PODCAST EPISODES

Each year women perform thousands of hours and trillions of dollars of unpaid work. You’ve likely heard of the invisible daily household work women perform, but what about unpaid community activism performed by Black and Brown women? Dr. Nina Banks, an Associate Professor of economics at Bucknell University, argues that this collective activism places additional burdens on women of color that often go unrecognized and uncompensated. By recognizing how Black women challenge racial oppression in their communities, we can reconceptualize Black women’s labor and their impact on the economy.

Topics Covered: 

• How the lack of diverse economists impact theories around social outcomes
• How Black economists contribute to the field 
• Understanding women’s invisible work
• Acknowledging Black women’s hidden and unpaid work and why it has been overlooked
• Examples of Black women’s unpaid work
• Recognizing community activism as work
• Dr. Banks’s research about the first African American economist, Sadie T.M. Alexander

Highlights:

• “Our sense of womanhood is bigger. It’s tied to what happens to our communities. It’s not just based on gender, narrowly defined, but it’s broader. It’s about race and the effects of racial oppression on our communities.”
• “We are used to focusing on particular kinds of activities as work and we have been blind to the nuts and bolts work that African American women have been doing to sustain our communities and to deal with threats and needs.” 

Connect with Dr. Nina: 

On her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-banks-13368210/

On Twitter: @Nina_EBanks

Pick up your copy of Dr. Banks’ new book, Democracy, Race, and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander at Yale University Press

Other References: 

• Jeanna Smialek, Why Are There So Few Black Economists at the Fed?, NYTimes, Feb. 2, 2021.
• Eshe Nelson, The Economist Placing Value on Black Women’s Overlooked Work, NYTimes, May 17, 2021.
• Gillian B. White, The Invisible Work That Women Do Around the World, The Atlantic, Dec. 14, 2015. 
• Francesca Donner, The Household Work Men and Women Do, and Why, NYTimes, Feb. 12, 2020.
• Nina Banks, Democracy, Race, and Justice: The Speeches and Writings of Sadie T.M. Alexander
• The Review of Black Political Economy

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