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300,000 Black Women Pushed Out of the U.S. Labor Force
Host Davey D convenes SEIU 1021 organizer Jennifer Esteen and Women’s Economic Agenda Project director Ethel Long-Scott to unpack a seismic—and largely ignored—economic gut punch: 300,000 Black women cut from the federal workforce in the first half of 2025. Both guests frame the layoffs as part of a broader, deliberate restructuring—legal, political, and technological—that targets the very people who’ve long been the backbone of democracy and day-to-day governance.
Long-Scott situates the moment historically: brief gains since the Civil Rights era met by deindustrialization and now tech-driven displacement. She argues the crisis is threefold—economic, technological, and political—and warns that silence from mainstream leaders, including Democrats, signals alignment with corporate power. Esteen ties the current playbook to “Project 2025” ambitions and a decades-old propaganda cycle—from “welfare queen” tropes to today’s algorithm-boosted crime feeds—that dehumanize Black women to justify policing and repression.
Davey probes the media machinery: crime-only accounts and viral clips that caricature Black women, turning pain into content and policy fodder for militarized responses. Long-Scott calls it what it is—an escalated corporate dictatorship with fascist tendencies—arguing tactics won’t beat strategy; communities need strategy, political education, and unity.
Chicago becomes a case study in counter-strategy. Esteen spotlights trusted messengers like CTU’s Stacey Davis Gates and notes on-the-ground resistance—from city leadership to creative blockades of ICE operations—backed by long-built coalitions. Locally, she points to Bay Area recall money, prosecutorial rollbacks, and ballooning public budgets to stress why politics matters: policy moves billions, daily.
Both guests offer concrete pathways: deepen political education; defend humane policy (housing, food, childcare, dignified work); rebuild bonds fractured by displacement; and revive community models like the Panthers’ 10-Point Program—health, breakfast, protection, education—updated for a tech age. They close with calls to show up: hear trusted voices, organize childcare workers, support homelessness solutions, and refuse fear. The throughline: solidarity is the weapon, strategy is the shield, and Black women’s leadership remains the compass.
Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson.
The post 300,000 Black Women Pushed Out of the U.S. Labor Force appeared first on KPFA.
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Host Davey D convenes SEIU 1021 organizer Jennifer Esteen and Women’s Economic Agenda Project director Ethel Long-Scott to unpack a seismic—and largely ignored—economic gut punch: 300,000 Black women cut from the federal workforce in the first half of 2025. Both guests frame the layoffs as part of a broader, deliberate restructuring—legal, political, and technological—that targets the very people who’ve long been the backbone of democracy and day-to-day governance.
Long-Scott situates the moment historically: brief gains since the Civil Rights era met by deindustrialization and now tech-driven displacement. She argues the crisis is threefold—economic, technological, and political—and warns that silence from mainstream leaders, including Democrats, signals alignment with corporate power. Esteen ties the current playbook to “Project 2025” ambitions and a decades-old propaganda cycle—from “welfare queen” tropes to today’s algorithm-boosted crime feeds—that dehumanize Black women to justify policing and repression.
Davey probes the media machinery: crime-only accounts and viral clips that caricature Black women, turning pain into content and policy fodder for militarized responses. Long-Scott calls it what it is—an escalated corporate dictatorship with fascist tendencies—arguing tactics won’t beat strategy; communities need strategy, political education, and unity.
Chicago becomes a case study in counter-strategy. Esteen spotlights trusted messengers like CTU’s Stacey Davis Gates and notes on-the-ground resistance—from city leadership to creative blockades of ICE operations—backed by long-built coalitions. Locally, she points to Bay Area recall money, prosecutorial rollbacks, and ballooning public budgets to stress why politics matters: policy moves billions, daily.
Both guests offer concrete pathways: deepen political education; defend humane policy (housing, food, childcare, dignified work); rebuild bonds fractured by displacement; and revive community models like the Panthers’ 10-Point Program—health, breakfast, protection, education—updated for a tech age. They close with calls to show up: hear trusted voices, organize childcare workers, support homelessness solutions, and refuse fear. The throughline: solidarity is the weapon, strategy is the shield, and Black women’s leadership remains the compass.
Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson.
The post 300,000 Black Women Pushed Out of the U.S. Labor Force appeared first on KPFA.