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A closer look at the black women making headlines and breaking barriers this week.

Black women are everything.

I say it without reservation or hesitation. I say it with personal experience and anecdotal knowledge. We. Are. Everything.

Need someone to replace your contaminated water pipes? We can do that. Need someone to tell off Paul Ryan? We can do that. Need someone to help you master a skateboard trick? We can do that too. Try to keep up.

Our talent, know-how, grace, and grit is unparalleled. There's only one problem: No one seems to care.

At least not visibly — not when it matters. In the spirit of intersectionality, black women cape for black men, we support women, other POC, people with disabilities, and our LGBTQ family. But who is championing, listening to, trusting, and promoting us? Fine, we can do that too.

[rebelmouse-image 19532556 dam="1" original_size="750x500" caption="Dropping knowledge about the awesomeness of black women. Photo by WOCinTech Chat/Flickr." expand=1]Dropping knowledge about the awesomeness of black women. Photo by WOCinTech Chat/Flickr.

This is the beginning of a weekly column dedicated to signal-boosting the black women who make the world spin.

From tastemakers and politicians, to women making a name for themselves in their communities, these are people whose stories merit attention and enthusiasm.

Let's go ahead and give them their roses. Here are the women I'm here for this week — support them, believe them, and celebrate them.

"We've Got Your Back": Janet Jackson and Lola Olufemi

Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images.

  • Across the pond, Cambridge student Lola Olufemi joined together with other students to write an open letter about improving the university's English department. It included suggestions for creating a more inclusive canon and improving representation among the authors and viewpoints. (You can read the entire thing here.)  Soon after, Olufemi's simple, clear proposal was mischaracterized and demonized on the front page of The Daily Telegraph, who suggested she was trying to drop white authors, including Shakespeare, altogether. The paper has since printed a tiny apology, but the damage is done. We know the truth, sis.

"We Believe You": Myeshia Johnson and Kitti Jones

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

"Go off, sis": Ava DuVernay

Ava DuVernay recently accepted Smithsonian magazine's American Ingenuity Award. The award honors great talents and contributions in eight categories: technology, performing arts, visual arts, life sciences, physical sciences, history, social progress, and youth. DuVernay picked up the honor for visual arts for her work in TV and film. And if that's not enough, check out this clip from "Finding Your Roots" when she discovers her genetic makeup is majority African. Her smile is like standing in a sunbeam.

Final thoughts: Robin Thede

Robin Thede, host of "The Rundown with Robin Thede" will deliver this week's final thoughts:

I'll be here next week with more women to celebrate, support, and signal boost. If you know a black woman that I should feature, send me some links.

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This play stars a lesbian couple or a gay couple, depending on the night.

On the surface, "Walking to Buchenwald" is a quirky, comedic play about the typical drama surrounding a family trip. But a closer look reveals an exploration into gender, love, and what it means to be an American.

The show, presented by the Open Fist Theatre Company in Los Angeles, follows soon-to-be married couple Schiller and Arjay as they take Schiller's aging parents on their first trip to Europe. Based on a real trip the playwright, Tom Jacobson, took with his family, the provocative comedy touches on hot-button topics like politics, gender, marriage, and what it's like to be an American abroad when the president of the United States is pretty unpopular.

Christopher Cappiello, Justin Huen, Ben Martin, and Laura James. Photo by Darrett Sanders.

But the play gets really interesting when you learn Jacobson wrote Schiller and Arjay without any specific gender. So, depending on the night, the show is either about a male same-sex couple or a female same-sex couple.

"I definitely wanted to do that from the beginning because it does change the play and how we feel about the characters," Jacobson says. "One of the reasons we encourage people to see the play more than once is to really engage in questions of how do we perceive a story based on who's enacting the story."

Since the actors are literally performing the same material, those changes and altered perceptions largely come from the audience's expectations and implicit biases around gender.

Mandy Schneider, Amielynn Abellera, Ben Martin, and Laura James. Photo by Darrett Sanders.

The production doesn't just give audiences the opportunity to rethink how they see the world — the actors also get a chance to collaborate and perform like never before.

Christopher Cappiello and Mandy Schneider both play Schiller, one-half of the show's same-sex couple. Both actors brought their own choices and idiosyncrasies to the role, but for lighting and technical reasons, they had to hit identical marks and blocking to avoid confusing the other actors they performed with. This required some serious collaboration and the support of a very patient director, Roderick Menzies.

"There was no sense of competition or resentment. I think it made it stronger for everyone," says Cappiello.

Photo by Darrett Sanders.

For Schneider, the role offered the rare opportunity to play a leading, multidimensional woman character. As an actress, she says she doesn't often see roles for women that are this fleshed out.

"Many women in various plays, pieces, they don't show every single emotion. And I feel like this is really exciting that I get to show everything —from sadness to anger to frustration," Schneider says. "This is personally the first time I've played a woman like this in a long time."

