Fund Medicaid Not War! w/ the Nonviolent Medicaid Army
The Nonviolent Medicaid Army is picking up Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to build a nonviolent army of the poor to end poverty. We are uniting across all lines of division including the party divide and the urban/rural divide. We come together for support, survival and strategy with ALL whose families have been harmed and killed by this healthcare system that puts profit over our health and lives. We are fiercely independent from both political parties of Wall Street and we hold ALL power holders accountable.
How to participate:
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Use hashtags #FundMedicaidNotWar #FundSNAPNotWar #FundHousingNotWar #UniteThePoor #NonviolentMedicaidArmy #MedicaidCutsEqualDeath
Join the NVMA National Call Thursday June 26th at 7:00 pm ET/6 pm CT/5 pm MT/4 pm PT register here.
Hold a Fund Medicaid Not War! speak out or rally outside of a closed hospital, the welfare office, or another significant site.
You must agree to these NVMA Guidelines for holding your rally or protest.
Please complete this brief form if you’re interested in holding a Fund Medicaid Not War! speak-out or rally.
Speak at an upcoming action against war
Key points to make speaking at an action as part of the Nonviolent Medicaid Army
See an example video connecting the war economy/militarism with the healthcare crisis.
Share your story! Why is it important to you that our government fund Medicaid and not war? Participate in our #MedicaidMondays storytelling drive.
It was a sunny Saturday in Southwest PA on June 21st. The Nonviolent Medicaid Army warriors Barbara, Rica, Beni, Joe, Melanie, and Wendy gathered at Crawford Village in McKeesport to base build. This team was ready to bring in new people and get them involved in the movement to end poverty.
Wendy was able to assist a new contact with making an application for Medicaid. Melanie gathered name and contact information for future events & follow up. Rica did blood pressure readings for those interested. Finally, the three newest members also wrote out our Medicaid & healthcare stories to share on Facebook as part of Medicaid Mondays. It was a great day at Crawford Village!
Share your healthcare story as a part of our Medicaid Monday’s Social media campaign!
Rica and Barbara had distributed flyers a couple days before, having conversations with people about the healthcare crisis we’re in. We plan to return to Crawford Village for their Community Day in July, since this is a promising location to connect with our people!
Put People First! PA South Central Healthcare Rights Committee joined the “Peace In The Streets” Block Party event on June 14th at Culliton Park in Lancaster!
The event was held in honor of Kendell Cook and in remembrance of all the lives lost to gun violence to raise awareness, support healing, and promote peace in our communities.
It was an amazing day with the hosts providing plenty of food to eat, activities, music and sharing testimonials on the impacts of gun violence!
We handed out hundreds of Free Covid Tests kits and spoke with people about their experience with the healthcare system.
People of all ages, across all lines of division, stopped by our table to talk about their struggles getting the healthcare they need with many either contributing to our healthcare story board, filling out a legislative post card to send to their Rep or expressing excitement about the potential in getting involved with our People’s Clinics and other organizing efforts to ORGANIZE, PROTECT AND EXPAND Medicaid!
We are organizing across PA in communities like SOWE for Healthcare as a Human Right and for the transformation of our society to abolish poverty. Violence in our communities stems from poverty and the malignant system that denies us our human rights like healthcare, housing, food and water.
We are committed to building a grassroots, politically independent movement of Pennsylvania’s poor and dispossessed to challenge this system through fighting back against Medicaid Cuts, hospital closures, and the mental health crisis.
CALL TO ACTION!!!
Join the Nonviolent Medicaid Army as we organize to fight for our human rights! There are many ways to get involved in the movement to abolish poverty!
Share your healthcare story as a part of our Medicaid Monday’s Social media campaign!
Join us as we continue to build a Projects of Survival network in the South Central PA region with partners! Join us for our People’s Clinics, door knockings, legislative visits, educationals, and other events and activities!
Documentary screening of Healthcare in Cuba, a video about the 2024 Nonviolent Medicaid Army Brigade to Cuba
May 20, 2025
What if you could get the health care you need when you need it without worrying about a bill? Whether dental, medical, wellness, maternity, mental/behavioral, physical therapy, vision or hearing care, glasses or hearing aids, what if you could get it and not have to pay a bill? It would mean healthcare is a respected human right! It would be good, less stressful, you could feel better & live healthier and longer. And that’s what a group of Nonviolent Medicaid Army (NVMA) leaders found in Cuba, when we visited in the spring of 2024. We visited with doctors at their offices and at the Martin Luther King Center (CMLK) in Havana, sharing our experiences of healthcare in the U.S. and learning how Cuba delivers healthcare, their current challenges and what they have to share with the rest of the world that can help us build a movement for us to also have healthcare as a right for all.
