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Since there's more white people in America, it may have seemed to have benefited them but the break down in the link provided shows how Black Americans' health coverage was finally able to match the level of white America's health care coverage. During ACA's initial open-enrollment about 3 million uninsured nonelderly, African-American adults gained health coverage. (there are only 42.6 million black people in America). Also Affordable Care Act actually helped more black men per capita who could never afford coverage than black women but the health challenges that are unique women (specifically black women) were covered under the preventative care mandate. For example, it's reported "black women got breast cancer at a slower rate than white women" but we mostly die from if we get it; it is diagnosed too late.. "Obamacare reduced coverage disparities for a number of black women, allowing them to access routine health care treatment and check-ups with a primary care physician. The preventive care clause in the ACA has been life-changing for many black women: It gives them better access to early cancer screenings. Black women are twice as likely as white women to die of cervical cancer and twice as likely to be diagnosed in the later stages of breast cancer." Also black children (which 72 - 67% live with their mother) also had affordable coverage. Black women and children are considered a family -but black women also fall in the single category so if median wealth for black single women is $5. The median for wealth for white families is $141,000 while for black families its $11,000 if they have any savings at all. Wealth, therefore, is non existent for a single black woman with children. Policies, such as ACA ,from the Obama Administration targeting African Americans pulled a lot of black women out of poverty and gave us a chance at putting the first brick in the foundation of our economic fortress. I know I already posted here in the forum what President Obama did for black women...If I find it, I edit this piece. From https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/4253-12-deadchristmas-nightchicago/#comment-19782 & https://melhopkins.com/2017/02/04/aalbc-discussion-not-your-mule/ "Black women (including single black mothers) are the most educated and employed according to the US Education and Labor Department 2015 statistics...[omit] since 2008, births for unmarried black women have declined. During that same period, there was an increase in advanced degrees conferred to black women, black women started more small businesses even when not receiving the same amount angel funding as their white counterparts; and they became the most employed yet underpaid of all ethnic groups except non-white hispanics. Just a quick search of the strides black women made in the last 8 years revealed https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/10/14/progress-african-american-community-during-obama-administration Health & Safety Affordable Care Act 2014 Preventive Care Clause better access to early screenings https://globalpolicysolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ACA-and-Racial-Disparities.pdf “reduced coverage disparities for millions of black women allowing them access to routine health care treatment and check-ups with a primary care physician – as of January 1, 2017, 32 out 50 states had expanded Medicaid to include most low-income Americans. Health Care Coverage for dependent children up to age 26 ; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-women-obamacare-repeal-aca_us_5894d564e4b09bd304bb43cd https://globalpolicysolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ACA-and-Racial-Disparities.pdf Teen pregnancy among African-American women is at an historic low. The birth rate per 1,000 African-American teen females has fallen from 60.4 in 2008, before President Obama entered office, to 34.9 in 2014. Vocal critic of domestic violence/sexual assault – National Awareness Campaign “It’s on Us” The Reauthorization of the Violence against Women act in 2013 Wage Inequality and Economic Marginalization https://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/992/womens-issues-in-the-obama-era-expanding-equality-and-social-opportunity-under-the-obama-administration Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in January 2009 (lengthen the statute of limitations for discriminatory pay claims Paycheck fairness act in 2014 (failed to pass) Recovery Act – increased minimum wage – protection of Temporary Assistant to Needy Families’ expansion of income tax credit with most single-headed households receiving a minimum of $1000 per tax return. JumpStart Our Business Start-up (JOBS) Act “resulted in a major shift in securities laws that meant the emancipation of capital for minority and women-owned businesses, who traditionally have struggled with gaining access to capital through traditional means. a start-up can publicly raise capital, participate in equity-based crowdfunding and use online tools to find investors, as well as raise up to $50 million from both non-accredited investors and accredited investors (those making at least $200,000 a year or have a million-dollar net-worth). Education $118 million in public-private fund investments to improve the Lives of Women and Girls of Color. Summit focused on 5 issues areas where intervention can promote opportunities for success – Fostering School Success; Reducing unnecessary of exclusionary discipline, meeting the needs of vulnerable striving youth; inclusive STEM education; sustaining reduced rates for teen pregnancy and aiding in economic prosperity\ HBCU funding $4 Billion and Pell Grant Increased by 300 million to $824 