She even flew her family in from the Midwest to see the show. "I don't know when I'll get this kind of role again."

Photo by Darrett Sanders.

In addition to gender-blind casting, it's no small thing that Jacobson's play features gay and lesbian characters in leading roles.

Both Cappiello and Amielynn Abellera, who plays Arjay opposite Mandy Schneider, identify as gay, and say they relished the rare opportunity to play gay characters. These compelling, diverse roles can go a long way toward improving representation.

"Visibility is really what's brought the sense of a normal life to LGBTQ people. Coming Out Day, pride parades ... that has been crucial to communicating to the public who we are," Jacobson says. "It's important to communicate that we're not afraid and that we are in some ways like everyone else and in some ways very different, and unique, and worthy of being cherished."

Photo by Darrett Sanders.

The show also offers a timely political discussion — particularly impressive given that it was written 14 years ago.

Jacobson took the trip with his family in 2003, just when the war in Iraq was kicking into gear. Much of that real-life trip included European locals telling his family exactly what they thought of America and President George W. Bush. Though Jacobson wrote the show to be evergreen, not mentioning the president or conflict by name, he expected the play to be produced quickly. It wasn't. Once President Obama entered the office, the material seemed dated and less relevant, and it spent years on the shelf.

In 2016, hedging their bets on a Clinton victory in the presidential election, the Open Fist decided to do a reading of the play almost as a cautionary tale turned time capsule.

Then, Trump won.

"Instead, the play became more relevant and the theater said, 'Let's do a full production,'" Jacobson says.

The conflict and president are still unnamed, but the experience of being an American abroad while the country's reputation takes a nose dive is more applicable than ever before — almost too eerily close for comfort.

"There are ways in which we've been afraid that current events might overtake the play," Cappiello says. "Is this about to happen? And is our play now going to become a work of history, instead of hopefully a warning?"

Photo by Darrett Sanders.

"Walking to Buchenwald" explores these events and nuanced conversations with humor and heart, as only art can.

The show continues its run with the Open Fist Theatre Company in Los Angeles through Oct. 21.

While the play isn't widely available in most of the country, Jacobson would love to see it run in other cities. If the show is something you'd like to bring to your area, he suggests reaching out to your local or community theaters to lobby for a staging.

"There's so much that it's hitting upon that's happening right here and right now that's extremely important," Schneider says. "I hope as many people see it as possible."

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A new website shares the powerful stories of lives saved by the Affordable Care Act.

The health care law is a hot topic in politics, but what about the people who rely on it?

A year after being diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, Kelly Angard is waging a fight for not only her life, but for millions of others.

Over the past 12 months, the 52-year-old self-employed photographer and artist has undergone chemotherapy and surgery and is once again going through another round of chemo. With insurance, her treatment costs her around $16 per month; without insurance, her out of pocket costs rise to more than $5,200 per month — unaffordable on virtually anyone's budget. Without treatment, it's probable that her cancer would reach a terminal stage within months.

Kelly Angard and her daughter. Photo courtesy of Kelly Angard.

Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Angard would have found it nearly impossible to find health insurance.

Thanks to the 2010 law, also known as "Obamacare," Angard couldn't be denied coverage on the basis of having a preexisting condition. At the time of her diagnosis, Angard was still on her recently-separated husband's insurance, and while she was able to stay on his plan for a while, she'd eventually found herself in need of her own policy. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, she couldn't be turned away due to her cancer diagnosis.

November's election brought a renewed call from the law's opponents for its repeal. That's when it hit home for Angard that she may soon lose what coverage she has.

"It hit me like a freight train," she says, noting that she had been rediagnosed just weeks before the election.

Photo courtesy of Kelly Angard.

She teamed up with two other women to create Faces of the ACA, a website dedicated to boosting the stories of individuals whose lives have been saved because of the law.

The political rhetoric surrounding the law has overshadowed the reality of what its repeal would mean to the millions of people who benefit from it. Angard, along with Anjali Fernandes and Mary Afifi, launched Faces of the ACA to help take the discussion surrounding the law beyond the rhetoric.

"So many people do not understand — they hear the talking points, but they don't really understand what that exactly means — what that looks like for a person [like me]," she says.

"I've had the idea in my head that people just want to be heard. Obviously, even more so now, in this environment after this election, people want to be heard. So, in a nonpartisan way, the idea of having a place where people can have a voice came into my head. I was overwhelmed with doing it on my own, but through conversations ... with a few other people, I said, 'I really believe that we need to get our faces in front of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, and the others.' And the lady I was talking with said, 'Yes, we do.' She said, 'Faces of the ACA.'"

Faces of the ACA has a simple goal: to push back on the politicized approach to health care.

And that's exactly why Angard wanted to avoid using the term "Obamacare" across the site.

"I don't want it to be a political issue at all," she says. "And so I made no political issue on the site because everybody has health needs. Calling the law by its respectful name was very important to me."

Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images.

It turns out that when you ask people about what the Affordable Care Act actually does, they like it.

According to a December survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation, 85% of the public support the provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26, 83% support eliminating out of pocket costs for preventative services, and 69% favor the provision that bans insurance companies from denying coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions.

That same poll found that just 26% of the public want the law completely repealed. 30% of Americans actually think the law needs to do more.

Repealing the law would have some potentially disastrous effects.

The Urban Institute, a public policy think tank, found that repealing the Affordable Care Act would cause nearly 30 million Americans to lose their insurance. Of those newly uninsured, up to 36,000 people may die as the result of no longer having access to health care.

Misconceptions about the law, however, continue to run rampant, and that's why stories from people whose survival depends on it are so very important.

Most of us have benefited from the law in one way or another. Still, many don't seem to understand what the legislation actually does. In October, then-candidate Donald Trump appeared to confuse the set of standards and regulations (what the law consists of) with some sort of insurance plan all on its own (which is not what the Affordable Care Act is).

Another common, if somewhat misunderstood, argument against the legislation is that it's driving the cost of insurance up. The reality is that this problem existed long before the law was passed, and interestingly enough, it was opposition from some of the more conservative members of Congress that eliminated the possibility of a "public option" — something that would have helped rein in those yearly increases. While the average premium increase for plans bought through the Healthcare.gov marketplace increased by 22%, few were actually affected by this, as the available subsidies increased as well.

As of this writing, Faces of the ACA has roughly 100 stories from a wide range of Americans.

From Luanne T., who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 13, to Mark D., who shared his story of being denied coverage pre-ACA due to a clerical error, it's worth taking your time to visit the site and see just how many people depend on the ACA and what it would mean to lose it.

This really shouldn't be a partisan issue. The U.S. is one of few industrialized countries not to guarantee health care for its citizens, and while even many of the law's proponents would argue that a single-payer system would be an ultimately better solution, the Affordable Care Act is a big step in the right direction — and Faces of the ACA shows why.

Supporters of the Affordable Care Act stand outside the Supreme Court in 2015. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

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In his farewell address, President Obama shared one last powerful message of hope.

Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, we're in this together.

On Tuesday night, Barack Obama delivered his final public speech as the 44th president of the United States.

Speaking from his adopted hometown of Chicago, President Obama delivered a powerful, emotional address to a crowd of thousands and a TV audience of millions. The speech itself centered on the progress we've made as a country over the course of the past eight years — and how much further we have to go.

"Tonight, it’s my turn to say thanks," said Obama.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

As a candidate, Obama campaigned on a message of hope. As he leaves the White House, his core message remains largely unchanged.

At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, then-Illinois state Senator Obama delivered a powerhouse speech pushing back against the cynicism and divisiveness that so often finds its way into politics. "The pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats," he said. "But I've got news for them too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states."

If his speech then was the vision of an optimistic — if slightly naïve — man first dipping his toes into the national political arena, his farewell speech on Tuesday was the perfect bookend to a storied, improbable presidential career. If there's something to take away from his farewell, it's that through all the opposition and obstruction and challenges he's faced in his time in the Senate and White House, he still sees this country as the hopeful land he spoke of 12 years ago.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent, Obama's speech was a reminder that we all have a role to play in a thriving America.

A 240-year-old work in progress, the U.S. remains a relatively young, imperfect country. In his farewell speech, Obama took time to acknowledge the struggles that exist, cautioning against believing that things like discrimination on the basis of race or gender or religion or country of origin are things of the past. The fact is, they're not. That sort of utopian thinking is, in his words, a "threat to our democracy."

"After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America," Obama said. "And such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic. Race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. I've lived long enough to know that race relations are better than they were 10 or 20 or 30 years ago — no matter what some folks say. You can see it, now just in statistics, you see it in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum. But we're not where we need to be."

It's up to us to continue to work toward a more perfect union — starting with the belief that if all men (and women) are created equal, they should be treated as equals.

"We all have to try harder. We all have to start with the premise that each of our fellow citizens loves this country just as much as we do."

Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images.

In just a few short days, Obama will leave office. His legacy of change, progress, and hope doesn't have to leave with him.

The 2016 presidential election was hard-fought, to say the least. It's easy for those whose candidate won to shut out those who disagree. It's easy for those whose candidate lost to feel a sense of hopelessness. It doesn't have to be that way.

The power of our democracy lies not in the politicians who represent us, but in the individuals who compose it. We the people are the ones who matter — all of us. It's that message that Obama shared in his final public words as president.

"I do have one final ask of you as your president," Obama said during his closing remarks. "The same thing I asked we took a chance ... eight years ago. I am asking you to believe not in my ability to bring about change — but in yours."

Whether or not you agree with him or his policies, we should all be able to agree that working together to create a more just society that cares for each of its members is far more productive than walling each other off.

Thanks, Obama.

Photo by Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images.

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