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As a Neo-Soul artist India Arie is so inspirational to black women across the globe. Voyage to India (2002) is still her number one album.

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National Women's Law Center. 477,960 likes · 9,818 talking about this. The National Women's Law Center has worked for more than four decades to advance and protect women's legal rights. www.nwlc.org

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Op-Docs

Joe Brewster and

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transcript

A Conversation With Black Women on Race

In this short documentary, black women talk about the challenges they face in society.

CONVERSATION SERIES #05 Black Women 20151111 #0:0:0.0# MONIFA: As a black woman, who was a black girl, I see the attack on us comes in a very different form. In some ways it comes in the same form, you know, people do experience racial profiling, police brutality, but sometimes you come across women who have not had that direct interaction, but we're attacked in so many nuanced ways. #0:0:24.7# #0:0:24.7# NICHOLE: So you have internal race issues within our own culture, and then the external race issue, and then your mothering issue around race, so for me being a women of color is so multilayered, it's like, you could excavate all day. #0:0:44.6# #0:0:44.6# RAHIEL:Two uniformed security guards walked over to us, one white, one latino, and began to ask us questions about what we were doing in the lobby of that hotel. If we were guests. Um Quickly responded and said that I was in fact a guest. I was asked details, my name, what room, and it was at this point that I became very upset. #0:1:8.7# #0:1:8.8# ADENIKE: And then you start to wonder, well, what other difference could it be if you're a white cop, I'm a black female, what other difference What else could I have done to piss you off this much? It just starts to then look racial. #0:1:25.1# #0:1:25.1# RAHIEL: We actually had to bring in a white colleague from the justice conference before anyone could get an official response from the hotel. #0:1:34.4# #0:1:34.4# JESSICA: I've had people focus on my hair not being professional enough. I had an executive director actually pull me into a room and it went down the path of like, you know, just letting you know, I don't think that you're professional enough, and I kind of had to go through this whole I had to actually pull back because I was so, I felt like I couldn't be emotional. #0:2:1.9# #0:2:1.9# RUSHELL: All the other chorus girls were white, and um, I remember going up to the person in charge of costuming and saying, you know, "Why is it that we're dressed this way? You know, why is our hair doing this weird just lump together thing and all the other girls get to do curls and pretty things?" #0:2:20.0# #0:2:20.0# And she was like, "Yea but your hair can't do that." And I was like, "You never asked me." But for me it was really hard because I just wanted to dance and sing and be in the play and I was being told, "you're not good enough, your hair isn't good enough, your clothes aren't good enough, and we're going to make sure everyone notices that you're black and everyone else isn't." #0:2:41.3# #0:2:41.3# EMEFA: And that colored my own thinking about myself and I was like, "Maybe I am unattractive. Maybe I am like this monster. But then I'd call my mom, and she'd be like, "Don't listen to them, obviously I gave birth to you and I'm gorgeous, so obviously you have to be gorgeous," so I like always like Whenever I always felt bad I'd always think about that. #0:3:4.5# #0:3:4.5# BRITTANY: There was this huge population of black girls who weren't dating anyone and I wondered why that was because in my eyes they seemed to be beautiful and attractive and smart and intelligent and ambitious and, it just didn't make any sense to my why they didn't have a boyfriend too. #0:3:23.8# #0:3:23.8# And that same consciousness is also what I'm thinking now at almost twenty- five years old; like why that's the world I still see today. #0:3:36.0# #0:3:36.0# NICOLE: Once you accept your womaness, that's where your power comes from. It doesn't necessarily always come from your academic prowess. It doesn't always come from what you have. #0:3:47.1# #0:3:47.1# It comes from your perception of self and when you accept that you're a woman, and "I'm a woman hear me roar," that comes from a validation outside of yourself. Even if you want to say that it doesn't it does. #0:4:2.7# #0:4:2.7# MONIFA: My father would buy me books, and before he would give me the books, he would painstakingly shade in the characters in the books in brown crayon. I still have some of these books, I mean I had like Cinderella, she was brown like all these things, and of course as an older toddler you would notice that they've been drawn in because he's not an artist, and he would explain you know, as much as he could to a five or sixyearold why he was shading in these characters to look like me. #0:4:40.2# #0:4:40.2# BRITTANY: (sighs) Um, I don't have a daughter right now but if I did have a daughter I would tell her that she's beautiful, that she's intelligent, that she's all of these things all the time because I feel like we don't hear that enough in the media, we don't get that attention #0:5:3.1# #0:5:3.1# RAHIEL: You can't wear your resume or degrees on your sleeve. It doesn't travel with you. I have no way of telling anyone what I've accomplished and who I am. That all of that can be erased simply because they have these images and ideas in their head that I can't do anything about. #0:5:22.3#

In this short documentary, black women talk about the challenges they face in society.

