jr, one of America's top Black historians. This book, more than any other, made me realize how little of Black history I knew, especially being a third-year university student. I was already a junior at the UW but had never had a class that exposed me to reading this kind of history. Our VISTA instructors had us discuss what we read with them, but the process that proved most meaningful to me was the discussions following our reading of Rules For Radicals, by Saul Alinsky. I realized quickly why this book was a central part of our assigned readings. Mr. Alinsky got right to the point about what a VISTA volunteer’s duty and responsibility must be: “To serve and organize the poor, so that they will desire to be on the front lines in the battle to combat, eliminate, and liberate themselves from the crushing impact of poverty in America.” “By the end of the 12-week training period, my thinking about being poor in the United States was changing, and I had not yet been told where I would be sent as a VISTA volunteer. The head VISTA instructor finally approached me and said, “Mr. Gossett, you are going to be a VISTA in New York City.” He told me I would be working for an anti-poverty program called the Lower East Side Narcotics Center. He explained, “You’ll be working with young addicts and kids who were on the track to possibly becoming drug addicts.” I said, “WOW!” He concluded by explaining to me, “You will hopefully organize an anti-drug youth center for kids under 15 years old on the Lower East Side of Manhattan Island. “I became very excited but nervous about my VISTA placement. I had just turned 21 and had never been east of Idaho before I flew into Toledo a few months before. Now I was about to be sent for a year to the biggest city in the United States, the Big Apple, New York City! “Little did I know that my year in VISTA would become what I still consider to be the signature experience of my life. My flight from Toledo landed at LaGuardia Airport in mid June, 1966. I took a taxi straight to the Lower East Side Narcotics Center. When I got there, a staff person was awaiting my arrival. She had put together a nice packet of information about the agency for me. She had already told me on the phone that the agency had found temporary housing for me at the Henry Street Settlement House, located only a block from the agency. My room did not have a private bathroom, but it was very modern, comfortable, and secure. It was a cool place to spend my first few months living in New York City. Larry was certain his year in VISTA was going to be an important and meaningful life experience. To start it off, he told his family and friends back home in Seattle that he arrived in New York City just two weeks before Stokely Carmichael, the National Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), articulated a call for BLACK POWER. The phrase spread through all of New York City very quickly, but he reported that it had gone through Harlem like wildfire. Given the trajectory of his life, he felt it had been very fortuitous that he landed in a city so nice they named it twice: New York, New York. In retrospect, he felt very fortunate that he got there at about the same time the Black Power movement arrived. He remembers visiting Harlem and Bedford Stuyvesant, and greeting groups of Black people on the streets with the salutation “Black Power!” Larry said, “I remember greeting people in shops and at the office, ‘Black Power, man, Black Power!’ Everyone in the Black community began greeting each other with the phrase Black Power! so how could I have not been impacted by all of this? “I loved my work with the Lower East Side Narcotics Center, especially the satisfaction I got from setting up a youth center on 5th Street between Avenues C and D. This street was one of the poorest on the Lower East Side. About 80 percent of the youth we served were Puerto Rican and 15 percent were Black. Two other VISTAs worked on the project, and five NYU students came down regularly to volunteer and work with us for school credit. We built a very effective program for about 300 kids who joined the 5th Street Clubhouse within the first month of advertising the club's opening. We set up some of the best English-Spanish tutoring programs, which teachers identified as the best they had ever observed. We took hundreds of kids on field trips that emphasized cultural exposure. I remember in the fall of 1966 taking a group of Black and Puerto Rican youth to the Apollo Theatre to see Gladys Knight and the Pips. As soon as Gladys came out on the stage she said, ‘Black Power Y’all!’ Our youth from the Lower East Side loved it. The whole audience broke out in thunderous applause, responding ‘Black Power’ to her at least 15 times. On the subway home, the kids kept saying ‘Black Power’ including the 9 of the 12 kids who were Puerto Rican, not African American. I loved and learned from these very memorable experiences. Most of these youth had never experienced or thought that they would ever experience a successful drug resistance program. Juvenile counselors would come and check out our program and then work to replicate it. “I think that the Puerto Rican and Black history lessons we taught at the clubhouse raised all of these kids' consciousness about being Black and Puerto Rican in New York. These interventions made a huge difference in whether or not these kids passed their school classes. It also enabled them not to fight against their own people. In this regard, I was surprised how quickly they learned and remembered Puerto Rican and Black creators, who invented things like the concept of zero, the invention of the stop light, and filters that keep electric lights burning for a long time. They loved stories about the Black