Dear Michelle Bernard:

I applaud you for being a Black woman pundit. There are so few of us doing what you do, so I can respect your gangsta to an extent.

But when I saw your sloppy attempt to disregard the importance of the Lily Ledbetter act–the act that will address equal pay for women–I was absolutely disappointed in you

Doing away with the wage gap would mean also breaking the cycle of women of color being at an even greater disadvantage. Did you know that poor children and people of color have less of a chance of going to college? Did you know that they have a better chance of being denied proper healthcare? did you know any of that?

And with the number of single parent homes where the mother is the only source of income, the wage gap is even more apparent.

That nurse analogy was cute….cute and embarassing. There is already a shortage of nurses, Ms. Bernard, and guess what?

They have to go to school to become nurses.

Refer back to my comments about the achievement gap. and then come back to this section. As long as there is a wage gap, there will be an achievement gap in our school system.

And how dare you imply that being a nurse is a choice and therefore women who choose to be nurses deserve to get paid less than a man doing the same job. One day, my doctor could not see me at the OB/GYN office. I went to an RN and she was amazing. And she is absolutely worth every damn penny she earns–and more.

It is not a mere choice between being a nurse or being a neurosurgeon. Do you know how much damn money a medical degree costs?

But I digress. Ms. Bernard, consider your own position. There are very few women in political media  and even fewer Black women political pundits like yourself. Perhaps if you looked in the mirror you’d understand why equal pay and equal rights are so important.