This latest installment of our "Conversation on Race" Op-Doc video series highlights the negative emotional impact of racist attitudes on black women's lives. Everyone we reached out to for this project was eager to tell her most intimate stories of pain and discrimination, from childhood, to work, to profiling by the police. We hope that in sharing them, we are helping to complicate the public representations of black women and girls - highlighting the unique challenges they face, as well as experiences and feelings that are universal.

From Harriet Tubman to Ida B. Wells to Dorothy Height, black women have been heavy presences in social justice movements throughout history. However, issues particular to these women are often relegated to secondary status in our collective consciousness. This seems to be changing. Recent events in Texas, Baltimore and Missouri show that black women are again in leadership roles, and are speaking out against the mistreatment they regularly experience. But in our nation's current movement for social justice, women's voices need a louder bullhorn. Conversations like the one we're hoping to start with this Op-Doc are a first step to understanding, and to changing.

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Opinion | 'A Conversation With Black Women on Race' (Published 2015)

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Op-Docs Joe Brewster and This latest installment of our "Conversation on Race" Op-Doc video series highlights the negative emotional impact of racist attitudes on black women's lives. Everyone we reached out to for this project was eager to tell her most intimate stories of pain and discrimination, from childhood, to work, to profiling by the police.

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I choked back tears while watching the now famous movie, ' Hidden Figures. '

To see this powerful movie takeover the box office was an experience like no other for Black women and people all around the world. Finally, 60 years later we are celebrating the Black masterminds that paved the way for Black women like myself.

I too am a technologist. I am a Black woman, a daughter, a sister, a bachelor's of science holder, and a professional. I'm no genius but I spend most of my days working with new technology, statistics, and user experience modules. Watching 'Hidden Figures' and the discriminatory experiences these Black women went through was saddening, but it also made me angry. Why the anger? Today, WE AS BLACK WOMEN ARE STILL DEALING WITH THESE HARSH REALTIES in these white male dominated fields. I am still being looked over, talked over, having to accredit my work to someone else, passed over, and expected to show my credentials when nobody else is asked.

RELATED: Hidden Figures Film Awards $200,000 In Scholarships To Women Of Color

These fields, were not made for us. They put every stipulation they can on applications to keep us from working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and the ones who are allowed in are considered the "exception."

60 years later, we are dealing with the same stigmas but now it is institutionalized. This is why representation matters, this movie matters. I see Black people working so hard, and still not getting the credit they deserve. You are expected to work twice as hard, if not then three times harder. For Fortune 500 companies, there are no Black female CEO's. Our representation is diminishing across the corporate level. Not because we don't belong here, but because the system works overtime to keep us out.

It is our job as Black people and Black women to put ourselves in the position to educate, mentor and lead our children and other young adults into fields that they may also feel are "not for them." We have a job to do, and it will not be easy. I don't want another 60 years to pass us by, and we are still having these conversations about no representation, and bringing people of color into STEM. The talent is there, the people are there and I have seen it for myself.

RELATED: 'Hidden Figures' Reveals The Truth About Brilliant Minds

How can you help? This is a great question.
1. Be the change you wish to see.
When President Obama gave his final address to the U.S. he made a statement that really resonated with me. He said, " Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." Stop waiting, be the change.
2. Engage in uncomfortable conversations.
Race is hard to talk about, and is often not talked about in the workplace. Make sure this stays apart of your conversations, bring it up even if it feels uncomfortable for you. We can't change anything that we aren't willing to talk about. Great things happen outside of comfort zones.
3. Focus on the positive.
All white people are not bad people, just like all Black people are not bad people. Focus on similarities, don't always make the conversation about differences. The goal is to bring us together, not apart.

I think we all can agree that we have some work to do. This is not a time to scoot back from the table and expect our government to do the work for us. We've tried that method and it has failed us and will continue to fail us unless we put our feet on the ground and do the work. We have to focus on what we can control and take steps towards what matters to us. To me, that would mean drawing more diversity into STEM-but what does it mean for you?