Buffalo Soldiers and the role they played in the West after the Civil War." Despite the sense of enjoyment I got from working with all these youth on the Lower East Side, I always had a special yearning to work in Harlem. I found out, after about six months of working exclusively on the Lower East Side, that VISTA was looking for supervisors to lead the expansion of their programming in Harlem. Our efforts on the Lower East Side made me a frequent visitor to the office that coordinated VISTA work in the five Boroughs of New York City. So when they found out I would be amenable to working in Harlem, we were able to work a plan where I supervised VISTAs in Harlem for four days a week and continued working about two days a week on the Lower East Side. I was excited because I was already spending a lot of time going to Black Power meetings and demonstrations in Harlem, organized specifically around the unjust effort by the US Congress to kick Adam Clayton Powell out of his House seat where he had been representing Harlem for over 20 years. They accused him of womanizing and missing important meetings. His constituents let it be known that they did not support his expulsion, but Congress successfully, for a short while, voted him out of his seat and called for a new election to replace him. “Harlem was the largest Black ghetto in the United States in 1967. I was told that more than 565,000 people lived in Harlem, nearly all of them Black, Puerto Rican, or Dominican. At the same time, Seattle had a population of about 600,000. But Seattleites occupied land about one hundred times larger than the 45-blocks-long and seven-blockswide space that Harlem occupied. “I was assigned to supervise four VISTAs at Harlem Youth, Inc. The first thing we did was a door-to-door survey on the most crowded block in Harlem. That block was 117th Street between Lenox and 7th Avenue. (Today, Lenox Avenue has been renamed Malcolm X Blvd.) We were also assigned to set up youth programs for kids 11 to 15 years of age on three other blocks: 122nd, 137th, and 143rd Streets. Our survey of 117th Street revealed that about 9,000 people lived in oldand dilapidated eight- and nine story tenement buildings. We couldn’t believe it was possible to have that many people living on one block. I had this same curiosity on the Lower East Side, so I got eight young students at NYU to help me go door to door on 5th Street between Avenues C and D. That block had an estimated 6,000 people living on it. About 1,000 were youth 10 to 15 years of age. This concentrated poverty really impacted and astonished me. I thought it unbelievable that any human being would be forced to live in overcrowded spaces, like the Lower East Side and Harlem. I'm from Seattle, where we had 250 people living on both sides of the street. Yeah, they were all Black, but in Harlem, they were all Black too. In Harlem and on the Lower East Side they had five, six, seven people living in every tiny one- and two-bedroom unit, on every floor, in these roach- and rat-infested tenement buildings that occupied every block. I read in the Amsterdam News, the Black newspaper of Harlem, that 60 percent of all the Black people in Harlem lived below the poverty line. “This survey made me dig out an article I had read in the summer of 1966, in The New York Times. It said that if every person in the United States were to live in New York City, and the population of each block would be based on the average number of people living on the average block in Harlem, which at the time was about 7,000 people, all 300 million Americans would fit on just one-half the blocks in New York City. This was a shocking reality to me, the estimate of how crowded these conditions in Harlem and the Lower East Side were. “In his autobiography, Malcolm X said that on average, two to three Blacks were killed every week in Harlem by police, that Blacks owned no more than two percent of all the stores on 125th Street, and that there was only one high school, Franklin, serving 565,000 people in Harlem – and nearly 70 percent of the students in Harlem dropped out of school by the 9th grade. These school statistics really shocked me. I recalled that in Seattle there were 12 public and 4 Catholic high schools, while Harlem had only one. That's how oppressed and segregated the African American population was in Harlem.” Larry became a frequent visitor to Michaux’s bookstore, (technically called the National Memorial African Book Store, but known to the community as Michaux’s), Harlem’s premiere bookstore, located on 125th Street. This bookstore was a great reservoir of Black history and culture. Larry started reading everything he could afford to purchase on Malcolm X and on past and present great Black writers, who wrote about the experiences of Black people in Harlem during the 20th Century. “One of the clerks in the bookstore with whom I had struck up a friendship said to me one day, ‘Larry, you should read something a little broader than just Black history. You seem to be serious about social movements. Why don't you read Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels? Why don't you read the Communist Manifesto?’ I replied, ‘Where I grew up, everyone says that Communism is bad and evil.’ He said, ‘You have to broaden your horizons. You need to be able to make interconnections between the struggles of poor people here in Harlem, Seattle, and with other places around the world. Karl Marx and Fred Engels will provide you with some good food for thought that you should be aware of. “His persistence had an influence on me, so I bought the Communist Manifesto. I took it home and read it, and went back to the brother who had urged me to read it. I said, ‘Wow, I wonder why I was never encouraged to read this at the UW!’ ‘What made the most sense to you, my man?’ he asked. You have to remember, I'm a descendant of Africans brought to America to work as chattel slaves for 246 straight years for no pay. It made sense to me when they said, ‘the people who do the work in any society or community ought to have a major say in determining where the fruits of their labor go and for what it is spent.’ Maybe they call that communism or whatever, but it made a lot of sense to me. I was thinking, why was I so scared to read stuff about socialism before? “In short, when I left Michaux’s bookstore, VISTA, and NYC at the end of my year and a half in VISTA, I was a radically changed man – philosophically, dress, attitude, values, everything. I even changed my name from Larry Gossett to Oba Yoruba. I would never go back to being bourgeoisie and brainwashed again. VISTA had changed me, the Black Power movement had captured my soul, and I was down for the cause and the people. “At the end of my VISTA term, I wanted to go back home. Many VISTAs stayed in the community that they worked in, but I always had the intention of going back home to Seattle. I landed in Seattle on September 15th, 1967, and my mother and youngest brother, Patrick, came to the gate of the airport to pick me up. But guess what happened? Both walked right by without recognizing me. I had a lot of hair, a big natural, and I wore a dashiki and African beads, and like other Black Power advocates, I wore sunglasses. Finally, I said the magic word, ‘Momma.’ She and Patrick recognized me by my voice. Momma looked at me and said, ‘Larry, is that you, boy?’ She kept calling me Larry, and I should have waited until I got home, but I said, ‘Momma, my n ame is Oba Yoruba.’ And she said, ‘Yuba who? Boy, I gotta get you home so your daddy can see you.’ I smiled confidently and walked to the car with Momma and my little brother, Patrick. “The entire Gossett family embraced the changes I had gone through, after a while that is, and supported me in my work for social justice through the Black Power movement we were about to establish on the campus of the University of Washington and in Seattle's Black community."

Ann Widger, Director, AFSCME Retirees Letter to Retired Federal Employees I have been working to protect Social Security for almost 30 years and I’ve never seen so many attacks against the Social Security system and the people who depend on it. They’re hoping you’ll stay quiet while they trample over many seniors' only source of income after retirement. Do you still trust them to protect the benefits you earned? Tell us where you stand. Just look at what they’ve done to Social Security — and it’s only June. Project 2025 architect Russell Vought — who admitted he wants to slash Social Security — is now running the federal budget. DOGE, under Elon Musk, demanded access to private Social Security data — and forced the acting Commissioner to resign when she said no. The SSA announced office cuts that guarantee longer wait times, delayed benefits, and total chaos for retirees and disabled workers. Musk went on national TV, called Social Security a “Ponzi scheme”, and declared it “the big one to eliminate.” Social Security is YOUR money and you are entitled to it. When a federal judge blocked DOGE from accessing your personal data, Commissioner Leland Dudek threw a tantrum and threatened to shut the whole program down. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly mocked seniors, saying his 94-year-old mother-in-law wouldn’t miss a Social Security check — and that only “fraudsters” complain. Reports surfaced that wait times for benefits are projected to skyrocket — from 236 days to 412. Deaths while waiting for disability could more than double, reaching 67,000 people a year. DOGE falsely declared living Americans dead or undocumented, cutting off their benefits without warning and putting their ability to pay their rent and buy groceries at risk. The Senate confirmed Frank Bisignano, a billionaire known for gutting jobs and services, to run the SSA. The White House announced plans to defund the Social Security Advisory Board — eliminating oversight just as the attacks ramp up. And that new commissioner? Bisignano admitted he had to Google the job. He didn’t even know what the SSA did — and now he controls benefits for 70 million Americans. And just last week, the Supreme Court ruled to give DOGE access to your personal Social Security information, even though many DOGE staffers are not properly training on accessing personal data and are not qualified to have access to such sensitive information. This isn’t politics. It’s sabotage. What This Means for You: Reports indicate a surge in early retirement claims, as individuals fear benefit reductions or disruptions to what is their main source of income. Social Security recipients have started noticing changes. Longer drives to reach the nearest office. Longer wait times on the phone. No response. One AFSCME Retiree — Louisa Pedraza — was told she would hear back soon about her Social Security. She heard nothing. The attacks not only strained the SSA's resources but the misinformation and lies spread by Elon Musk and his minions have also eroded trust in the system — paving the way for even more cuts. They said they wouldn’t touch Social Security. Instead, they infiltrated it, accessed private information, fired the staff, closed the offices, spread lies about fraud and threatened to shut the entire program down. Did they think you wouldn’t notice? Do you trust them with your Social Security? Tell us what you think here. In Solidarity, Ann Widger P.S. Social Security is more than just a program; it's a promise made to every American. It’s food on the table and a roof over the heads