Erasure Is Not An Option We Can Accept
Nearly 300,000 Black women have been pushed out of the job market over the last three months of 2025, with DOGE and DEI rollbacks doing the most damage. But don't count us out. Ever.
There is a hidden gem tucked away on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick, NJ, called the Zimmerli Art Museum. Since February of this year, it has been home to an exhibit called Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always. The artworks, curated by renowned artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, survey contemporary Native American art, with one intention: to prove, paraphrasing Smith’s exhibition summary, “we are still here and that we deserve to be seen.”
Walking through the various sections of the exhibit, I perused pieces of art that challenge us to push past our preconceived notions of what it is to be Native American. There is a marked dissonance between what we’ve been taught, how people have been portrayed, and who gets to decide our relevance. Around every corner, I was reminded that when faced with forces that threaten to erase us, our survival depends on two things: resistance and community.
So what does all of this have to do with Black women losing their jobs in record numbers? Actually, quite a bit.
The narrative propagated earlier this year by DOGE and a slew of corporate DEI rollbacks would have the majority of Americans believe that the jobs Black women once had were “handouts,” a result of an overly generous affirmative action system that “coddled” the undeserving.
But let me tell you, I call bullsh*t on that. The old-school adage, “we have to work twice as hard to get half as much,” hasn’t been handed down for generations for nothing. Black women have been grinding for every professional rung we’ve been able to climb, and we’ve fought hard to get there. To see waves of qualified women pushed out of organizational systems for which they’ve not only supplied the infrastructure but also helped build is, quite frankly, maddening. But it's not insurmountable. We are resilient, we are strong, and we will not be silenced.
This is where resistance and community come in. I’ve already seen it: women like Jasmine Fluker are building private LinkedIn communities where advice, job leads and more can be shared. Other Black women are offering words of inspiration to keep our spirits high and remind us who and Whose we are. In short, when times get hard, we go harder and lean into our community. We ask the ancestors for strength, healing and protection. We refuse to go gently into that good night.
And I want you to know, I believe we will prevail. We are a force to be reckoned with, and we will not be deterred. Together, we can overcome the challenges we face and build a better future for ourselves and the generations to come.
Resistance to false narratives is the drumbeat we most need on repeat right now. We need to continue to share our stories and support one another. Please consider this a safe space where such private offline conversations can continue. Your voice matters, your story matters, and together, we can make a difference.
And if there are any people who are role models of resistance and community-building that you’d like to see interviewed in this space, please drop a name in the comments below and I’ll work hard to get them here.