[Photos via Hidden Figures Facebook, and Giphy]

About Brianna McCullough

My name is Brianna McCullough, I am a technologist,avid reader and writer currently working in the Twin Cities but originally from Detroit, Mi. My main goal in life is to empower women to live out there dreams as well as encouraging diversity in STEM fields.I am on a mission to change the world, while being unapologetic in my womanly ways. You can find me on Instagram @_briannaaaab or on twitter @_briannaaaa

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Op-Ed: Discrimination In 'Hidden Figures' Is Still Today's Reality For Black Women In STEM

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I choked back tears while watching the now famous movie, ' Hidden Figures. ' To see this powerful movie takeover the box office was an experience like no other for Black women and people all around the world. Finally, 60 years later we are celebrating the Black masterminds that paved the way for Black women like myself.

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I still cannot believe I just learned about three black women who helped John Glenn get in to space. Women, black women in this case are extremely important to hold the community up. Black women have made vital contributions but society fails to acknowledge any of the contributions. This is why representation matters

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A Strong, Black, and Independent woman. 

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A Strong, Black, and Independent woman. 

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Things Women With Natural Hair Are Tired Of Hearing

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Who do you think you are? Angela Davis? Check out more awesome videos at BuzzFeedVideo! http://bit.ly/YTbuzzfeedvideo MUSIC Waterbug Ball Licensed via Warner Chappell Production Music Inc.

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Summer Tour Tickets: http://todrickhall.com Follow Todrick: http://instagram.com/todrick http://facebook.com/toddyrockstar http://twitter.com/todrick http://todrickhall.com Cady Heron -- Bree Essrig @breeessrig http://www.youtube.com/user/BREEessrig Damien -- Alex Newell @anew92 Janees -- Thurzday Lyons @thurzday_said Rhiyonce -- Day'nah Cooper @ DaynahC MLE -- Imani Hakim @anakih1 LuLu -- Shanna Malcolm @shannamalcolm http://www.youtube.com/user/heyyoshanna Triquan -- Todrick Hall @toddyrockstar Miles Jai @milesjai http://www.youtube.com/user/MilesJaiProductions Tim Delaghetto @traphik http://www.youtube.com/user/TimothyDeLaGhetto2 Antoine Dodson @antoinedodson24 Tre Melvin @tremelvin http://www.youtube.com/thisisacommentary Hana Mae Lee @hanamaelee Glen Coco -- Chester Lockhart @chesterlockhart Tracey Uria @TraceyUria Jamar Johnson http://www.youtube.com/SmoothJTheEthereal Thanks to everyone for watching and supporting "Mean Gurlz!"

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African American women marched for suffrage only to be left out , left behind, and without a fair reward.

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Please stop asking to touch my hair.

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A strong, beautiful, accomplished black woman. Michelle Obama is elegant, educated, and full of grace. But what makes her so special is that she is still a down-to-earth "sister girl" raised in Chicago’s Southside.

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“Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give it power.”

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Southern University (HBCU) Dancing Dolls x SU Band

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Southern University (HBCU) Dancing Dolls x SU Band

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This is honestly so graceful

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Southern University Band & Dancing Dolls

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Southern University Marching Band & Dancing Dolls

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Southern University Dancing Doll Highlights

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Southern University Fabulous Dancing Dolls Highlights | Crank Fest BOTB

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Can You Stand the Rain - Southern University Band & Dancing Dolls 2014 - 2015

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“People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in”

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On 1/22 we'll fight for our future with... - Planned Parenthood | Facebook

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On 1/22 we'll fight for our future with #IDEFY Live. Learn more at DefyNow.org.

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Magazines will put Kylie on the cover with dreads before they put a black woman with dreads on their cover

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Whitley

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When life gets you down as a black woman, you have an unspoken duty to be strong.

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When life gets you down as a black woman, you have an unspoken duty to be strong. Perseverance then becomes second nature and you automatically know not to break, especially in the company of others. My closest perspective of this stems from the women in my family; If they were hurting you would never know it. I had an aunt diagnosed with breast cancer and I didn't even know how sick she was until she was gone.

I found myself looking at all of the women in my life and wondering how the hell they kept it together. My life's ups and downs seemed to wear on my face like the MAC pro makeup I glazed on each day. I started to question my strengths as a black woman and whether or not I was cut from the same cloth as my counterparts.