million in 2014 High School Graduation rates climbed Legal and Judicial Lorretta Lynch, Attorney General, Justice Department First African-American Woman Carla Haydn; Librarian of Congress, First African-American & Woman – Librarian of Congress Nominated more than 300 judges – 19% confirmed judges are African-American; 62 lifetime appointments & appointments of 53 African-American District Court Judges including 26 African-American women. So why is it that for the last 8 years, under the Obama's Administration black women have flourished -yet many say he did nothing to help black people." Federal judicial appointment https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IN10234.pdf http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/president-obama-the-legacy/obama-s-legacy-judicial-appointments-numbers-n709306 http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/brief/obamas-judicial-appointments-time-extraordinary-obstruction http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/obama-courts-judicial-legacy-226741[Update Ends] But it went something like this that I used on my blog awhile back According to the Women's Bureau at The Department of Labor 4 out 10 black families are headed by single mothers with children under 18. And while black women have the highest labor force participation rate with 6 out of 10 black women working or looking for work. Yet black women earn 20 percent less than white women and 40 percent less than white men. While we’ve heard these numbers more than once including during President Obama’s epic speech to Howard University graduates (7 May 2016) it’s not all bad news. The Department of Labor officials report they’ve been working on policies that are aimed at mitigating the hardships black women in the labor force face. Those policies include paid family leave, a hike in minimum wage, opportunities to close the wage gap in an effort that single black women can earn more to contribute to their retirement. (check mark for that fact that it did happen.) Further, President Obama put an emphasis on enterpreneurial activites which many black women benefited. By 2015 - more than 1.5 million businesses were owned by Black women that generated over $44 billion in year revenues (2015) Yes I made that bold statement about President Obama fighting on the behalf of black women, simply because there's evidence to back up the claim. He filled the federal court benches with 26 black women, he filled his cabinet and WH staff with black women... He provided opportunities for black women to get education and we did in record numbers. Please name one black man who has done anything to help black women build their collective economic and social standing here in the U.S. That line about black male preachers is laughable! Who attends church and tithes to keep the "Passa" in his Rolls Royce? BLACK WOMEN! Women attendance in black churches is almost 10% higher than men in historically black churches. And that's just those surveyed... Go into a black church on Sunday and you do the math. It's only right black male preachers give back to the group that pays them. As far as emotional support - while that is very necessary, it doesn't provide economic empowerment to the very women who are carrying their communities on their back. It's more than many women fighting the oppression of racism - it's every black woman fighting oppression in their own way and most of the time alone. @Troy, I believe there a lot of black men who feel the same way as you about gender oppression. I heard of a group of black preachers who voted for and support Trump for similar reasons. They are indifferent to female gender oppression. Well, it's at the foundation of their beliefs. Bell Hooks may be distracting even annoying by using Beyonce to raise her profile but she' s not divisive to me... she's just fighting oppression from her own front porch. But she definitely doesn't think feminism is subordinate to racism - she's fighting on both fronts. She's fighting because she realizes they're two sides of the same coin. There's no hierarchy to oppression.

When in Florida, I spend hours in Barnes and Noble and Starbucks working on AALBC.com. Sometimes I use the library, but I like being able to buy a cup of coffee and something to eat without having to pack up and leave.. Plus, I can people watch in B&N and Starbucks. People are so interesting, but before I digress let me tell you about a Brother I've become friendly with over the last couple of years, Milton Bertrand. We started talking because I noticed he was sitting in the B&N at a wooden desk--that he brought into the store himself--which initially seemed crazy--who brings a desk to a bookstore?!. We started talking and he explained how his desk actually folded up into his backpack. I thought that was such a cool idea since tables can fill up during busy times in the store. I filmed him on my cell phone but never edited the video (just never got to it). Late last year, I ran into him again and this time he had an upgraded model of the desk. It was no longer made out of wood, but plastic and a light-weight metal. The desk can also be converted into an easel with the desktop doubling as a whiteboard-like writing surface. So I filmed him again and this time I even started to edit the video, but one thing led to another and I never finished editing it. Yesterday I saw him again and told him I'll get to his video, but I was saying to myself I must sound like I'm full crap. So while he never asked for a video, I'd been promising to create one, for the better part of a year, but never did it. So I decided to finish it today. Hopefully, it will inspire others to create. He told me he actually filled a large order for a school.

