#BlackWorkersMatter Report Released

On Friday, May 1, the #BlackWorkersMatter report was released at the State of the Black Worker in America conference at Columbia University. This report is the product of several years of discussion and planning. The Discount Foundation and the Neighborhood Funders Group partnered with other funders to convene groups organizing black workers two years ago, and then to produce this report over the past few months. They brought together a stellar group of researchers and writers for the #BlackWorkersMatter report. It has a foreword by Columbia professor and MSNBC contributor, Dorian Warren, and includes five sections:

  • Algernon Austin explains how the range of problems facing African American communities are connected to the lack of number of jobs available to blacks and the decline in the quality black jobs.
  • Marc Bayard looks at the partnership between the labor movement and black workers, highlighting the potential for black worker to help rejuvenate and transform the labor movement into the ultimate force for the working class and civil rights.
  • Linda Burnham examines the jobs crisis facing African American women and explains how low wages trap black women, together with their families and communities, in cycles of economic distress.
  • Steven Pitts writes about the broader context in which to view the black jobs crisis and analyzes the prevalence of low-wage work among black workers, especially in the current age of inequality.
  • Sean Thomas-Breitfeld provides examples of on-the-ground work and recommendations for funders, drawn from an analysis of in-depth interviews with community organizers, national experts and funders.

The report is available for download here.

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