When Tasha* lost her job after nearly two decades in public health, she lost more than a paycheck. She lost her health insurance, her home, and the financial stability she had spent years building.

Her experience was echoed throughout Washington last week as Black lawmakers, advocates, and civil rights leaders gathered for the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Leadership Conference.  The theme was “Rooted, Ready, and Rising”. However, the political climate cast a dark shadow over the conference as the CBC celebrated 55 years of Black political power.

For Tasha*, a healthcare worker living in Alabama, unemployment has been a major issue. While still employed, just last August, Tasha filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) after experiencing discrimination, retaliation, and harassment on the job.

This came at a time when upwards of 600,000 Black women have been pushed out of the US workforce due to anti-DEI policies, government cuts, and AI.  Tasha’s* experience highlights a growing trend among Black women in the workforce, sparking intense debate on the state of the Black economy from Capitol Hill to the unemployment line.

As the mid-term elections focus on affordability and rising health care costs, economic relief from Washington can’t come soon enough for Black women like Tasha*.  

During the ALC conference, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), US Florida Senatorial Candidate Angie Nixon, and the National Children’s Defense Fund led a panel discussion: “Black Women, Black Families, Black Futures: A Pathway to an Inclusive Job Market.”

Black America And The US Economy

Rep. Pressley opened the discussion to point out how current Trump policies have disrupted the Black economy and economic future.  “The unemployment rate for white workers sits at 3.7%, which is less than the national average. But for Black workers, the unemployment rate is at 6%, nearly twice as high. They want us to believe that this is fine. Hard for the course.  Black suffering, it seems, is the status quo,” she said.

Rep. Pressley went on to say that her district has experienced deep economic disparity, as the household income in communities with a large black population dropped by $50,000, mostly as a result of job loss.

For Tasha*, the economic devastation is not just a random headline. After reporting her discrimination case to her Human Resources Director, she experienced retaliation, intimidation, and harassment.  

Tasha* is living with family members to get by, but the economic devastation is a common story that many black women are facing. Another Black woman in the audience at the ALC session almost poured into tears describing her frustration with job searching and getting through AI hiring tools despite having a law degree and years of experience.

The stories illustrated a central question raised throughout the conference: What happens when highly educated and experienced Black women are pushed out of the workforce and struggle to get back in?

Black Children Suffer Too

Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of the Children’s Defense Fund, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, stated bluntly that “when Black women suffer, Black children suffer.” The 2025 US Census Data reported that Black children still had the highest rates of poverty, which was 24.1 % compared to white non-Hispanic children (8.5%) and Asian children (7.6%).

Cunningham stressed that job loss has had a devastating impact on “mental health stress that financial strain has brought on them because there’s been a loss of job.”

In addition to her job loss, Tasha’s* husband recently died from cancer. “I exhausted my unemployment benefits, struggled to pay for food, transportation, insurance, and other necessities.”

As Tasha* and so many other Black women struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives, Rep. Pressley has been leading the charge to ensure Black women’s unemployment becomes a major public policy issue. On September 15, 2026, Rep. Pressley sharply questioned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a Congressional hearing about the affordability crisis under the Trump Administration and how Donald Trump’s tariffs, war in Iran, and fiscal policies were impacting Black families in her district and beyond.

Washington Fails To Address Black Unemployment

The economic concerns raised at the ALC come as lawmakers debate affordability, healthcare costs, federal spending, and the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Many critics question whether the CBC and Democratic Party Leadership at large have done enough to address the unemployment crisis.  The presence of major corporations at the conference has also sparked discussion on social media, including criticism of Palantir, a technology company whose government contracts have made it a focus of debate over immigration enforcement and surveillance.

Those debates raise a broader question: How should Black political institutions engage with corporations while also holding them accountable for policies that affect Black workers and families?

The question matters especially for women like Tasha*, whose immediate concern is not political debate but survival.

“My bank account was closed because of financial hardship, and my credit was severely damaged,” she expressed. “Perhaps the most painful consequence has been the impact on my professional career.”

*Interview subject chose not to be identified. Name has been changed.