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Con gresswoman Cori Bush is a registered nurse\, community activist\, organizer \, single mother\, and ordained pastor for the people of St. Louis. Congres swoman Bush is serving her first term as the representative of Missouri’s 1 st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Sh e is the first Black woman and first nurse to represent Missouri\; the firs t woman to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District\; and the first activist from the movement fighting for Black lives elected to the United S tates Congress.
Congresswoman Bush has lived the struggles that many in her community face. She has personally experienced being unhoused and ev icted and is a survivor of police\, sexual\, and domestic violence. She cen ters those hardships in her fight for regular\, everyday people. Her missio n is to do the very most for all of the people of Missouri’s 1st Congressio nal District—starting with those who have the very least.
Born and ra ised in St. Louis\, Congresswoman Bush graduated from Cardinal Ritter Colle ge Prep High School and studied at Harris-Stowe State University before rec eiving a nursing degree from the Lutheran School of Nursing. She has served her community for more than a decade as a nurse\, clergy\, and childcare w orker. A relentless advocate for the unhoused community in St. Louis\, Cong resswoman Bush has spent years as a community organizer providing services and aid to her unhoused neighbors in the district. In 2014\, following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer\, C ongresswoman Bush spent more than 400 days protesting for justice — leading on the ‘Ferguson Frontline’ as a nurse and clergy. During the day\, Bush w as responsible for providing triage-medical care and resources to the commu nity that witnessed Mike Brown’s body laying\, uncovered\, for four and a h alf hours in the hot St. Louis summer sun. In the evenings\, Bush would ret urn to march for justice — surviving police brutality in the process. In th e years following\, she continued her activism as a co-founder of The Truth Telling Project and as a leader of the protest group #ExpectUS.
Desp ite being the daughter of a local mayor and alderman\, Congresswoman Bush n ever intended to run for office. Following the Ferguson Uprising\, Bush was asked to run for office by community leaders. Although she initially rejec ted their requests\, she pursued public office because she could not stand to see her son or daughter become hashtags of injustice without doing all s he could to protect them. She intends to legislate in defense of Black live s to ensure no family has to fear that their loved ones may suffer at the h ands of police. She also intends to center her experience as a nurse and as someone who’s been uninsured to advance policies like Medicare For All to guarantee health care as a fundamental right for everyone.
Congresswo man Bush is the recipient of the 2015 "Woman of Courage" Award from the Emm ett Till Legacy Foundation. In May of 2019\, she received the Herschel Walk er Award at the 27th Annual Herschel Walker "Peace & Justice" Awards. In Ju ne of 2019\, she was selected Top Nurse by the International Nurses Associa tion. In October of 2020\, the Jefferson City NAACP awarded Congresswoman B ush their prestigious "Trailblazer Award."
Like our nation’s first Bl ack congresswoman\, Shirley Chisholm\, Congresswoman Bush is unbought and u nbossed\, following a campaign in which she took no corporate PAC money. Sh e is accountable only to the people of Missouri’s 1st Congressional Distric t and will do all that she can to make sure every single person in her dist rict\, in our country\, and around the world lives a decent life.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about thing s that matter"
-- Dr. Martin Luther King\, Jr.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all Washington University School of Medicine sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this event\, please contact the Washington Unive rsity School of Medicine Office of Diversity\, Equity and Inclusion in adva nce at 314-273-2809 or M edDEI@wustl.edu.
This event is brought to you by the Office of Diversity\, Equity and Inclusion and the Office of Diversity Programs with a special thanks to the MLK Week committee members: Vicky Braun (WUSM IM- Gastroenterology)\, Joel Dalton (WUSM Diversity Prog rams\, Biology & Biomedical Science) Rosie Jones (WUSM Diversity Programs\, Biology & Biomedical Science)\, Valerie Joyner (Office of Diversity\, Equi ty & Inclusion)\, Dorian Pierce (BJCMG Access Center\, WUSM Otolaryngology) \, Liz Riggs (WUSM Diversity Programs)\, Poli Rijos (WU Center for Communit y Health Partnership and Research Institute for Public Health)\, Erin Stam pp (Office of Diversity\, Equity & Inclusion)\, James Zerkel (WUSM Becker M edical Library)
CATEGORIES:Diversity\, Equity &\; Inclusion LOCATION:Zoom (Virtual) GEO:38.634745;-90.262682 ORGANIZER;CN="hbrian":MAILTO:hbrian@wustl.edu URL;VALUE=URI:https://pediatrics.wustl.edu/events/event/mlk-week-congresswo man-cori-bush-panel-discussion-on-activism/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 DTSTART:20201101T070000 TZNAME:CST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR