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Protesters during the Womens March in Midtown Manhattan on Jan. 21, 2017 in New York City.Joel SheakoskiGetty Images

Flynn is a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute.

By now its clear the Trump era will be cruel to women . The President and Congress have proposed draconian cuts to the nations most effective health, nutrition, education , and disability programs, eviscerating benefits that have kept families afloat for decades. These cuts would impact millions of American women and their families. However, women of color would bear a particularly heavy burden as conservatives fortify the structural racism and sexism that has hurt them for centuries.

While Trump pursues his dystopian vision for America, some progressives want to abandon so-called identity politics. But that would only further marginalize women at greatest risk in the current political environment and who have long been the engine of progressive politics.

As I demonstrate in Justice Doesnt Trickle Down, a report published recently by the Roosevelt Institute and the Ms. Foundation for Women , women of color experience stark inequities. Compared with white women, women of color have higher levels of unemployment and poverty. They face stark wage and wealth gaps. They are more likely to experience the harsher side of the criminal justice system. They are at much higher riskregardless of their incomeof dying from pregnancy-related causes and having their children die in infancy.

Politicians have often led us to believe that if women can simply earn more they can overcome these obstacles. And of course, paying women a fair and equal wage, guaranteeing them paid sick and family leave, and ensuring access to affordable childcare would all go a long way towards building a stronger economy and a more just society.

But for women of color, economic and overall wellbeing is driven by factors deeper and broader than wage and workplace inequities. For these women, structural inequities will prevent progressive economic policies from being the rising tide that lifts all boats.

Conversations about womens economic security too often exclude the role of wealth. But wealth is a critical buffer in times of trouble and enables investments in housing, education, new businesses, and future generations. Women of color are caught in vast race and gender wealth gaps.

As of 2013, black and Latina women had a median net worth of $200 and $100, respectively, compared to the median net worth of $15,640 for white women and $28,900 for white men. Older single black women with college degrees have $11,000 in median wealth compared to $384,400 among single white women at the same education level. Women of color are less likely to own a home and are more likely to carry high-cost mortgages. They have higher annual percentage rates on their credit cards and are more likely to have credit card debt. They are more likely to be saddled with education debt and take longer to pay it off than white women.

This means the majority of women of color have no cushion in times of crises they are disproportionately likely to experience: illness, job or housing loss, or the incarceration of a family member.

Why do women have less wealth? As the National Womens Law Center has reported , the race and gender wage gaps result in significant financial losses over the course of womens careers: $840,040 for Black women, $934,240 for Native women, and more than $1 million for Latina women.

Conversations about womens financial security often focus exclusively on issues deemed economic in nature. But, as reproductive justice advocates have long argued, health and safety are also economic issues for women and their families. Women cant maximize economic opportunities if they arent able to make decisions about the timing and size of their families, if they cant access preventive health care and treat chronic illnesses, if they experience violence at the hands of intimate partners or the criminal justice system, or if they live in fear of being torn from their families.

This is especially true for women of color, who have long experienced high rates of mortality from cancer and pregnancy, sexual assault, violence against trans women of color, incarceration and deportation. The fact that women of color with higher incomes also experience many of these disparities tells us social justice is not an inevitable byproduct of economic progress.

Conservatives are advocating an agenda that will undoubtedly make women less safe, less healthy, and far less economically secure. Progressives must respond by confronting the challenges of those who most directly and disproportionately experience injustice and inequality. By all measures and standards in the United States, these are women of color. Any agenda to effectively tackle inequality must center their experiences, expertise and aspirations. All of our communities will be better off for it.

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It's Time for Progressives to Fight for Women of Color - TIME

Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream, long the countrys most overtly progressive company, is now no longer progressive enough for progressives.

Over the weekend, scores of activists marched on Ben & Jerrys Vermont factory, demanding that the company push for better wages and working conditions for migrant workers on Vermonts dairy farms. Social justice warrior blogs excoriated the company for failing to live up to its own progressive rhetoric.

Apparently, two years ago, Ben & Jerrys promised to take part in the Milk With Dignity program (weirdly, not Dairy With Dignity, which would have been catchier). The campaign asks major corporations that use milk in their food products to work to ensure migrant workers who help produce the milk are treated fairly.

But because Ben and Jerry are, at heart, dirty capitalists, they began negotiations with the organizations, to structure their commitment in such a way that it protected their bottom line. They also claimed to theWashington Post that they wanted to get real details on farm worker treatment from the migrants themselves, so that the agreement could be realistic.

