All posts by

Cynthia Overton

In early June, I wrote to diversity professionals and others advancing workplace inclusion about corporate statements responding to the killing of George Floyd. I did this to discourage companies from releasing PR-type statements that were heavy on buzzwords, light on substance, and unlikely to disrupt racial injustice occurring within their reach. Instead, I wanted corporate leaders to examine practices within their organizations that adversely impact Black talent and use statements to convey how they would dismantle the internal structures and systems that allow these injustices to perpetuate in the workplace. Fast forward

August 13 marks Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. This is not a celebration. Instead, it represents the date that Black women must work into the new year to catch up to what White non-Hispanic men made at the end of the previous year. That’s an extra 226 days of work for Black women, who make just 62 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic White men. This translates to corporate leaders attributing Black women’s worth as roughly three-fifths of the value of White men. This pay gap has a devastating impact. It means