of millions of Americans. Let's ensure that promise is kept and that we’re not cheated out of everything we’ve worked for. Contributions or gifts to the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees PEOPLE (AFSCME PEOPLE) are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. All contributions to AFSCME PEOPLE are voluntary and will be used to support pro-worker candidates in federal, state and local elections. Contributions are not a condition of membership or employment and refusal to contribute is free of reprisal. Any contribution guideline is only a suggestion, and you may contribute more or less than that amount or nothing at all, and you will not be favored or disadvantaged because of your contribution amount or decision not to contribute. In accordance with federal law, AFSCME PEOPLE accepts contributions only from AFSCME members, executive and administrative personnel, and their families. Contributions from other persons will be returned. If you would prefer to donate to AFSCME PEOPLE offline, please click here . All content © 2025 AFSCME Retirees Privacy Policy

PSARA Lobby Day Training Thank you for participating in PSARA’s Lobby Day! To assist you in preparing for your day at the Washington State Legislature, we have put together the following training materials for you below. Bill status is ever changing and we will have the most up to date information on Lobby Day: Training Video: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (see below) Legislator Meeting Prep w/District Lead and To Dos (see below) 10 Advocacy Tips for Meeting w/your legislator (see below) PSARA’s 2025 Legislative Agenda and Bill Status Washington State Capitol Campus Map (click here for the map) Priority Talking Points (click here for talking points) 2025 Lobby Day Agenda (see below) Lobbying: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Legislator Meeting Prep w/District Lead and To Dos Your district lead will contact you with a zoom link, date and time to prep for the legislator meetings. Please attend that zoom pre-meeting. Please be flexible as legislators’ schedules change. Be on time. Please bring a boxed lunch including water. Follow the lead of your district lead during the legislator meetings. ·Stay on topic and PSARA legislative priorities. Meeting schedules will be tight. When you get to the Labor Council Office the morning of March 18, please find you District lead and stay with your group as much as possible. We will have coffee and a light breakfast/snack. 10 Advocacy Tips for Meeting w/your legislator Identify yourself – State your name and identify yourself as a constituent, if you are one. Be specific – Include the name and number of the relevant bill. Clearly describe the issue/problem and why the bill is necessary. Make it personal – Speak in your own words about why the issue is important to you, your family, friends, etc. Tell a personal story. Do your homework – Review your “talking points.” Learn something about your legislator. See below for legislative website links. Be confident – Your legislator’s job is to represent you. You may also know more about the issue than your legislator. Offer yourself as a source of information. Keep the door open for future conversations – Be passionate, but not rude. Be brief – Get to the point quickly and be specific about why you are contacting them. Limit your written documents to one page. Be factual – Make sure the information you provide is accurate. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so and follow up later. Make “the ask” – Ask the legislator to support your position on the issue. If the legislator will not make that commitment, ask them to read your issue paper, meet with you again, keep an open mind, if opposed. Show appreciation – Thank them for their time and follow up with a written thank you and send any materials you have promised. Helpful websites www.leg.wa.gov , https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/MemberInformation.aspx https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ PSARA Lobby Day Agenda 9:00 a.m. Meet at the WSLC for Lobby Day Overview Coffee/tea, breakfast rolls and fruit 906 Columbia St SW #330, Olympia 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. All Day Legislator Meetings 11:00-11:30 a.m. OIC Commissioner Patty Kuderer meeting at the OIC Building (Room TBD) 12:00-12:15 p.m. Speaker Jinkins meeting at the Legislative Building (Room TBD) Lunch on your own 1:00 p.m. Legislator Meetings Continued 2:30 p.m. Debrief at the WSLC 3:00 p.m. Head home Pam’s Cell for Support 206-650-0020

Documents and Presentations on the Privatization of Medicare and Documented Issues with Medicare Advantage and AOC Reach Resources: Don’t Privatize Medicare, Level the playing Field Below are additional resources to help you better understand the issue and hopefully join PSARA in taking action to protect Medicare. PS ARA Webinars/Presentations: Is Medicare Advantage Driving Your Providers to Despair? And Why You Should Care . Insurance companies may be forcing your doctor into a crises of conscience, learn more through this Webinar. "Fear & Loathing on the Way to Levelingthe Playing Field” Five National experts discuss PSARA’s strategy to Level the Medicare Playing field. " Is Medicare Advantage Preying on People of Color ” PSARA’s December 4, 2023 Webinar Featuring Dr. Claudia Fegan " Stop Raiding Medicare" Rally Aug 1, 2023 Highlights video "Pirates of the Medicar ibbean ” Slides presented by PSARA members Rick Timmons and Ellen Menshew "Pulling back the Curtain: Lies, Fraud, and Naked Profiteering in Medicare Privatization Schemes. ” Presented by Wendell Potter, Mr. Potter was previously an executive in the healthcare industry. He brings a unique perspective