Today is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day 2020
By NextGen America’s BLACK Engagement Group
August 13 is Black Women’s Equal Pay Day.
This day symbolizes the 599 days that Black women had to work to be paid the same salary that non-Hispanic white men received for working 365 days.
While we are encouraged that this year’s Black Women’s Equal Pay Day came earlier than last year’s (August 22) and the gap is slowly closing, it’s not enough.
Since the time the first African-Americans were trafficked to our country against their will, Black women have been fighting to be treated as equals. They went from having their families stolen to having their work stolen, without proper recognition and pay for their efforts.
Many people love to praise #BlackGirlMagic, but we need to remember to #PayBlackWomen for their #BlackExcellence. Black women deserve better than making $0.62 to the $1.00 that white men make.
Black women’s fight for true equality continues, but that fight requires systemic change. Systemic change comes when enough of us come together in action to demand it. In honor of that, we are asking folks to:
- Pledge to vote for representatives who will work toward and support measures to make Black Women’s Equal Pay Day to the 365th day of the year (instead of a year plus an additional 234 days);
- Follow, support, and uplift the work of those seeking to close the wage gap between Black women and non-Hispanic white men, including, but not limited to #HIREBLACK and Equal Pay Today.
Signed,
NextGen BLACK Engagement Group
The NextGen BLACK Engagement Group (Black Leaders Advocating for Change & Knowledge) is a group of Black-identifying NextGen America staff members who work to provide training, resources, and events that educate NextGen staff on understanding and effectively engaging Black voters and increasing Black voter turnout.
The BLACK Engagement Group recently launched NextGen America’s first-ever national Juneteenth Week of Action and has worked to spearhead internal diversity initiatives.
More information on NextGen America’s work to support Black lives can be found at: https://nextgenamerica.org/black-lives-matter/
