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Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

by Ashia

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Black Women’s Equal Pay Day

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To tackle this topic, we read stories of contemporary Black women that focus on agency, competence, and direct targeting. Misogynoir doesn’t ‘just happen to‘ Black women. This gap in wages and advancement is not inevitable or natural. White and non-Black POC reinforce systemic misogynoir through our decisions – fueled both by unconscious bias and consciously targeting Black women.

This discrimination starts in early education and continues through a career, with those of us in power exploiting the lack of opportunities and alternatives available to Black women and femmes. As non-Black people, we benefit from uncompensated labor of Black women – so we have an individual and community responsibility to reciprocate that care and labor.

When is it?

  • 2021: August 3
  • 2022: September 21
  • 2022: July 27

Read:

Discuss:

How do we internalize the assumption that a Black woman’s labor is worth less than that of a white man?

  • What assumptions did people make about the girls and women in these stories? What messages did the protagonist receive from others about the value of her abilities and contributions? Do you think they’d send these same messages to a young white boy?
  • What obligations did the girls and women in these stories have to take responsibility for, that white folks didn’t?
  • Discuss the ways your family receives money. What are your sources of income?
  • What is one time when a grownup expected us to do great work? What is one time when a grownup expected us to fail? How do we think that affected how good we felt and how hard we worked?

Take Action:

How can we transition our economy to distribute wealth to those working hardest?

More resources to dig deeper:

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