to the overall healthcare debate and the attempted privatization of Medicare. Mr. Potter is currently the President of the Center for Health and Democracy and also a Co-founder of Business Leaders for Health Care Transformation. Dr. Ed Weisbart is the Chair of the Missouri Physicians for a National Health Program. Dr. Weisbart has done three Webinars for PSARA: "Defending Medicare from ACO Reach" " Don’t Let Naked Profiteering Destroy Our Medicare" "We Can Reclaim Medicare From Greedy Profiteers ” presented September 13, 2023 Testimonials /Letters , personal stories and letters concerning Medicare Advantage delay and denial of care: PSARA member's letter to the Senate Finance Committee (Statementsfortherecord@finance.senate.gov ) Gary: Gary had emergency brain surgery. His doctors had a recovery plan. That plan never happened. Watch the video to learn why. Jacob: Too many families, like Jacob’s, are suffering from the predatory management tactics of Medicare Advantage insurers. PSARA is proud to have the support from the Be A Hero campaign to share these personal stories. We must never stop fighting to end the profiteering from these corporate predators. Please join us in this fight to “LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD”. Protect and expand Medicare! Rick Timmons: PSARA member Rick Timmons talks about how a slow approval process and delay in being able to schedule a surgery put his life at risk and significantly complicated his recovery from cancer. More information from other organizations: National Public Radio (NPR): Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans Bloomberg Law: UnitedHealthcare Accused of AI Use to Wrongfully Deny Claims (1) “UnitedHealth pushed employees to follow an algorithm to cut off Medicare patients’ rehab care” by Casey Ross and Bob Herman (Nov. 14, 2023). Link is a summary by Center for Medicare Advocacy "Level the Playing Field Between Medicare and Medicare Advantage ” talking points "2023 Convention of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Resolutions #2023.01” Washington State Labor Council passed this resolution on July 20, 2023. The resolution calls out the existential threat to Medicare as a public program that is coming from the privatized Medicare Advantage plans and ACO REACH – a threat that has intensified under the Biden Administration. The resolution calls for leveling the playing field between Medicare Advantage and regular Medicare as well as stopping the overpayments to Medicare Advantage companies and recouping the overpayments already made due to fraud by Medicare Advantage insurance companies. This is an excellent resolution for groups to adopt to communicate to their members and representatives their position on this issue. "Hospitals dropping Medicare Advantage because of Concerns with patient care " 8/16/23 by Diane Archer, Just Care "Grand Theft Medicare " 8/21/22 by Dick Conoboy, NW Citizen "The Stealth Plan to Privatize Medicare for All ", 8/24/22 by Rick Staggenborg, Counterpunch Physicians for a National Health Program resources on DCE/ACO REACH: https://pnhp.org/direct-contracting-entities-handing-traditional-medicare-to-wall-street/ 6/7/18: Kip Sullivan article on CMS evaluation of several "medical home" ACO programs: The verdict is in: All three of CMS’s “medical home” demonstrations have failed – The Health Care Blog 1/16/22: For background on the origins of the ACO REACH program, here's a short article on the key Medicare official who for years has promoted corporate interests in federal health policy. 2/24/22: American Journal of Managed Care https://www.ajmc.com/view/cms-redesigns-direct-contracting-into-an-equity-focused-aco-model 5/19/22: Biden’s Little-Publicized Medicare Privatization Scheme Is Starting To Raise Alarm Bells https://portside.org/2022-05-19/bidens-little-publicized-medicare-privatization-scheme-starting-raise-alarm-bells An excellent webinar that addresses the lack of health equity in the ACO REACH proposal. DCEs & REACH: Health Equity or Private Equity? - YouTube Robby Stern, President of the PSARA Education Fund, was interviewed by Richard Eskow about ACO REACH and the privatization of traditional Medicare. Watch the interview on YouTube by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/6FKFsxRs-Rw Robby Stern was interviewed on Twitter Spaces on Jan. 27 about the Medicare Anti Privatization Campaign. Link here: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1jMKgLrlaOjGL?s=20l Webinar with Rep.Pramila Jayapal and members of PSARA on ACO Reach and privatization of Medicare. Link HERE Read and Download PSARA’s Primer on Leveling the Playing Field

Save Traditional Medicare stop WISeR The Trump Administration has been busy devising a new threat to your Traditional Medicare benefits. On January1, 2026 they are introducing a new control on Traditional Medicare in a six state demonstration program, which includes Washington State. This program, called WISeR, is an attempt to control your medicare benefits by requiring prior authorization before you and your doctor can make certain medical decisions. The administration is outsourcing these decisions to private companies whose compensation will be based on how much cost savings they can generate by limiting or eliminating patient procedures. PSARA opposes this demonstration and we are in good company. On this page you can access Senator Patty Murray’s video outlining her opposition, WA State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer’s critique and concerns with the program, as well as the American Medical Associations letter in opposition to the program. This is an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to end traditional medicare in an attempt to further outsource Medicare