John,
Today is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day – the day marking how far into this year Black women have to work just to earn what white men made last year alone.
Think about that. For every dollar paid to a white man, Black women working full-time, year-round earn just 66 cents. When you include part-time and part-year workers, it drops to 64 cents. That means it takes more than half the year just to catch up – and even then, we’re still behind.
This wage gap robs Black women of economic security and dignity. If it closed for just one year, Black women could afford:
But it’s not just in the workforce. This same inequity shows up everywhere – including in politics.
Here’s what they don’t tell you about running for office: Black women candidates raise, on average, only one-third of what their white counterparts raise. That means we’re forced to start a lap down, racing against opponents with triple our resources. We have to work twice as hard just to catch up – before we even get to fight for the policies that will change these systems in the first place.
And when Summer Lee did run, she made history becoming the first Black woman ever elected to Congress from Pennsylvania – an achievement that shows what is possible, even when the odds are stacked against you. But it also shows how much work still lies ahead.
While Trump and his allies dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs… while they slash federal jobs… while they attack every rung on the ladder Black women use to climb towards economic security… Summer Lee is fighting back for us.
She is working double time in Congress to:
But even as she does this work, she’s still facing that one-third fundraising reality—and that means she’s literally running on a shorter track. She needs us to even the playing field.
Imagine if we funded Black women candidates at the same level as their white counterparts. Imagine if Summer Lee could run her race without having to catch up first – just think about how much more she could do for us.
Black women aren’t paid less because we work less. We’re paid less because of racist, sexist systems designed to keep us underpaid, undervalued, and overlooked. Summer Lee is fighting to change that – for every Black woman, for every little girl watching her, for all of us.
Thank you for standing with her today. She is standing up for us every single day in Congress.
In solidarity,
Team Summer Lee