Now, don't mistake me for the black girl with a woe-is-me mentality. I'm simply a scientist and I question everything, therefore no stone is left unturned. I wanted to understand why black women; a group of women so diverse have been burdened to share in the same ideologies and reactions to the challenges we face.

It's almost unfair that we get to watch white women cry, be goofy, hell even indulge in a little self pity with little to no one looking down on them for their humanity. In some cases they are even applauded for their bravery in the midst of adversity. From my experience, black women aren't afforded that same luxury and I am here to shed light on an ongoing situation.

Girl, get out of your feelings!

In moments of disaster and uncertainty I've always been put back on track by a good "get out of your feelings" nudge. The quick-fix that places shame on the person whose emotions it's being directed towards. Works almost everytime, until it doesn't. Well, I say girl get in those feelings and express them.

Analyze exactly what you are feeling and ask why. Get to the root of what it is that you are experiencing and then address it. It is my theory that a lot of us have underlying issues that we do not address due to the pressures put on us to be emotionless zombies that take a devastating blow, get up and keep moving like nothing ever happened. That only drives us closer to becoming damaged or damn near crazy.

Since when has stashing away emotions and acting like things don't bother you ever helped a person overcome anything. It doesn't! It actually has the opposite effect. Strong women, are strong enough to know when to release. And If you are incapable of self expression then how strong could you possibly be.

A black woman without restraint is unstoppable. If there were more room for us to be exactly who we are and respond in our own unique ways I wonder how much power we could attain. Once again, I would like to interject and state that these are simply my opinions but if you are still reading then possibly a part of you agrees.

People's expectations of black women when it comes to our self expression are built like a prison, meant to keep us in check and aware of how we make others feel. Never let them box you into thinking that you have to bend your mood to fit what makes them comfortable. Pain is relative and no one can measure what you feel.

We are a rare group of women who encourage each other to say "forget it" and then genuinely be convicted in thought and action to move on. True warriors, fighting a seemingly never ending battle to be stronger than whoever to get through whatever life may bring. I admire our ability to overcome, but who knew that we could lift those expectations. Lately we have denied ourselves allowance to be human. We are black women, but we are human first, we are ever complex and we do have the right to be heard.

I believe, it is possible to be a black woman and go through life open and allowed to have feelings, good, bad, happy, or indifferent. Understanding that life will happen and when it does we can grow through it without the stigma of shame. It is all allowed and as long as we support one another in our journey for freedom then our song doesn't have to be solemn and angry. It can be joyful and full of celebration because we are free in the mind and have peace within.

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Girl, Get out of Your Feelings! A Look into What It Means to Be a Strong Black Woman - MyBlackMatters

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By: Breanna Jackson When life gets you down as a black woman, you have an unspoken duty to be strong. Perseverance then becomes second nature and you automatically know not to break, especially in the company of others. My closest perspective of this stems from the women in my family; If they were hurting you ...

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The women in hidden figures dealt with sexism outside and within the black community, Jim Crow in the larger community, and at work.

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https://adornedbychi.com/collections/tees?rfsn=371974.9ff65

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The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood.

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“Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you…yet, someone survived…You can do anything you choose to do.”

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A four-year liberal arts women's college in Atlanta was named the No. 1 HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) in America for the tenth year in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Spelman College (No. 1) in Atlanta beat out Howard University (No. 2) in Washington, D.C. and Hampton University (No. 3) in Hampton, Va. to earn the top spot.

According to U.S. News, these historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were compared only with one another for these rankings. In order to be on the list, a school must be currently designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an HBCU. To qualify for the U.S. News rankings, an HBCU also must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is part of the 2017 Best Colleges rankings.

"Spelman College is a private institution that was founded in 1881," U.S. News notes. "It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,144, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 39 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Spelman College's ranking in the 2017 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 72. Its tuition and fees are $27,314 (2016-17)."

Click here for more from U.S. News.

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Spelman College top HBCU in national ranking for tenth straight year - Atlanta Business Chronicle

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A four-year liberal arts women's college in Atlanta was named the No. 1 HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) in America for the tenth year in a row by U.S. News & World Report. Spelman College (No. 1) in Atlanta beat out Howard University (No. 2) in Washington, D.C.

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"Black women have had to develop a larger vision of our society than perhaps any other group. They have had to understand white men, white women, and black men. And they have had to understand themselves. When black women win victories, it is a boost for virtually every segment of society."

