Black Box Gift-give the gift that keeps on giving this season by and for women of color.

jnwashington0905
Dec 25, 2025
2 min read

A Great Gift

I am naming what many of us already know: more than 300,000 Black women have lost significant streams of income in recent years many of them entrepreneurs, creatives, and thought leaders. Forced lifestyle shifts, shrinking opportunities, and economic structures that consistently marginalize Black women are yet again minimizing our lives, labor, and leadership.

We can debate the causes macroeconomic shifts, intentional political agendas that push Black communities toward permanent underclass status, or simple governmental ineptitude. But regardless of the reason, this reality remains: a profound change has occurred, and it is impacting Black women in tangible and devastating ways.

Recently, a colleague and sorority sister shared that her corporate sponsorship was terminated, DEI. Not long after, other Black women voiced similar losses. These are not isolated incidents; they are part of a larger pattern. Too often, the very Black women who inform us, nurture our growth, challenge our thinking, and encourage our healing are expected to labor freely while systems profit from our brilliance.

So, I want to challenge us.

Let us commit to supporting Black women whose work sustains us, inspires us, and keeps us moving forward. Support does not always require large resources. A monthly subscription of $2–$5 can make a meaningful difference. Sometimes support looks like paid commitment; sometimes it looks like simply following, amplifying, and being present. Visibility matters. Our followership matters. Our collective investment matters.

Below are a few Black women whose work I personally value and recommend. They represent a range of voices from public thought leadership to deeply focused areas of scholarship and commentary. I have no financial stake in this advocacy, only a moral and communal one. My own Substack, drlew18, remains free at this time consider subscribing if it nourishes you. But more importantly, choose at least three Black women creators and commit to supporting them.

If you cannot subscribe financially, follow. Share. Affirm. Advocate. Do something.

Our voices matter. Our work matters. Our lives matter. And in this moment, solidarity cannot be rhetorical it must be lived, resourced, and sustained.

-Nina Fox

-Dear Dr. Falami

-Burton Wire News

-Christena Cleveland (patreon) website

-Joy-Ann Reid

-The Joy Reid Show

-Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes (No Trifling Matter)

-Valerie Bridgeman

-Sherrilyn ifill (Sherrilyn)

-Tabitha Speaks Politics (therealtabithaspeaks)

-jazz and laughter

-Ava DuVernay