Episode 8: Michelle Crentsil

Black Work Talk

In this eighth episode of Black Work Talk, host Steven Pitts welcomes Michelle Crentsil, political director for the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). The members of NYSNA have been through hell this past year dealing with the extreme conditions caused by COVID and federal government ineptitude. We talked about these struggles and the reality that the pandemic has forged greater solidarity among nurses and led them to advocate for structural changes in the health care system based on their experiences this past year. As the conversation moved toward Black workers, Michelle talked about the need to see how Black workers are impacted by race and class and the inability to see both of these intertwined factors will result in organizations being largely irrelevant to the Black community.