(via email from Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, emphasis in original):

Iris, we need to pay Black women fairly.

Today is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, and we’re breaking things down for y’all:

• Do you know the amount of time it takes a Black woman to earn the same amount a white man is paid in 2020? It takes 215 additional days for a Black woman to break even because she is only earning $0.63 compared to a white man’s $1.
• On average, every working Black woman is missing out on nearly a million dollars in their lifetime because of the wage gap. (Yes, the pay gap is about much more than just a singular paycheck.)
• Black women face a wider-than-average pay gap despite the fact they participate in the workforce at much higher rates than other women.

Despite Black women contributing at a high rate to the U.S. workforce, they’re still forced to deal with the repercussions of a system built on white supremacy. Iris — it’s time to close the gap and pay Black women what they’re worth.

Black mothers are also most often the breadwinners of their family — so when Black moms are paid less, that means Black families have less money for basic necessities like rent and food. And over time, this impacts Black families’ ability to invest in savings, higher education, property, and so much more.

Black liberation includes ensuring Black women are paid equally and fairly. They are not only the backbone of countless Black families — but the backbone of our nation time and again.

In love and solidarity,

Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation

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Black women stand at the bleak intersection of patriarchy and white supremacy. The roots of these are long and deep, and cannot be extricated from the capitalist society in which they flourish: its institutions and systemic mechanisms are self-regenerating and self-reinforcing. And these effects are especially amplified in times of peril, like a deadly pandemic or an economic downturn. Or both.

If you are able and inclined to kick a few bucks to Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, please do so at ActBlue by clicking here or the “DONATE” button above.

If you’d prefer to directly support Black women who are playing to win, against extraordinary odds, from within the very system that disproportionately harms them, here is a list of 99 Black women-owned brands and entrepreneurs to support now and always.

Finally, if your own wallet’s a little light these days, please share the information and/or graphic contained in this post on your own social media.

#blacklivesmatter