This is a guest post that is part of a series featuring women leaders for Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which falls on August 7, 2018.

Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Chair of the Committee on Women

Today, on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, we reaffirm our commitment to ending the wage imbalance between genders — especially for Black women. In 2018, in the wealthiest country in the world, the U.S. remains shamefully plagued by wage disparities, and the gaps are especially pronounced for Black women. The combination of racism and sexism in our society is widespread and pernicious, manifesting in many damaging ways, but particularly through its impact on the economic livelihoods of Black women. Our country will never be able to claim that we offer a level playing field until Black women can confidently expect that they will have true pay parity,” said Council Member Helen Rosenthal, Chair of the Committee on Women.