A little over one year after the brigade, and to commemorate the anniversary of the first policlinico in Cuba which opened in May 1964, the MLK center (CMLK) screened the Healthcare in Cuba documentary, a video about the 2024 Nonviolent Medicaid Army Brigade to Cuba. A policlinico is a government-backed people’s clinic open to all. Natalia & Stacey, two members of the NVMA who hosted the screening, said they wanted to “deepen the relationship with the Martin Luther King Center and other folks on the island, building on the path of transnational unity of the poor and dispossessed.” The session was also important to thank the MLK center for hosting what we hope to be the first of many NVMA healthcare brigades, and to share about our current campaign fighting the Medicaid cut-offs in the U.S.
Some of those attending were Hilario, the husband of Dr. Barbara whom the 2024 brigade met and sadly died within the last year. Also attending was Dr. Manuel Raices who shared Cuban medical research with us, such as an injection for diabetic foot sores that could also save lives in the U.S. if it were allowed. Arianne, a medical student at ELAM; Alejandro from MEC, the student Christian movement; Nivia from MST, the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement; Dayanis and Leo from CMLK center solidarity team; Yohana and Marilin from CMLK coordination; Idael from Ebenezer church; Joel Suarez CMLK founder, and other CMLK folks and Edelso, brigade interpreter, were all in attendance to see the video and dialogue about it. Everyone agreed the documentary is very moving, and remembered the brigade as full of feelings, and very “human”.
Other comments from participants at the screening:
Nivia from the MST said we need to share this documentary in other exchanges, in Latin America and the Caribbean, and shared how Brazil is trying to privatize healthcare.
Nivia connected with the “coming here we confirm we are not crazy” phrase from Terrell. This is a deep insight from the brigade – we know a for-profit system is not good for us, and we are not crazy to be seeking healthcare as a human right.
Dr. Wilfredo pointed out the contradiction of people fighting for something so fundamental as the right to dignified healthcare (the fight for life itself) in the middle of so much abundance.
Dr Manuel Raices emphasized that wounds and ways to heal are not Republican or Democratic, communists or not, but they are human. “You cannot dispute data.”
Loyet commented on how surprised/impacted he felt by how visibly sick (physically and mentally) the U.S. society is. Natalia emphasized that we are organizing the most fundamental base, uniting the poor from all over the U.S.
Natalia commented: “Seeing Loyet of the CMLK and Dr. Wilfredo wear their NVMA shirts so proudly along with Stacey and I, reminded me of the red wave of “emotional thinking, and both raw and polished experiences” the brigade brought to the CMLK a year ago.
Our interpreter Edelso mentioned talking to Americans that he was translating for in Santiago de Cuba, and hearing about their healthcare stories and fears of going to the hospital.
The diversity of attendees and the depth of the post documentary discussion speaks to the strength of our relationship with the CMLK.
Why is the documentary important?
Stacey says “the documentary explains well not only how the human-centered Cuban healthcare system works, but also shows the values and humanness embodied by the doctors through their words. For example, Dr. Barbara Romero Sanchez shared how she sometimes tastes the food of families, or Dr. Raices expressing his sadness of how the blockade hurts the people in both Cuba and the U.S. in getting the care they need. And that’s powerful! Before I committed to studying abroad in Cuba, Joe (a brigade member) had mentioned to me Dr. Raices’s sentiments as a significant moment that helped him see how a society that puts people first also transforms the people in it. I also appreciated words from the brigade members in the documentary, who also give a glimpse of what we are fighting for as NVMA, especially for our Cuban audience that already understands the Cuban healthcare system.” Natalia added, “Having a tool to ‘show more than tell’ both the achievements and challenges of the healthcare system in Cuba, and the struggle for healthcare as a human right in the U.S, which can be shared in less than 20 minutes, is a tremendous win for our movement, IF we continue to use it to educate and agitate.”
How does this help build our leadership development?
Natalia commented on the commitment to build the movement of the poor & dispossessed, and clarity to stay on course despite busy schedules. Furthermore, she found this screening helped her build on her competence to speak & share about what we have in common, “because we are confronting the idea that says the poor from the north have little in common with our siblings in other parts of the world.” Stacey believes the event connected her more to the folks at the CMLK and Natalia, politically as well as socially. “It also felt like a good exercise to think through what to talk about for our CMLK audience based on the goals, especially how to make it clear what NVMA is fighting for, and how to show that solidarity between the global south and poor people in the U.S. is not only possible but makes a lot of sense.” And speaking about her healthcare story & the NVMA in Spanish helped build that competence. Stacey also shared that the Medicaid Mondays made the abstractions of the US health system more personal and allowed people to connect with our experiences and to connect with the idea that this is a movement led by the poor & dispossessed.
Photo credits: Alejandro Fernández Lezcano, Cuba’s Student Christian Movement