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After swiping my debit card, Kamilah Richardson of Rich and Riot asked twice if I wanted a receipt.

We were outside of Show & Tell, a boutique on Broadway, on Plaid Friday, Oakland's take on Black Friday. I was so enthralled with my new, blanket-soft hoodie that I didn't hear her.

It's gray with a smiling black skull wearing a gold crown, an immediate wardrobe staple. "Princess Punk" is written underneath the skull and cartoonish crossbones. As I stuffed the hoodie into my bag, Richardson told me she was a member of Just Be, a collective of black female entrepreneurs.

I gave her my card, and a few weeks later I was invited to the Noire Holiday Pop Up at Era Art Bar on Grand Avenue. There I saw colorful and imaginative art prints, necklaces, caps, T-shirts, housewares and various textiles and accessories - all created by black women.

Along with Richardson, Just Be includes Marisol Catchings ( Azteca Negra), Kimberly Turner ( Elizabeth in Pearls), Hope Lehman ( Fresh to Def Collective), Juliette Acker ( Furious Flower Designs), print maker Yolanda Cotton-Turner, Mercedes Martin ( Tres Mercedes), and Candice Cox ( CanDid Art Accessories).

This is part of the black pride movement, an example of the diversity in being black. We are not a monolith.

At some point in their lives, all women of color have to navigate racism and sexism. Black women must dodge stereotypes of being hypersexualized and too loud, flashy and angry.

Just Be, which was formed less than a year ago, is space where the women don't have to suppress their blackness, where finger-wagging and eye-rolling is part of someone's personality and not a caricature. They can be vulnerable, unburdened from carrying the weight of the strong black woman role.

"There's so many negative stereotypes of black women," Acker, 42, said. "It can be overwhelming. At some point you have to say, 'I know who I am.'"

"I feel like I walk around with a lot of rage, because I do understand the historical context, the big picture," Lehman added. "Entrepreneurship was an opportunity to explicitly put social justice in my mission."

Through entrepreneurship, they hope to write a new narrative for black women. For our wide-ranging discussion frequently interrupted by laughter, we met at Qulture Collective on Franklin Street, a coffee shop and gallery. It's run by Alyah Baker, who also owns Show & Tell. She is another black female entrepreneur forging her own path.

This really wasn't an interview. I was getting schooled. Now I've got some catching up to do. And I better hurry, because these black women aren't waiting - or stopping - for anyone.

"Out of my frustration, I built my business," said Catchings, a former analyst for an economics and public policy publication. "I will never go back."

"I think that's the one thing that, very quickly, we found out that we had in common was that we all got very frustrated at our jobs," Richardson, 34, added. "And that was kind of the tipping point. We became entrepreneurs."

"There is something to be said about going as far and as fast as you want to go and not having to ask permission of anyone," Acker said. "Whatever happens, it's on me."

For Turner, 40, it just feels good to make her own decisions, and the sacrifice is worth the freedom.

"It's really hard being an entrepreneur," she said.

"You work harder," Richardson said.

"You work harder for you," Turner responded.

"My parents, I'm pretty sure they are still mortified that I don't have a job," Richardson said. "Because my parents come from the generation where you go to college, you get a good job. In my parents' case, you get a county job with good benefits and stay there and retire."

Acker feels like this is the second coming of the black pride movement. The first, which prominently featured the Black Panthers, focused on self-reliance.

"Black people have carried white people's stuff for too long. They've got to carry it themselves," she said. "And we've got to carry our own stuff. And we have to look into our community. How do we change our minds about ourselves?"

"Asking someone who's oppressing you, for you to teach them ..." Richardson began.

"... to believe that I have enough value and worth. No," Acker continued. "No more asking permission of anyone anymore. Changing people's mind about their own racism and misguided views is asking permission for them to accept you."

"We have to value ourselves and each other in order to kind of create something where we have an economic system to ourselves," Catching, 28, said.

"There is something happening," Acker said. "I love my people. I love who I am, and I want to support that. And if you as a white person, or someone from another culture are interested in that, that is great. But I'm not going to try to convince you to be interested in it."

For Lehman, 30, social justice is not just basic human rights. It's an equitable society where all people prosper.

"It's also the right to thrive. That's what entrepreneurship is about for me," she says. "The how, of course, is the messy part. That's what we need to figure out."

Catchings had an idea.

"You have to tear it all down. It was built from the ground up to dehumanize us," she said. "This is not something that we can spring off of and fix, because there are so many terrible ideals embedded."

