The Silent Exodus: Black Women Leaving the Workforce

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Peace, peace, everyone. It's your girl, Sequoia Blue. I'm back in here with another episode.

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Happy August. I'm glad we made it to August. I took some time off in July and

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sorry about I didn't let you all know, but if you can subscribe to my sub stack,

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because I'm going to start giving updates as far as if I have to miss a week

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or if I'm not putting out a show, you will know.

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I'm going to start mentioning that so people can be prepared for if I'm not having a show.

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But I had to take some time off, had some stuff going on, and I mean,

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nothing bad, though, because, you know, life is life, you know.

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You go through ups, you go through downs, but as long as you're alive,

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you're pretty much okay.

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Ain't nothing that can bring you down if you're alive and got that fighter spirit in you.

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But today, I want to talk about a deep topic. You know, this podcast is about

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challenging your perspective and sharing stories.

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So this episode is kind of personal to me.

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It's heavy it's uncomfortable but it's necessary we're diving into a silent

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crisis that's not getting enough attention the mass exodus of black women from

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the workforce now let me make this clear a lot of people have lost their jobs

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of all races due to ai all types of things.

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But i do think that this topic is a little bit different because a lot of black women,

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were working in these federal positions and of

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course the you know trump has cut these

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positions out and which has caused black women

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to lose their jobs so you know

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recently I read a LinkedIn post and it went viral stating that

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over 300,000 black women lost their jobs or left the workforce within a span

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of a few months now I thought that was deep because if we didn't leave we got

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kind of pushed out you know I mean of course online they're like oh we starting

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a business everybody's starting a business starting a business is not for the

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faint of heart it's not easy as an entrepreneur I can say that right now.

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It's not a game. You don't just get into it and you're rich in five minutes

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unless you got a rich uncle or you already was popping on social media,

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which is a task within itself.

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So I really don't know why they say left. We didn't leave.

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I mean, some have left. And let me tell you, I actually was somebody that did

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leave. I wasn't pushed out, but I was pushed out on the silent end,

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but they didn't lay me off.

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I had left a company recently and it was due to harassment and stuff like that.

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And I wasn't being treated fairly.

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So I had to really think hard. I was making really good money.

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I've been in tech for 10 years now. And I was like, yo, I don't want to leave this job.

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I'm investing into the podcast. I'm investing into my other businesses.

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And, you know, it was just a it was an easy job or remote.

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And I have a love for tech, you know, like I tell you all music was my is my

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first love and tech is my second.

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So it's one of those things where I didn't think that would happen to me.

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I think I would quit a high paying job. I was like, huh.

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But I mean, a new manager came in or February and he, you know,

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it wasn't cool. You know, he didn't like that.

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I knew anything. He was just not a good guy.

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So it really messed up the energy I had at the job.

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Did I think the company needed a lot of help? Did I think it needed a new management

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and stuff like that? Yeah, I mean, things.

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This is the other manager we had before. She was busy.

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She had to do two different teams, so she couldn't really do everything.

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So it was cool. I was excited to have a new manager.

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He ended up being a villain. Two other engineers had to quit too on top of that.

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So it was a tough time. And I had to really step back in the month of July because

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my last day there was July 7.

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So I really had to sit back and really think about things and really contemplate because it was tough.

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And I think that it's not fair that companies don't listen to the people that

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help them make the money.

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But I'm happy I left and I'm happy because stress will kill you.

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And so back to the topic, I feel like a lot of the Black women that did leave

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and stuff, it was just probably stress. It was stress-related.

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It's a lot of unfairness to Black women in the tech, especially,

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and also in other fields.

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Even though most of these Black women were not in tech, there's not a lot of Black women in tech.

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So it's like, what, 0.3% of us? So it's not like a lot of us are not even in it.

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But most Black women are in government jobs and stuff like that. And they held it down.

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They were making a lot of money. So it's just disappointing.

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I think that things will change and it's disappointing for everybody.

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I just want to say I'm sorry for all everybody that lost their job and looking

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right now because it's not easy.

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It's not for faint of heart and I'm upset I had to leave mine.

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But I think that stress is not, you don't want to hold on to stress.

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And if I can, like I said, I can do a job that just makes me uncomfortable,

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but I can't do a harassment each week.

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And that's what was happening to me. I was being harassed each week and I didn't want that no more.

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So I had to get to step in. I'm not going to say the name of the company, but I had to go.

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So that number hit me like a gut punch. And though some people question the

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exact figure, the deeper truth is undeniable.

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Black women are being pushed out of workplaces across America at an alarming

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rate. The reasons? Systemic inequities?

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Performative DEI initiatives? And let me get personal for a moment.