to private equity companies. This despite the ongoing issues of private equities investments in the medical industry and Medicare advantage in particular. Our brief slide presentation below will provide you with more background on WISeR and what you can do to prevent it. (Double click on the slide presentation to expand to full screen) Click here to hear Senator Patty Murray’s concerns on President Trump’s WISeR Program for Traditional Medicare beneficiaries On November 7, Rep DelBene introduced HR 5940, the “Seniors Deserve Smarter Care Act” that would prohibit implementation of WISeR. Read WA State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer’s critique and concerns with the WISeR Program Read the American Medical Association ’ s letter in opposition to WISeR On December 6th PSARA Board Members Robby Stern and Anne Watanabe (hosted by Dan Grey and Evegreen State College) discuss the attacks on Medicare and Medicaid. Click here to hear the interview 1/15

Frieda Takamura

For more than a quarter century, Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA) has been active in fighting for older Americans, their children and their families. Working together for justice, equal rights and dignity for all of us in our retirement years. For more than a quarter century, Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA) has been active in fighting for older Americans, their children and their families. We engage in a variety of activities and educational work, including the production and distribution of our monthly newsletter, The Retiree Advocate . Our efforts are based on the belief that seniors, our children and grandchildren need and deserve: A lifelong, adequate, dependable income; Comprehensive, affordable health care, including prescription drug coverage; Taxes and utility bills we can handle Access to affordable housing, transportation, and social services; Support for our family care-giving responsibilities, and Quality time to relax and enjoy life with family and friends. This is your cordial invitation to join. If you wish to become a PSARA member, or renew your PSARA membership, you can write in via the U.S. mail, or join on-line with a credit card. For detailed information, please go to the “Membership and Renewal ." PSARA Board Members PSARA Officers Membership & Renewal Donate Contact Us Partner Organizations Social Security Works Strengthen Social Security The Stand - Washington State Labor Council Washington Fair Trade Coalition Just for Fun

Play Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Return to Oral Histories Main Page An Interview With Frankie Manning (From the April Retiree Advocate) "Before we integrated hospitals, the majority of Black people who died in the hospital died because the Black hospitals and wards were not well equipped..." By Angie Bartels From the time she was a child, a question gnawed at Frankie Manning’s mind. She was too young to express it, and besides, those things weren’t talked about at that time, but nonetheless, she wondered why “you would have people cook your food, but they couldn't sit at the table and eat with you.” Her grand-father was the last member of his family born into slavery, and what she did un-derstand from him and her parents was that all people had value, not because of the color of their skin, but because they are human beings. Ms. Frankie was born in Caldwell, Texas, a small town near College Station, which is home to Texas A&M. She was one of 10 children and grew up in the 1940s and 50s in this largely rural area when much of the United States was segregated. “And of course, all of health care was segre-gated. My family had lots of animals, and we grew all our food during those times. One of the things I learned is to take care of animals. And I was surprised as a teen-ager when I went to a hospital where one of my teachers was having her first child. I saw the conditions, and I thought it was fascinating that people treated humans less than we did our animals. It was one of the things that influenced my decision to become a nurse. The rest of my life is history, because I spent the last 60 years working as a nurse and nurse manager.” Ms. Frankie attended St. John School of Nursing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and gradu-ated in 1960. She quickly realized that all Black people were segregated into one part of the hospital called the Black wards – one for men and another for women. All of the Black patients were mixed in together regardless of diagnosis, whereas on the white wards, patients were divided into areas such as Med-Surg, Labor and Delivery, Infectious Disease, Mental Health, and so on. On the Black wards, there was absolutely no privacy. When the ward filled up, patients were discharged. “I noticed on my very first night at work that everything about the Black wards equipment, while the Black wards had old rusty things. Even the linen was sub-standard, and there was never enough of it on the Black wards. The supply closet was very limited, and you had to borrow. The white wards had separate clean and soiled utility rooms, while these rooms were combined into one on the Black wards, creating a high risk for infection and contamination. The big one was that a patient right out of surgery could be placed in a room with somebody who had an infection. That did not happen on the white wards – we always separated them out. You had to work twice as hard on the Black wards because of lack of resources. “I've known great nurses, no matter what color they are, great doctors, no matter what color they are. And much of this has nothing to do with color as much as it has to do with how human beings are valued. And I can tell you, before we integrated hospitals, the majority