It has to work for the farmers, the farm owners, and it has to work for the businesses involved and thats the complex piece, a representative of the company told media.

But the Vermont group Migrant Justice says thats just unacceptable. Realism? Who needs it! Profit? Well, thats just disgusting.

Ben & Jerrys sucks up milk from 80 Vermont dairy farms, and thats a lot of workers who arent being paid a living wage.

Weve been negotiating in good faith, said Will Lambek, director of Migrant Justice. Its an unacceptable delay.

To act like Ben & Jerrys is some sort of corporate behemoth looking to exploit the labors of the proletariat so they can roll around in dollar bills is purely insane. Ben & Jerrys most popular flavors are plays on current events, and even engage in ice cream-based activism: Their Australian branch refuses to sell two scoops of the same flavor to customers until same-sex marriage is legalized there, for example.

These kinds of campaigns are rarely sane, however. TheMary Suepoints out, what good is being able to get a gay marriage if you cant even take the time off of work? Farmworkers can be queer, too, the site exclaims. Who will think of the non-binary migrant workers? ClearlynotBen & Jerrys.

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Progressives Now Angry at Social Justice Icon Ben & Jerry's Over Workers' Rights - Heat Street

THE number of teenagers working summer jobs has dropped through the years, for a variety of reasons. This trend seems sure to accelerate if Democrats in Congress ever succeed in implementing a $15 minimum wage.

An analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics says one reason for the decrease in teen workers is that more of them are studying instead. In July 2016, more than two in five 16- to 19-year-olds were enrolled in school four times as many as were enrolled in 1985, Bloomberg reported recently.

Teens aren't going to summer school just because they failed a class and need to catch up, reporter Ben Steverman wrote. They're also enrolling in enrichment courses and taking courses for college credit.

There are other theories as to why fewer young people are spending their summers on a job somewhere. One is that older Americans are remaining on their jobs at a higher rate than in years past. Another is that parents are encouraging their children to pad their college resumes by volunteering or enrolling for extracurricular activities instead of working. Another is that more immigrants are competing with teens for entry-level jobs.

These jobs pay a minimum of $7.25, the federal minimum wage, although a majority of states have approved a higher minimum wage. Liberal states lead the way in paying more the minimum wage is $11 an hour in Washington and Massachusetts, for example. California's is $10 ($10.50 for companies with 26 or more employees), Connecticut's is $10.10.

Some places have sought to go even higher, with detrimental effects on smaller businesses in particular. Some governors and city councils have rejected similar efforts, citing concerns about their impact.

Yet liberals in Congress wish to make a $15 minimum the law of the land. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patty Murray, D-Wash, last month introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2017, backed by several Democratic colleagues. The House version is sponsored by Reps. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Bobby Scott, D-Va.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a tweet that this latest effort is about dignity in the workplace & making sure American workers can provide for their families. This has long been the go-to argument for proponents of such efforts. But the minimum wage isn't intended to serve in that capacity.

Instead, it's intended as a starting point. Writing in 2013 at U.S. News and World Report, Democratic strategist Penny Lee noted that 50 percent of McDonald's franchise owners were once hourly wage employees, and that Walmart promotes more than 160,000 employees a year. These are all individuals who are able to gain a higher wage and better standard of living through experience and on-the-job training, gaining the kind of skill sets needed to live out the American dream, she wrote.

Lee added that the opportunity for upward mobility seemed to be missing from the debate over hourly wages. When defining what amounts to a fair wage, she wrote, shouldn't the fair question be what corresponds to the market value of what the worker produces?

The answer was yes then and it's yes now.

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Progressives unrelenting in their push for $15 federal minimum ... - NewsOK.com

Republican legislative leaders announced last night that they have agreed to a final agreement on a new state budget that would commence July 1. As usual, neither Governor Cooper nor Democratic members of the legislature were invited to participate in the negotiations, though ,of, course, the Governor can veto the bill. Not surprisingly, given the disastrous track record of the past six years, the proposal comes up woefully short.

Fiscal policy expert Alexandra Sirota of the N.C. Budget and Tax Center put it this way last night:

The final budget that state lawmakers will vote on in the coming days reflects missed opportunities for North Carolina. By pursuing more tax cuts, even as states like Kansas have reversed course and abandoned their own failed tax-cut experiment, leaders of the NC General Assembly have chosen to stay the course and continue to do less for more North Carolinians.

