Unfinished business

This portrayal of the poverty of black women in this country describes the unemployment, underemployment, isolation, and lack of assets they typically experience. The author also takes on and demolishes the common stereotypes that castigate poor black women as "morally problematic and dependent on the money of good tax-paying citizens." She then calls on the black churches to become potential agents of change and leaders in addressing the unequal social and economic structures that hold captive these poor women. The goal is to empower poor black women to develop assets that will prevent long-term poverty and allow them to flourish.