Storytelling, Safety, and the Power of Black Women’s Labor
The stories we tell matter. Who gets to tell them, who is allowed to hear them, and how they are protected is a constant battleground. Recently, we saw a flashpoint in this battle with the controversy surrounding Jimmy Kimmel. The public call for his cancellation and a boycott of Disney/ABC led to a stunningly fast reversal from the network.
While many are debating the nuances of “cancel culture,” I see something else: a powerful testament to the effectiveness of collective economic action, a strategy recently and powerfully demonstrated by the Black community. It highlights a critical pattern: tactics honed by the unpaid labor of Black women are mimicked by mainstream white America, which then reaps the immediate benefits.
This begs a much larger question: what could we achieve if we unified around policies that directly improve the wealth and well-being of Black women, knowing this is the very key that unlocks prosperity for all?
The Playbook Was Already Written: The 2025 Target Boycott
To understand the swift success of the Disney boycott, we must first look at the groundwork laid earlier this year by the Black community’s boycott of Target.
I know from personal experience, Black women, pretty universally, enjoyed Target. It became a kind of retail happy place that sold products that featured us, were designed by us, and promoted products to us. We felt included in the Great Consumption. When Target decided to rollback its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, so many Black women felt like it was a personal attack. After years of asking to be recognized for our buying power and beauty, we were once again reminded of how those “not like us” view us.
The movement, organized in response to corporate decisions that sidelined Black voices and concerns, was incredibly effective. It sent a clear, undeniable message in the language corporations understand best: profit and loss.This success, however, was not spontaneous. It was the result of immense, unseen, and unpaid labor. Let’s be honest, this work was carried predominantly by Black women—the community organizers, the social media strategists, the networkers who mobilized families and communities block by block. While Black male clergy often became the public face at press conferences, the engine of the movement was, as it so often is, Black women. This effort established a powerful, contemporary precedent for how to effectively challenge corporate power, even though white America did not participate at nearly the same rate.
Mainstream Mimicry, Immediate Results
Fast forward to the Jimmy Kimmel situation. A different controversy, a different audience, but the same playbook. The call for a boycott was immediate, and the public pressure was intense. The result? Disney/ABC reversed its course within days.
The speed of this resolution is telling. The strategy, proven effective by Black organizers, was adopted by a broader, whiter coalition that suddenly saw its power. It’s a stark example of how methods developed out of the struggle for Black safety and dignity can be co-opted for mainstream cultural battles and yield near-instantaneous results. The labor of Black women created the blueprint, and others used it to get what they wanted, quickly. This reveals a frustrating truth about whose outrage is deemed legitimate and whose demands are met with urgency.
The Real Question: What if We Unified for Black Women’s Wealth?
This brings us to the heart of the matter. If collective economic action can force the hand of a media titan like Disney in a matter of days, what could that same unified power do if applied to systemic, foundational change?Imagine if we moved beyond reactive boycotts and unified around proactive policies designed to build the wealth of Black women. We have undeniable data showing that investing in Black women’s economic stability and success creates a powerful ripple effect that lifts the entire economy. When Black women have more capital, they start businesses, buy homes, invest in education, and build stronger communities. This isn’t a zero-sum game; it’s the most logical and direct path to universal prosperity. The Labor Pains of Black women have historically built wealth for everyone but themselves. What if we collectively labored to change that?
Moving Past Bias to Collective Liberation
The final, most difficult question is this: How do we move white America past its own biases to understand this fundamental truth? How do we get the same people who quickly mobilized against a TV show to mobilize for economic policies that, while centering Black women, would ultimately benefit them as well?
The Kimmel case offers a clue. People act when they see a clear path to a desired outcome and feel a sense of shared purpose. Our challenge is to reframe the narrative. We must articulate that supporting policies for Black women’s economic advancement—like equitable pay, access to capital, and investments in care infrastructure—is not about “special interests.” It is the most practical and potent economic strategy for building a more prosperous and stable future for everyone.
The blueprint for collective action is clear. Its power has been proven. Now, we must find the collective will to use it not just to tear something down, but to build a truly equitable world up.
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