Where are All the Jobs?

Unemployment and Labor Exploitation Facing Black Women in DC

Learning lessons from Black women in the Black Panther Party, local struggles in DC, and international liberation movements for alternatives
As unemployment, unaffordability, and displacement continue to deepen across Washington, DC, Black women remain among the most exploited and economically marginalized sectors of the working class. These conditions are not accidental but rooted in a long history of racial capitalism that pushed Black women into low-paying, unstable labor while excluding them from wealth, protections, and economic control.

This Assata Shakur Popular Education (ASPE) session will examine how the exploitation of Black women’s labor impacts entire communities, including the ability to care for families, the expansion of state surveillance through child welfare systems, and broader systems of incarceration and displacement. Drawing from the organizing traditions of Black women in the Black Panther Party, local struggles in DC, and international liberation movements, we will explore what democratic, participatory, and community-controlled alternatives could look like—from worker cooperatives and guaranteed childcare to women-led organizing structures capable of transforming our communities.

Food will be provided!

The ASPE are hybrid sessions with the option to participate via Zoom. To join via Zoom use this link https://tinyurl.com/africansstudy