Watch video of Alondra Nelson, associate professor of sociology at Columbia University, speaking at Vanderbilt University Nov. 8.

Typically associated with the revolutionary rhetoric and militant action of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Black Panther Party did significant and lesserknown work pursuing equality in the health care system. Efforts included a network of free health clinics, a campaign to raise awareness about genetic disease and challenges to medical discrimination.

Nelson, the author of Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination, discusses the legacy of this advocacy as well as the relevance today in the campaign for universal health care.

The talk was sponsored by Vanderbilt's Center for Medicine, Health, and Society.