How do they do it?

I got an e-mail the other day (h/t to Deborah Lyn) with an article that broke my heart.

I know that these are tough times economically. And, that everyone is suffering here in A-merry-ca. But in the wealthiest country on earth there is no way in hell that any segment of our population should have a median wealth of five dollars. That was not a typo; I wrote FIVE DOLLARS.

"Women of all races bring home less income and own fewer assets, on average, than men of the same race, but for single black women the disparities are so overwhelmingly great that even in their prime working years their median wealth amounts to only $5.

In a groundbreaking report released Monday by a leading economic research group, social scientists turned a spotlight on the grave financial challenges facing an often overlooked group of women, many of whom could not take an unpaid sick day or repair a major appliance without going into debt.

"It's rather shocking," said Meizhu Lui, director of the Closing the Gap Initiative based in Oakland, Calif., who contributed to the report "Lifting as We Climb: Women of Color, Wealth and America's Future."

Racial disparities in net worth
Among the most startling revelations in the wealth data is that while single white women in the prime of their working years (ages 36 to 49) have a median wealth of $42,600 (still only 61 percent of their single white male counterparts), the median wealth for single black women is only $5. Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041225-84.stm"

This is sad, because many of these women are at home trying to hold it down while some of us brothers are out...well, doing what some brothers do. Honestly folks, if we are ever going to get serious about building as a community, stats like the one you just read are going to have to be turned around.

FIVE DOLLARS? Oh well, hold your head up my sisters. What's that saying?" The night is darkest before the dawn".