North Carolinas leaders should put forward a budget that truly reflects the priorities of our growing state, including healthy and safe communities, quality educational opportunities and skills training, thriving communities, and broadly shared economic prosperity. They should make a sustained commitment to rebuilding Eastern North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew rather than offering just a fraction of what is needed. Instead, lawmakers have chosen to give even more benefits to the wealthy and profitable corporations. As state leaders continue to dig their heels in on their failed tax cut experiment, it is time for leaders across the state to emerge and demonstrate the harm of another budget that is not worthy of North Carolinians.

And this is from the good folks at Progress NC:

Once again, Republican lawmakers would rather give tax handouts to big corporations and millionaires instead of investing in North Carolinas future, said Gerrick Brenner, executive director of Progress NC Action. This budget provides absolutely no plan to raise teacher salaries to the national average, and short-changes rural communities across the state compared to Gov. Coopers budget. Working families deserve better.

And this is from Governor Cooper himself:

While we wait for details, the budget outlined by legislative leaders continues to shortchange education, economic development, and middle class families in favor of more tax giveaways that help the wealthy and large corporations. Those are the wrong priorities.

Poisoned water and poisonous healthcare policy were featured ...

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Progressives: GOP Budget deal represents another missed opportunity - The Progressive Pulse

Democratic Party leaders are up to their old tricks. They have lost at every level of government across the country because they fail to give voters reasons to support them.

This seemingly inexplicable behavior is quite deliberate. Giving the people what they want endangers their relations with wealthy individuals, corporations and big banks. Because they can no longer fool all of the people all of the time, they have returned to a more open and obvious move to the right.

Cast aside They are already planning to throw Black voters and political progressives under the bus. The people who have been relied upon to give them the margin of victory are cast aside in favor of people who either wont vote for them at all or who will pull the party to the right.

Democrats cry out that Trump voters arent all racists and will still vote for Democrats. So says Senator Al Franken among others. He recommends, You have to go and talk to them. And you have to listen. Bernie Sanders joins in and says that Trump voters arent sexist, racist, homophobes even though many of them fall into those categories by their own admission.

Words like these ought to set off alarm bells. While even Sanders talks about winning over people who are quite happy with their political choices, they say little or nothing about meeting the needs of Democrats who have left the party in frustration.

Nothing in return Black Americas rewards for putting Bill Clinton in the White House were the crime bill and the end of public assistance as a right. Black people got nothing for their Clinton love except higher poverty rates and prisons bursting at the seams.

Black voters have been slowly neutered over time and are still recovering from the Obama lovefest.

There isnt even a peep about being so openly taken for granted. In years past, even the most callow Black politician would manage to mutter some complaint about being ignored and disrespected.

Neither Hillary Clinton nor her $1 billion team of campaign consultants knew that she was in danger of losing several key states that traditionally voted Democratic in presidential elections. A mere 80,000 votes would have given her an Electoral College victory.

Own Hillarys defeat The Democrats wont own that this debacle is of their making, a result of making vapid appeals to people who wanted to see real change. Instead, they declare that making overt appeals to Trump voters is a new political goal.

Bill Clinton won the nomination and presidency by making the case for his conservatism. Barack Obama was even more slippery than Slick Willie. He raised more money from Wall Street than any other presidential candidate, while simultaneously marketing himself as a progressive.

So great is Democratic trauma regarding the Trump victory that they may successfully use these or new ruses to pull off another presidential win.

But the Democratic rank and file always end up being the losers, whether their party wins or doesnt. The banks always get a bailout and so does the military-industrial complex. Even Obamacare was a Republican plan promoted by right-wing thank tanks. Election outcomes never give banksters, defense contractors or Big Pharma cause for alarm.

Wont go away Former presidents usually disappear from view and write their memoirs. But Obama is openly making election endorsements in France and Germany, and hanging out with royalty in the United Kingdom. His activities are not accidental, they are an extension of what the Democrats do at home. The ruling classes need to be mollified and that apparently is a permanent job for Mr. Hope and Change.

The Democratic Party is proving itself to be treacherous yet again. There must be a movement away from them, a debate about how to achieve true political success. If not, there will be more repeats of the past with a party emerging victorious while its voters remain the losers.

Margaret Kimberleys column appears weekly in BlackAgendaReport.com. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com.

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Blacks, progressives under the Democrats' bus - Florida Courier