You might not know it, but today (Monday) is a holiday. July 31st has been designated as Black Women’s Equal Pay Day — designed to bring awareness to the gender pay gap and how it impacts women of color.
Serena Williams wrote an essay for Fortune sharing knowledge on the important topic close to her heart. Black women are 37 cents behind men in the pay gap on average — which means, on average, for every dollar a man makes, a black woman makes 63 cents.
Stars like Serena and Tracee Ellis Ross helped spread the word with selfies wearing “Phenomenal Woman” T-shirts.
The date also has a special significance. As Ross tweeted, “July 31st represents the number of days into 2017 a black woman must work to earn [the] same pay a white man made in 2016.” Serena tweeted, “Black women are the cornerstone of our communities, they are phenomenal and they deserve equal pay.”
Fasho Thoughts:
- Serena Williams is no stranger to using her platform and visibility to help others.
- We have a million meaningless “Hallmark holidays” — it’s about time we dedicate some days to something important.
- This is a bigger deal than #NationalFrenchFryDay or #SelfieDay or whatever other made-up holidays are trending.
- Keep in mind these numbers are just the average. Just because you know someone who makes a little more or less doesn’t mean these stats aren’t true. The math adds up.
Source: Radio One / Don Juan Fasho
