Dear John,

Today, Wednesday, September 21, we commemorate Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Today we recognize how much longer Black women need to work in a year to catch up to white, non-Hispanic men. Because of the wage gap, Black women working full time year-round were paid $0.67 cents for every $1 paid to a white, non-Hispanic man in 2021. Enough is enough.

Throughout American history, Black women have been the backbone of our working economy. Black women face both racism and sex discrimination in the workforce which means they face one of the worst wage gaps.

In fact, Black women lose $1,891 every month. That is money that could help Black women and their families, especially in the last few pandemic years—as Black women have been hit the hardest.

Over a year, Black women lose $22,692 to the wage gap. And when we look at all Black women workers, regardless of how many hours or weeks they worked, Black women are being paid even less—only 64 cents for every dollar paid to a white, non-Hispanic man. This money is rooted in the exploitation of Black women, beginning with the institution of chattel slavery and continuing to the present day where Black women are overrepresented in physically demanding, low-pay jobs.

Over a lifetime of work, Black women are losing over $900,000 to the wage gap. In other words Black women would have to live five years past their life expectancy to catch up to what white, non-Hispanic men are paid by age 60.

The time has come to finally acknowledge and pay Black women equally for the work we do. So this year we asked our favorite Black women artists, managers, entrepreneurs, and everyone in between to show up and say, “Pay Me What You Owe Me.”

Be sure to look out for your favorite Black women influencers and celebrities wearing our #PayMeWhatYouOweMe shirts, and show your support by posting on social media with us using #PayMeWhatYouOweMe! [[link removed]]

Black women only make 67 cents for every dollar white men make—a staggering wage gap that has ripple effects for Black women and their families, stopping them from building generational wealth and ensuring economic security. That’s why I’m joining @nationalwomenslawcenter to say: it’s time to pay Black women what they are owed. Learn more at nwlc.org #BlackWomensEqualPay

And if you want to learn more, check out our piece on the racial history of the wage gap and our solutions to closing it. [its-time-to-pay-black-women-what-theyre-owed]

This Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, let’s band together in solidarity to bring awareness to the barriers that hold us back from reaching our highest level of success.

Sincerely,

May Amoyaw
she/her/hers
Senior Manager of Creative and Digital Strategies, Economic Justice
National Women’s Law Center
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