Peggy L. Chinn, nurse activist, author, editor of Advances in Nursing Science and Professor Emerita of Nursing at the University of Connecticut has a strong core belief that has informed her decades-long career: peace and power. It’s a framework that empowers individuals and groups to shape their interactions in ways that promote health and wellbeing for all, focusing particularly on dynamics that give and take privilege and power to each person.

Dr. Chinn obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Hawaii and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Utah, leading her into a career focused on nursing theory development, feminism in nursing, and anti-racism in nursing. After retiring in 2003, she began teaching doctoral-level courses at the University of Connecticut, Florida Atlantic University, and Louisiana State University. Dr. Chinn’s work fills the gap in nursing practice and literature where new concepts, models, and theories can lie that understand the intersection of nursing practice and social justice. It’s a framework she’s carried through to her writing, editing, and even mentorship — particularly of University of Connecticut School of Nursing graduate Dr. Lucinda Canty.

Dr. Canty was in the final semester of her doctoral program when she met Dr. Chinn. She, admittedly, was skeptical of Dr. Chinn’s place until an unsavory encounter with a classmate on a discussion board showed Dr. Chinn’s allegiance not only to her as a student, but also to her experiences as a Black woman in nursing. It was a pivotal moment for both Dr. Chinn and Dr. Canty that jointly affirmed the need to elevate nurse voices and speak out against injustice on any level.

And so the Overdue Reckoning on Racism in Nursing project was born, beginning with a five-week series of Zoom sessions that brought more than 100 nurses together to critically discuss race and racism in nursing, its impact on nurses of color, and their collective vision for an anti-racist future for nursing. Dr. Chinn stresses the differences between antiracism for white people compared to people of color, urging them to acknowledge and understand their privilege, work to change their internalized biases, and take a bold and public anti-racist stance when they see it happen.

Together, Drs. Chinn and Canty are exemplars of individual and collective power and allyship. They are bringing the voices of nurses of color to the center and exploring the deep-seated persistence of racism in nursing to inspire a long-awaited reckoning.