of Black people who died in the hospital died be-cause the Black hospitals and wards were not well equipped. They certainly weren't staffed well at all. You would have acute care wards in Black hospitals run by nursing assistants or LPNs, because there weren't enough nurses who would work on the Black wards, there weren’t enough nurses period.” Ms. Frankie chose to work on the Black wards because she knew she was a good nurse, and she wanted to give Black people the same quality care that the whites received. She said that Black people in the community often received little or no medical care at all. There were few Black doctors and nurses, and many people who did go to the hospital died. So there was little incentive or trust in the system. Those who survived their hospital stay often came home with secondary problems, such as infections that were contracted in the hospital. “When I went to Dover, Delaware, in 1962, I was the first RN who worked on the Black ward. All the rest were LPNs. So the standards for providing care to Black people were very poor. We had a staph outbreak, and it was primarily with our babies. We were taking the newborns out of the nursery to be with their mothers in the ward. The mothers were in the same ward as people with all kinds of infec-tions. The babies were coming back into the nursery with staph. We even had a baby who died. So that motivated us to change. I was in charge of the newborn nursery at the time. I said to the admin-istration 'We are not going to take the babies out to the ward,' because once I learned what we were doing, that there was an infant who died because of this, it made no sense to me. The chief of pedi-atrics agreed with me, and that caused a big stir in the hospital. But we moved the Black mothers over onto the white mater-nity ward, and after a couple of months, people stopped talking about it, and the babies got to be with their mothers." Ms. Frankie loved working with veter-ans. By 1965, when the Medicare Act was passed by Congress, she was working in a US military hospital in Japan where patients were not segregated by race. The Medicare Act required hospitals to desegregate in order to receive Medi-care reimbursement. Over a period of just a few months, hundreds of hospitals throughout the United States closed their Black wards and integrated their Black patients into the general hospital population. Ms. Frankie went on to have a very prolific career in nursing and nursing leadership. “We cannot eliminate Medicare or Medicaid. We have to make health care accessible to everyone, regardless of the sickness or ability to pay. My vision for an improved health care system would be one that is not so fragmented. When you’re in the hospital you see one doctor, the hospitalist; when you’re discharged, you have to go to many specialists. It’s crazy and so expensive! And we have to figure out how we can provide mental health care just like we provide care when someone cuts their leg, for instance. It’s unfortunate that we don’t treat many people beyond the emergency room. We have the knowledge and the resources to help our brothers and sisters. We can fix this, but unfortunately, it’s a matter of economics.” Ms. Frankie Manning, RN, BSN, MNA, worked over 60 years as a nurse, nurse manager, and adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific University, and Seattle University Schools of Nursing. She is currently retired and a longtime member of PSARA. Angie Bartels is PSARA's Membership VP. This is one of a series of interviews she's doing with PSARA members.

PSARA Oral Histories Project: Tony Lee Return to Oral Histories Main Page Tony Lee Interview PSARA Advocate January 2023 Page 4 Holding the 8th, Flipping the 3rd By Angie Bartels In autumn of 2020, the days were growing short while our democracy was hanging by a thread, as was the life of my latehusband Tony Lee. Tony was in the final throes of ALS. The White House was occupied by Donald Trump and his cronies.While many activists across the nation were on the move, local activists Peter Costantini and Tom Berry created Team TonyLee. Peter: I hadn't been that involved in electoral stuff for a long time. I volunteer with immigrant rights groups and have donesome canvassing with them. But in 2016, when Trump was the candidate, it gave me a kick in the butt. I thought, we've suddenlygot a movement that is white nationalist, fascist in many ways, and international. I started to get scared and got to thinking, we really need to do electoral work, as it’s the most immediate way to slow it down and reverse it. Tom: We had all spent time with Tony over the years, including during those last few years when he was not able to be politicallyactive. When the 2020 election rolled around and we felt we needed to get organized, our thoughts certainly went to Tony. Wehad many political discussions with him, so we had a sense of which side Tony would be on and which candidates he was mostenthusiastic about. It seemed logical when we organized ourselves to memorialize Tony in that way. They invited numerous friends to sign up, myself included. We worked with various grassroots organizing groups and pennedthousands of letters and texts. We called voters in English and Spanish in states across the nation. We met on Zoom andtalked about our experiences and compared notes. It was the height of the COVID lockdown, and everything was done remotely. Early in the morning, five days after election day 2020, a friend called and told me the final presidential election results. I rushedover to Tony and said, “Wake up, Tony! It’s confirmed! Biden won!” No longer able to speak, he blinked acknowledgement. Five days later, Tony passed away. As we approached the election of 2022, the preservation of