If you were my bosses, would you pay me enough to go home?
On Empire and Exploitation
I create the work I create because I’m well rested.
Because I’ve been a nurse for 13 years. And I’m a nurse in California who is paid well enough to not have to work two jobs or depend on social media and hustling after brands to make a living.
I talk about this a lot, how important it is to pay Black women, but I don’t know that enough people get it.
I’m embarking on a journey to try to make writing, creating, and speaking my full-time earning. My full-time income. My full-time job.
They say, especially a lot of liberals, that empire and capitalism exploit labor. And they’re right. So, down with empire. Down with the healthcare industrial complex. And I imagine the reason we all say that is because we want something better. We want to live in a world where corporations aren’t our employers. Where instead, the people are.
That the people will be better bosses. They will pay us more. It will be more equitable. Our labor will no longer be exploited. We’ll have enough to provide for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
But I’ve found that to not be true.
Empire has trained people so well to be exploiters of labor, whether it’s their own labor or someone else’s. Especially the labor of Black women, femmes, and others of marginalized identities.
That’s why we’ll cut off a friend before we ever give up using Instagram. We’ll block a friend with no explanation before we stop shopping at Target. Because we’ve been trained. And I don’t always think it’s conscious, which is exactly why I talk about it. To bring the subconscious into the conscious.
Because here’s the truth: I create great work. Work that is life-changing for so many people. Perspective shifting. If I were to depend on the people in order to survive, I’d be living paycheck to paycheck. I’d be struggling to make ends meet. I wouldn’t be able to afford healthcare for my mom. I wouldn’t be able to support my family. I wouldn’t be able to support so many of the community members I currently support.
This is just a reminder that the thing you critique might be deeply embedded in you. Doing the work to dismantle that is part of what I’m calling you into.
The best thing you can do is support Black women. Black femmes doing good work.
I have a workbook that I’m selling that helps feed me, because I don’t work with brands.
Because that’s the other thing: if I started working with brands today, people would not like it. They’d would say I’ve sold out. Just because I want to live a comfortable life while doing work that has real, positive impact.
My goal is to quit nursing and move back to Ghana to be with my family. Because I don’t want to be an immigrant anymore. Also, I have a youth center that I’m building that will require a lot of monetary resources and my presence.
So if you’re my bosses, would you pay me well enough to move back to my country?
That’s the question I have for you. Are you a paid subscriber on here?a
xo, Christabel.