As a black woman, Tracey Wilson of Roanoke wants America to know that black women "raise our children with morals and values."

Marilyn Kershaw of Blacksburg wants America to know, "I am an independent thinker. I think of myself as a woman, then as a black woman. I have very much an affinity for my race."

Her daughter Njeri, 25, asks her fellow countrymen to understand that though she is educated and working on a graduate degree, she, too, has to "go through struggles."

Rosalyn Robinson, 49, of Columbia, S.C., implores America not to politically pigeonhole her. She isn't yet backing anyone for president. She has no particular allegiance to Hillary because she's a woman nor to Barack because he's black.

"I have problems with both of them," said the substitute teacher visiting Roanoke last week.

These black women reflect the myriad of opinions and voices of a demographic too often muted in our country and whose successes and challenges too often are dismissed or overlooked.

This week, however, black women will get our 15 minutes of fame.

Beginning Monday, NBC News with Brian Williams will air a five-part series called "African-American Women: Where They Stand." It will air on WSLS (Channel 10) in Roanoke.

The series will cover a range of issues from black women's votes in the 2008 presidential race to the increased health risks of black women.

I have not seen the series in advance but spoke with Rehema Ellis, the lead reporter on the series and the only black female news correspondent at "NBC News."

The series was the idea of Mark Whitaker, the No. 2 person in the network's news division.

When Whitaker, who is black, approached her with the idea in late summer, Ellis said she thought, "Wow, that's a pretty big subject."

The series tackles a different subject each night. Ellis said because each segment is limited by time restraints, the series couldn't be as "comprehensive" as some viewers might like.

That's OK. Making these issues part of the collective American dialogue is a critical step.

As Marilyn Kershaw suggested, black women share with other women the same worries of juggling homes and careers, child-rearing, relationships and health.

Some issues, however, because of different circumstances, more acutely affect black women.

For instance, Monday's segment will deal with black women's progress in education. According to NBC, nearly two-thirds of black undergraduates are women. At historically black colleges, the ratio of women to men is 7 to 1.

That is leading to a disparity in the number of black women who eventually own their own businesses.

Tuesday's topic is relationships, also influenced by disparities in education and the mass incarceration of black men.

Many women meet the men they eventually marry at college. The odds are against black women when the dating pool of men on campus is so small.

Since the late 1950s, the percentage of black women between 25 and 54 who have never married has doubled from 20 percent to 40 percent, according to NBC. That's compared with 16 percent of white women in the same age bracket.

Some black women are overcoming that challenge by dating and marrying white men.

"I'm very open to finding someone outside my race," said Kiarra Kershaw, 28, Marilyn's daughter. The epidemiology doctoral student at the University of Michigan is engaged to a white man.

Her mother chipped in.

"As their parents, we've taught them to love men who love and treat them well [regardless of race]," Marilyn said of her adult daughters.

She paused and smiled. "You have to stand by that."

Wilson, 28, who is married to a black man and is the mother of two boys, emphasized that black women "want committed, monogamous relationships. There are good black men out there."

On Wednesday, the series will focus on the increased risks for breast cancer. Mortality rates for black women are higher than any other racial or ethnic group for nearly every major cause of death.

Other topics will include politics and hip-hop's role in the image of black women.

The topics will be old hat for black women. We've discussed these subjects, read about them -- or more poignantly -- lived them.

But perhaps this series will at least serve to make these issues part of the public discourse.

Many Americans -- including leaders -- don't know the issues confronting black women.

That was evident during an exchange at the vice presidential debate in 2004.

Black journalist Gwen Ifill, who moderated the debate, cited that black women between the ages of 25 and 44 were 13 times more likely to die of AIDS than white women.

She asked Vice President Dick Cheney what government's role should be in helping to reduce the growing epidemic.

Cheney confessed, "I have not heard those numbers with respect to African-American women. I was not aware that it was -- that they're in epidemic."

John Edwards, then a vice-presidential hopeful, didn't do any better. He hopscotched around the globe, referencing AIDS in Africa and Russia and genocide in Sudan. He never got back to AIDS ravaging black women in his own country.

The issues of black women are the issues of America. Before the nation can confront the concerns, it has to know what they are.

Shanna Flowers' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays

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