Dr. L. Toni Lewis, geriatrician and Healthcare Chair of SEIU, recently wrote an op-ed on the fight for income equality and retirement security among the African American community. We wanted to share the beginning of it with you here, and encourage you click through to read the entire piece at The Root.

Adorned in a freshly ironed dress and carrying a satchel for her books, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges walked past an angry mob and into the doors of William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. While the girl's father was initially reluctant to let his daughter become the school's first African-American student, her mother felt strongly that the move was needed, not only to give her daughter a better education but also to "take this step forward for all African-American children."

That was the spring of 1960.

Ruby Bridges is now 57 years old. As African Americans in her age group -- those who grew up during the civil rights movement -- begin to consider retirement, they are once again confronting another struggle for equality. America's looming retirement-security crisis disproportionately affects African Americans, an alarming number of whom are retiring in poverty after a lifetime of work.

Click here to read the full piece →