Is the president-elect the catalyst we need?

"Maybe he's the bomb," Catchings said. "But I don't feel like that's going to be fun or nice at all."

But as artists, they are expected to create a response.

"People feel art, and it's a form of communication," said Cotton-Turner, 47, a print maker. "When you're true to that ... you touch people. No matter what language they speak, no matter what philosophy they carry."

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr

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Black women entrepreneurs find strength in creativity

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Black women entrepreneurs find strength in creativity After swiping my debit card, Kamilah Richardson of Rich and Riot asked twice if I wanted a receipt. "Princess Punk" is written underneath the skull and cartoonish crossbones. There I saw colorful and imaginative art prints, necklaces, caps, T-shirts, housewares and various textiles and accessories - all created by black women.

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On January 21, thousands of women from across the nation will assemble in Washington, D.C., to participate in the Women's March on Washington. The march, which is billed as the biggest protest since the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, is intended to coincide with the controversial inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, a man as deplored for his sexist and misogynist gender philosophy as he is for his hard-line stance on immigration, health care, race and just about every progressive issue that exists this side of the human species.

But efforts to organize the march to oppose these huge problems and forge a united front is not without its own problems. The major matter at hand is the role of race in this massive protest.

Although WMW organizers published a four-page guide that emphasizes the intersectionality of all the various issues that the march will address, many white women members have become salty and irritable at the attention given to women from marginalized communities.

Black women have leaked these rumblings on social media, taking an especial aversion to the critique of their white peers, leading the charge of debunking their accusations and dedicating their status updates on platforms like Facebook to educating white women about their privilege.

Related: White Women On They Susan B. Anthony Hours Before Historic Election

Black women organizers are raising uncomfortable questions about the convenient timeliness of white outrage. One Brooklyn-based black activist and march volunteer said of her white allies, "You don't just get to join because now you're scared, too. I was born scared."

And their concerns are not unfounded.

The question of WMW 2017 leadership has raised some concerns. Although the outline of this protest first took shape at the grassroots level, once it caught virtual wind, traditional political organizations stepped in to co-opt the event, leaving it vulnerable to the suspicion of coddling white feminist aspirations.

One example of this is the fierce white backlash New Orleans bookstore owner Candice Huber, who is white, received after she stepped down from a leadership position to open space for women of color. Huber was accused by white women of being "divisive."

There is also the fact that the initial listing of honorary co-chairs did not include a black woman. Emeritus professor, radical activist and prison abolitionist Angela Davis appears to have been tacked on later, although it is possible that it simply took longer to confirm her participation in the event.

Even the celebrity guest list tells a familiar story of whitewashing. So far, the only black woman scheduled to appear and possibly speak is pop star and actress Zendaya.

Related: Zendaya Speaks Against Body-Negative Editing

But perhaps the biggest reason black women are fuming about the development of this protest is that while the frustrations of white women seemed to have only reached a critical boiling point with the election of Donald Trump, black women have been on the front line of social movements of this caliber on behalf of all women for decades.

There is the distant example in the persona of women like Sojourner Truth who, as an enslaved black woman toiling alongside black men in cotton fields, defied traditional notions of femininity and modeled genuine equality between the sexes for black and white women alike. At the same time that Truth was speaking her truth, suffragette leader Susan B. Anthony was issuing a warning to her powerful white male colleagues to back-burner the liberation of black bodies in order to guarantee suffrage for white women. Anthony continues to be lionized to this day, with barely a mention of this racist aspect of her legacy.

In more recent history, it was the 1997 Million Women's March - organized by black women in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - that set the precedent for this upcoming protest. And by virtue of the fact that American blacks are statistically poorer than their white counterparts, it's always been the case that social movements waged on behalf of the liberation of this country's black population inevitably benefit the white masses.

Black women have gone the distance for white women and answered the general feminist call in full knowledge of the reality that this country that has never been bothered to act in kind. Black women are expected to fight for all - and sit on the sidelines while doing so. White women seem content to forget about black women when the moment counts and protect their own, even if it means ignoring or catering to racism.

Is that what's happening in this latest feminist wave?

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Don't Forget About Black Women During Your Women's March on Washington

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On January 21, thousands of women from across the nation will assemble in Washington, D.C., to participate in the Women's March on Washington.

