Press Release

Grupo La Meta Partners with Nurses on Concert for Bernie Sanders

Wednesday, May 11, West Capitol Steps, Sacramento, 12 p.m.

Modesto, Calif. band Grupo La Meta, who recently gained national attention for their song "El Quemazón” (“The Bern”)—a corrido for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders—will be joining California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) for a special concert in support of Bernie’s campaign, on Wednesday, May 11 on the West Capitol Steps in Sacramento at noon (please note this is a location change from a previous press release).

“We’re excited to work with the nurses on this bi-lingual concert to support Bernie. I wrote ‘El Quemazón’’ because there was a lack of information out there about Bernie Sanders, and he is the best candidate for working people,” said band member Juve Quintana. “Bernie is the son of immigrant parents, and he wants to tax the rich to fund free college education and healthcare for all. People in the Latino and Hispanic communities and beyond should vote for him. We all want a better future for our families.”

  The Grupo La Meta concert is part of a day where hundreds of registered nurses from across California will gather in Sacramento, in honor of National Nurses’ Week, to encourage state legislators to step up efforts to improve protections for hospital patients, and to express their support for Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders. The rally day will also feature speakers including nurse leaders—and Mark Capitolo, speaking on behalf of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s campaign in support of the California Drug Price Relief Act, a November ballot measure recently endorsed by CNA and Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. Attendees will also have an opportunity to see the nurses’ bright red “#BernieBus.”

“Nurses know—because we have held voters’ hands while they cried, we’ve met their families—why Bernie Sanders is still winning states,” said California Nurses Association Co-President Zenei Cortez. “People are struggling; they want Medicare for all, they want education for all—they want a political system that works for all, and these are all the issues championed by Bernie. It is such an honor to work with Grupo La Meta on this concert to support a candidate who can truly heal America.”

 The #BernieBus will travel throughout California in May and early June, ahead of the June 7 California primary, reminding people to register to vote by May 23 (and to register as a Democrat, if they want to vote for Bernie Sanders).

 As the #BernieBus tour has traversed America, nurses have emphasized Sanders’ commitment to guaranteed healthcare for all, assuring equal educational opportunity for all by eliminating public college tuition to drive down student debt, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and creating millions of good paying jobs by rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and broad criminal justice reform, as well as opposition to unfair trade pacts.

 “Bernie’s campaign is the first time actually in my life that I feel very excited about a candidate,” said California RN Monica Rizzo. “I have a son who recently graduated from high school and I am faced with the reality of putting him through college as a single parent. Bernie Sanders is the candidate who can help people like me.”

 National Nurses United is the largest union of nurses in the country, with 186,000 members in 50 states—and was the first national union to endorse Sanders, in August, 2015.