Eight chapters of The Black Papers speak directly to Black women, and the sociologist who edits it says the work of answering has already been done.
“The remedy exists and our policy proposals work,” David J. Johns writes. “The question is, will they engage with them?”
Johns is chief executive and executive director of the National Black Justice Collective and was the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. His essay opens harder than it ends.
“The world has zero love, affection, or appreciation for Black women,” he writes.
The chapters have names on them rather than a committee. Chapter 11 comes from the National Women’s Law Center. Chapter 12 is Ashley Brevil’s. Chapter 13 is by Brittney Cooper, Shatema Threadcraft, Susana Morris and Melanye Price. Chapter 10 is by Britt Weinstock, Linda Elam and Johns himself.
The one figure in the essay that carries a source comes from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research: in 2025, Black women lost professional and service jobs at three times the rate of all women. The essay’s other numbers, on unemployment, federal job losses, student loan balances, the wage gap, maternal death and school suspensions, are printed without a citation.
Johns also takes on the argument that naming gender inside Black politics splits the room.
“Talking about gender inside our own house is precision, not division,” he writes.
The proposals are published. Whether anybody reads them is somebody else’s decision.