@Troy we're not divided. Black women are still holding down the fort. Subjugation, sexism, gender and racial discrimination et al. are all included in the fight against racism because oppression is the result of the global patriarchal structure that gave rise to the zero-sum economics we practice. It is the sole reason, according to historians, that the terms black vs. white entered the lexicon of the American economy. "divide" is the tool of the oppressor and it seems some fall for it every time... One would have to ask themselves, If black women are fighting a battle they believe is important and black men decide it isn't and walk away. That's not division - that's black men leaving black women to fight the battle. Black men left the fort. The one who stands their ground in a battle isn't the cause of division. But let's back-track a bit, Black women "be staying on the front lines" for every cause that affects all blacks in America." From the time of slavery in America to the present. For example, In Detroit, 1930, it was the Detroit Housewives League who made it possible for 70,000 jobs to open up for the black community. By the way, they weren't really housewives - because they said they couldn't afford to be but the organization founded by Fannie Peck called it that... “It was an attempt by African-American women to essentially try to expand the job market for all African Americans in Detroit by boosting the businesses, black-owned businesses, and pressuring white-owned businesses to hire African American workers,” Victoria Wolcott said. (in an interview with Michigan Radio talking about her book "Remaking Respectability: African-American Women in Interwar Detroit." They came up with the slogan "Don't buy where you can't work" "In 1935 they set a huge packing warehouse on fire protesting against high prices, and later joined thousands of Chicago housewives in a march that shut down the city’s entire meat industry. " Black Women continued to stay on the front lines... The Civil Rights movement was started by black women until they had to take a back seat to black men who for some reason thought to move them out of position. Many report that experiencing gender discrimination in the civil rights movement caused them to use their energy and expertise in the feminist movement in the 70s... However, that's not when Women's rights activism started here in America.. We have Isabella Baumfree's story that allows us to take a look back at the movement that was included in abolitionist's movement. Those pioneers realized early on - that they couldn't rid the U.S. of slavery without working to "free" women too. Not only did Isabella Baumfree (Sojourner Truth) free herself, give a speech " at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention - she later began recruiting black men to fight in the civil war... In the same year Beyonce' graced the cover of Time 100; "In 2014, Truth was included in Smithsonian magazine's list of the "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time" In the year Michael Brown was executed in the street black women started the Black Lives Matter" Movement against police brutality holding the law enforcement structure accountable...today we have police body cams, and even police officers being indicted for reckless behavior - some serve time some don't but this is the result of black women keeping their eye on racism - and black men's lives in society while they themselves, as black women, hover around the bottom rung. The only black man (half-black) man to assist in the plight of black women was President Barack Obama and for 8 years he passed laws and initiatives that directly raised the economic profile of black women. But I digress. We're still here doing what we've always have done. We're battling oppression. Still all our marching and rallying for equity and against racism in America has benefited black men economically. Black women are still at the bottom of the economic ladder while continuing to be the cornerstone of our communities and political landscape. So while you may not see feminism as important - it is. Especially if black women only have themselves to count on when it comes to fighting battles that directly affect their sovereignty. Nope. There's no division. Any number divided by itself is one.

Just posting the video directly: Mel I honestly I don't really think too much about feminism. I think racism it a more pressing issue which of course affects both men and women. Feminism seems like a white women's fight against their men. It is not Black men holding Black women back. We don't make laws telling Black women what do with their bodies, we did not prevent women from voting. We don't pay women less for the same work. To me feminism, at least for Back women, should be a secondary, perhaps tertiary consideration behind racism and the growth in wealth and power of the ruling class. It is another thing that has divided us. bell and Beyonce beef did not benefit the people. bell's critique was simply a windfall for Beyonce giving Beyonce's project more exposure and free publicity.increasing the wealth of both herself and her corporate masters. I'm too male and old to care very much about Beyonce. She is a wildly successful entertainer, whose music or thoughts (as publically portrayed) don't interest me because they are fake carefully crafted for public consumption to maximize revenue. I got a glimpse of the real Beyonce in the elevator video...

Beyonce is very proud of her Creole heritage, but she appears to have no problem embracing her blackness. Her hair is not only not naturally blond, but is not straight either and she sings about "Becky with the good hair", her term for a white girl, on her last album. BTW, this album entitled "Lemonade" centers around her making lemonade out of the lemon of being cheated on by her husband. So all of her beauty and fame didn't keep JayZ's eye from straying. But she was disarmed enough by love to obviously forgve him to the tune of getting knocked up with twins by him. Currently she is flaunting her pregnancy, extolling her body as a source of new life, appointing herself as a goddess of fertility. So to me, Beyonce is more about glorifying womanhood and all of it facets, rather than hard core feminism which seems arbitrary in its demand for equality with men on every level. Since bell hooks is a lesbian, i take her assessment of Beyonce with a grain of salt. i don't believe these females think much of anybody who doesn't adhere to their agenda. I agree with Mel's personal embodiment of feminism as do most black woman i know. I, personally, never had a problem with capable black men being in charge, and capable is the operative word here, one which too often get's compromised by the male ego which in turn, is made vulnerable by the male libido. So in dealing with male leaders I always had a plan B which focused on a capable woman. I do believe that in professions where brawn usurps brains, a job that a woman is not physically equipped to do, is unqualified to do it.