Why you need to compensate black women for your Black History Month events, and support their causes all year round.
While trying to select a Beyonce lyric to begin this blog, the fact that I had multiple options let me know that even one of the most powerful black women in the world still had to demand compensation for her time, effort and talent. How disappointing and exhausting. Btw, I settled on “Gimme my check. Put some respeck on my check. Or pay me in equity, pay me in equity, and watch me reverse out of debt.” As an entrepreneur, it felt particularly fitting.
The gender pay gap is well documented, as well as the increased disparity when race is layered on top of it. In the United States, according to Pew Research, in 2022, Black women earned 70% as much as White men. And on the other side of the pond where I currently live in the UK and there has been more attention paid to the gender pay gap in recent years, the numbers are a bit better at 86% according to ONS data. But both are still far from the 100% they need to be.
Inequality remains a problem all year round, but it feels acutely more insulting when it rears its ugly head during a month that’s supposed to be centred on celebrating how far we have come as black women. Unfortunately, it can be a stark reminder of how much further we have to go.
I have experienced, and heard accounts from other black women about the sudden inundation of panel and keynote speaker requests in the weeks leading up to Black History Month. And when we ask what their budget is for the event, we are met with crickets or sorry excuses. This is frustrating at best, and at its worst, looks like a microcosm of the special cocktail of the microaggressions and misogynoir we face on a regular basis.
Although it shouldn’t need to be said, I will make it plain: this is an unacceptable way to engage with us at any time of the year, but especially during Black History month.
As a professional problem solver, I would be remiss to highlight a problem without giving a few solutions (although, feel free to insert a joke about the unfair expectations of labor on black women to fix other people’s problems). However, as the saying goes, I got time today.
Let me help you, help us secure the bag with a few Dont’s to avoid, (courtesy of a few lyrics from Beyonce, because one thing we’re gonna do is stay on theme).
- “Don’t Play Yourself!”- Plan ahead. Don’t start executing your Black History Month programming the month before. Do you start planning your Christmas activations in November? Exactly. If you contact us several months in advance, you will be first in our inbox, rather than our 50th request a month before. Work smarter not harder.
- “Don't Be Funny With My Money, Honey!” - Compensating your speakers is the bare minimum, please make sure the compensation is as generous as we are being with our time. The topics we’re asked to cover are often grounded in our own trauma or challenging experiences - the costs to you need to just as heavy (e.g. whatever number you have in mind, double it and add tax).
- “Talk To Me Nice!” - Don’t just talk to me in Black History Month. Black Women contain multitudes, and we can add value far beyond your BHM programming. If you engage with us all year round, it will feel a lot less like pandering when you ask us to keynote your Black History Month event.
Celebrating Black History Month is a wonderful opportunity for you to recognize and appreciate black people, and especially black women, for their invaluable contributions to everything from civil rights activism to the arts, academia, and beyond. Compensating them correctly for that work demonstrates that it’s not only acknowledged but also valued. It sends a powerful message that their expertise, talents, and contributions are on par with individuals from any background (cough, white men, cough cough). And by highlighting the incredible work we do, it encourages young black women to pursue their passions and make significant contributions to society, being confident in the fact that their work will be acknowledged and valued too.
Or to put it in the wise words of Queen Bey, “Hope you still like me, Eff you pay me. My persuasion can build a nation.” If we hear from you next month about your plans for next year, we’ll know you’re building with us.
Susan C. Allen
1 The Carters. "Apeshit." Everything Is Love.
2 https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/01/the-enduring-grip-of-the-gender-pay-gap/
3 http://tinyurl.com/2bu4c3j3
4 Beyonce. "Don't Play Yourself." Lemonade, Sony Music Entertainment (Distributor).
5 Beyoncé. "PURE/HONEY." Renaissance, Sony Music Entertainment (Distributor).
6 Beyoncé. "VIRGO'S GROOVE." Renaissance, Sony Music Entertainment (Distributor).
7 Beyoncé. "Who Run The World (Girls).* 4, Sony Music Entertainment (Distributor).