democracy was still at stake. InWashington State, Kim Schrier was threatened in the 8th CD, and a new candidate, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, had a decentshot to flip the 3rd CD. Once again, Peter and Tom reignited Team Tony Lee. Tom became our point person for the 8th and Peterfor the 3rd. They contacted staff from the campaigns and found volunteer activities for Team Tony Lee. They kept the Teaminformed through articles, position papers, and policies of the candidates. They organized carpools for canvassing. Peter: I realized that once Marie and Kim won their primaries, there were two races in Washington that could have an effect onthe balance in the House. And their districts both have large rural areas. I haven't had much experience with rural Washington,but that motivated me, because I think it's good for us city people to get more of a sense of what's going on there. Tom: It was eye opening in terms of getting to know different parts of the 8th CD. I guess I have an image of the 8th CD asconservative and suburban. We canvassed in parts of Issaquah that were much more working class and even low-income. We alsowent to parts of King County where there was a fair amount of ethnic and racial diversity. It was interesting to see the scope of the 8th CD and what Schrier was dealing with in terms of fashioning her particular kind of politics. I don’t believe anyone canvassedeast of the mountains, so we have little insight on that. Peter: In the 3rd CD, Marie's campaign focused heavily on rural America. One of her TV ads has her walking down a gravel roadcarrying a chainsaw. She’s talking about how she lives in rural Skamania County, how she and her husband built their home. Shethen starts the chainsaw and cuts down a tree. Marie sets herself apart from “Seattle Democrats,” and apparently there’s aweakness in the Democratic Party across the country -- people who can speak to rural concerns. Tom: I agree, it’s a national issue. But I think it’s important, the fact that Kim and Marie were behind in the rural counties butwon big enough in King (for Kim) and Clark and Pacific (for Marie) to carry them to victory. So all of these votes count. But it is important to reduce that dynamic of the cities and the ruralareas being in conflict with each other. It’s positive that both of them were trying to focus on that. Peter: I think that was one of the things that really drew me to the Marie Perez campaign – a desire to get out and meet the folks in Longview and Kelso, Centralia, and Chehalis. That's where I spent most of my time canvassing. Angie: Yes, me too. I wanted to see where people live, how they live, what their concerns are, and how open they are to speaking with you. I loved canvassing in Kelso, because in many ways it felt like the town where I was raised – poverty, dilapidated houses, and multi-generational homes where people lived together, not by choice but by necessity. There were Joe Kent signs everywhere, but the majority of people I spoke with were kind and appreciated the information. A few people told me to “take my flyers and get the hell out of here,” which I did willingly. But most people were friendly. Peter: Yes, the poverty. I really didn't realize how much of an industrial and union town Longview, especially, is. Someone told me that the ILWU in Longview had gone Republican. At least some of the officers’ support and leadership supported Trump, which was surprising and depressing. But there are other labor unions, and it was encouraging to see them turn out for Marie. Angie: Before one canvass in Longview, Marie spoke and gave an orientation on where she was taking the campaign. She said right up front, we are not Seattle; what we need in our area are good, decent-paying jobs and training for people to get back into the trades where they can make a living wage. She also supports the Second Amendment. But she made reproductive rights a part of the forefront of her campaign, as well as the jobs and living wage issues. Peter: Yeah, when I talked to people, I tended to emphasize jobs in the trades, and the fact that they hire apprentices and are supportive of community colleges. I thought that was good policy. For the tiny sample of people I talked to, I think it was well received. I mean, it's playing very much against the national Republican stereotype of rich, elite Democrats on the coasts. The three of us and other team members agreed that canvassing made us feel good. Even if you don't know how that person will vote after you walk away from their door, at least you've made contact and have made a connection. Doorbelling is an intrusion, but it’s heartening when someone answers the door and has a reasonable conversation with you. Peter: Towards the end, there was an editorial from the Colombian, a Vancouver newspaper, in support of Marie. We gave that to people who wanted more information. I think it helped because it’s different from campaign literature and more valuable. The article made comparisons between the two candidates, which was exactly the information we wanted to give. Kim Schrier’s victory over Matt Larkin was a huge relief. Marie’s upset over Kent was amazing, one of the few in the country that defied predictions and flipped the seat from red to blue. Marie was declared the victor on Saturday, November 12, the second anniversary of Tony’s death. I had spent the day quietly at home, and in the late afternoon, I received a text informing me that Marie had won. Reverently, like the good Catholic girl that I used to be, with folded hands and teary eyes raised to the sky, I said, “Tony my love, this one’s for you.” Angie Bartels is PSARA's membership VP. This article is one in a series of interviews she's conducting with PSARAmembers.