La Lubu already wrote about this (do check out her post), but I want to re-emphasize it: Crystal Lee Sutton, the woman who fought to unionize her workplace and inspired the film Norma Rae, passed away at 68. She died of brain cancer, after battling for her insurance company to cover her chemotherapy.
She could change the face of labor rights in the United States, but couldn’t get health care coverage until it was too late. Sutton’s life was inconic and patriotic; her death is tragic and all too American.