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Revisit Michelle Obama's Letter To Black Women: 'We Are Strong, Our Opinions Matter'

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In a feature that originally appeared in the ESSENCE September 2010 Issue, First Lady Michelle Obama pens an encouraging letter to black women.

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For every hero publicly revered, there are countless black women doing equally important work in homes and neighborhoods. I am not a black woman but I have benefitted from their work as an immigrant woman, as a woman and mother of color in this country. My understanding of their contribution to my life and our society is more complete because I can now clearly see that for many black women the call to act, the instinct to protect, and the push to right wrongs is rooted in a personal imperative tinged with necessity and courage.

Gillian White: The necessity of black female activism, to me, is one of the most complex and important parts of this conversation. Black women haven't been the backbone of agitation just because they wanted to be, but because often times, they are the only ones who are able to.

Black men are America's favorite victims. The country's racial brutality and bias all too often truncate the lives of black men-either through death or incarceration. Even before the modern versions of mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and recent police violence, black men had targets on their backs. From lynchings to indentured servitude in coal mines during Jim Crow, the country's legacy of taking black men's lives and liberty has left black women to bear the burden of caring for families and advocating for justice for their fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers whose voices are often silenced.

Adrienne Green: Last week I repeated a horrifying ritual in the wake of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile-I read how black writers, specifically women, process black death in an attempt to digest my own feelings. "To be black in America is to exist in haunting, mundane proximity to death at all moments. There is no reprieve, no mute, no block, no unfollow that can loosen us from its shadow. And yet, we must live," Hannah Giorgis wrote. "We have to bear witness and resist numbness and help the children of the black people who lose their lives to police brutality shoulder their unnatural burden," said Roxane Gay. "I can continue to vote and go to protests and sign petitions and donate money and get in arguments with racist white people. And I can write. I can write again and again for as long as the this nation piles up black bodies," wrote Kara Brown.

These black women, among so many others, amplify a common thread in the lives of black women- experiencing unimaginable tragedy, and then, often for their own safety, soldiering on. In addition to having to protest on behalf of others, and to protect them, throughout their lives, they are doubly burdened by the necessity to be calm, collected, and pragmatic while they grieve. For black women, freedom and safety are conditional. They lie in the ability to operate a Facebook Live stream, like Lavish Reynolds after the death of her boyfriend Philando Castile, or to offer a soothing word like her 4-year-old daughter, to process death and know at the same time your life is dependent on keeping it together.

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For every hero publicly revered, there are countless black women doing equally important work in homes and neighborhoods. I am not a black woman but I have benefitted from their work as an immigrant woman, as a woman and mother of color in this country.

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Shasparay Lighteard - "Black Girl Magic" (WoWPS 2016)

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Subscribe to Button! New video daily: http://bit.ly/buttonpoetry If you loved this poem, check out Rob Gibsun: http://bit.ly/1Pm177S Performing at the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam. Shasparay placed 5th overall in the tournament. Follow Button on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SG5Xm0 About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.

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Crystal Valentine & Aaliyah Jihad - Hide Your Shea Butter

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Cardi B Does not sugarcoat anything. People have constantly doubted her throughout her entire life telling her that she’d never amount to anything and never be anything more than a stripper hoe.

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Wow! Cardi B Blasts Audience Member During Love & Hip Hop Reunion

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Watch Cardi B blast an audience member during the Love & Hip Hop NY reunion.

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The number one historically black college dedicated to educated black women brings light to rape culture

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"The Womanish Roots Of Womanism: A Culturally-Derived And African-Centered Ideal (Concept).

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"The Womanish Roots Of Womanism: A Culturally-Derived And African-Centered Ideal (Concept).

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Tsuruta, Dorothy Randall. "The Womanish Roots Of Womanism: A Culturally-Derived And African-Centered Ideal (Concept)." Western Journal Of Black Studies 36.1 (2012): 3-10. Race Relations Abstracts. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

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Other People's Daughters: Critical Race Feminism And Black Girls' Education.

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Other People's Daughters: Critical Race Feminism And Black Girls' Education.

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Evans-Winters, Venus E., and Jennifer Esposito. "Other People's Daughters: Critical Race Feminism And Black Girls' Education." Educational Foundations 24.1/2 (2010): 11-24. Race Relations Abstracts. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

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Beyonce's newest album, Lemonade consist of a theme of black lives matter as well as black women appreciation.

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https://www.etsy.com/listing/292513553/fists-up-afros-out-unisex-satin-bomber