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Bullying and harassment, of course. So I.

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Too many of us are being gaslit, isolating. German, that is basically fought so hard.

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And it's funny because, you know, a lot of people talk about LinkedIn and stuff

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like that. But people really tell you a lot of stories and stuff about what they're going through.

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And it's crazy because there was this one girl.

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Now, this was probably a few months ago when I was still at my last company

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going through it and feeling down.

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And this chick, she worked for Google. She was a software engineer.

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And she, you know, I was like, OK. But she wrote this post and she was like,

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I'm tired of trying to perform. and show that I know stuff all the time.

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I'm tired of trying to show that I'm smart. I'm tired of trying to perform and perform.

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And I felt, I just felt it in my soul that I don't even comment on people's

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posts all the time, but some told me a comment and I told her,

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hey, me too, I'm tired of trying to prove myself.

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So fast forward to now, I see that she left the company.

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And I said, wow, okay. You know, Google is one of those companies where it's

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like the big deal if you're in tech and you work for Google.

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It's like, yo, I made it, you know, to some people. I think in tech,

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you can work anywhere. and make good money, like food, you can,

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food industry, you can work in health industry.

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You don't have to just work in, you know, a tech company to be in tech,

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but Google was the, is the poster child for it.

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And, and also Google just went through a lawsuit for racism and stuff like that.

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I think they just got sued. I think it was Google.

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So, I mean, they have some issues going on there. And I actually briefly worked

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for Google for a few months when I was living in.

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It was definitely a cold energy in there. I mean, I did like the free breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

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I did like the tech vibes because like I said, I love tech, but yeah,

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it wasn't, it's not, I just, after a while, I was like, I don't want to work here.

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And so I think I'd rather stay out of the big tech companies,

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but I'm never going to say never, but most likely I like to stay either independent

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or just work with like healthcare companies or independent or whatever, you know?

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So let's get into the data.

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April 2025 alone,

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Black women lost 106,000 jobs.

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The unemployment rate for Black women spiked from 5.1% to over 6.3%,

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the highest among all demographic groups. federal jobs once considered stable

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have seen a 33% drop in Black female employment.

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Education, health care, and social assistance, sectors where Black women have

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historically held it down, are seeing rollbacks, layoffs, cuts that hit us first and hardest.

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And here's the kicker. Black women are the most educated demographic in America.

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We start businesses at higher rates than anyone else, yet we're the least funded,

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the least retained, and often the first to be let go and budgets tighten.

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So what does this mean for us, for allies, for corporations waving DEI banners?

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One, truth-telling is essential. Stop sugarcoating the data.

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Two, investing in Black women isn't charity. It's a smart economic decision.

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Three, hiring us is step one. Retaining and promoting us is where the real work begins.

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Four, companies and institutions must be held accountable, not just in press

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releases, but in real measurable outcomes.

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And for my sisters listening to this, and really anybody, your experiences are

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valid. You are not invisible and you are not alone.

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This is a call to action, but it's also a moment for reflection.

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I'm still healing from my own recent experience of workplace harassment,

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but I refuse to stay silent. Neither should you.

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If this episode resonates with you, please share, start the conversation, write about it.

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Let's make this silent crisis get some attention because what happened is what

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affects one group of people affects us all.

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And I'm really hurt about my situation.

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I'm really hurt about others that I don't even know situation.

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And if you have a situation like that, please email me at info at Sequoia Blue

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so we can talk about it. I want to start talking about some stuff.

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I want to start talking about what people are going through.

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I want to share some stories. I mean, I got so much to do.

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And I think that things do happen for a weird reason.

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But I just want to tell everybody out here that's struggling with trying to

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get a job or getting a job they like or just having a business for Christ's sake, keep going.

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Don't give up and know that you're important. You're valuable.

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Just do the work. Don't give up. Stay consistent and believe in yourself and

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hang around the right people because If you ain't hanging around the right people,

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then I don't know what to tell you You gotta hang around the right people You

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gotta hang around people that's gonna motivate you and keep you going Because

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life is short and there's a lot going on right now.

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It's a lot changing protect yourself protect your family Stay curious stay awake.

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Keep your eyes open keep your head on the swivel And stay

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and stay curious out in these streets read books study get ready

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because it's about to go down Go to the gym work out get

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your get your body right drink plenty of water until next

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time peace everybody oh and

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don't forget to subscribe to sub stack don't forget to subscribe to sub stack

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blue just type in blue outcomes podcast subscribe subscribe subscribe me posting

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some stuff up there that i may not see on the podcast gonna be some blog posts

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some articles from other writers possibly and also just stay in touch with me

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just subscribe to sub stack all right thanks everybody.