Read on Twitter
It’s #InternationalDomesticWorkersDay. #Juneteenth 
is almost here. This is your moment to tune into the leadership and power of Black domestic workers. Grab your coffee and settle in, this is a long one. . . .
is almost here. This is your moment to tune into the leadership and power of Black domestic workers. Grab your coffee and settle in, this is a long one. . . .
We are at the intersection of an economic crisis, a public health crisis, and a crisis in our democracy. Black domestic workers are on the forefront -- caring for our families and protecting our democracy. https://www.thelily.com/i-do-not-have-the-luxury-of-staying-home-30-days-as-a-domestic-worker-in-new-york-city/
Yet, Black domestic workers are disproportionately impacted by the #COVID19 crisis, the economic crisis it has unleashed, and under siege from institutions like the police that don’t keep them safe. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/13/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-domestic-workers.html
Black domestic workers are part of the essential workforce -- the home care workers, nannies and cleaners who have kept us safe and kept our economy from collapsing, but still work without access to protective equipment, hazard pay, testing or health care.
Domestic work is essential. But it is work done by women & is rooted in slavery. As a result, it’s been devalued & excluded from basic labor protections for centuries.
Care work is essential, but invisible. That invisibility has been deadly for too long. https://www.epi.org/publication/domestic-workers-chartbook-a-comprehensive-look-at-the-demographics-wages-benefits-and-poverty-rates-of-the-professionals-who-care-for-our-family-members-and-clean-our-homes/
Care work is essential, but invisible. That invisibility has been deadly for too long. https://www.epi.org/publication/domestic-workers-chartbook-a-comprehensive-look-at-the-demographics-wages-benefits-and-poverty-rates-of-the-professionals-who-care-for-our-family-members-and-clean-our-homes/
Black domestic workers today are heirs to a legacy of powerful organizing. Black washerwomen in Atlanta went on strike in 1881 for better wages. They in turn looked to a Washerwomen’s strike in Jackson, MS in 1866 & a laundress strike in Galveston, TX in 1877 for inspiration.
But it didn’t stop there. Domestic workers organized throughout the 20th century, and in the 1970’s #DorothyBolden launched the National Domestic Workers Union, and organized more than 10,000 domestic workers to win wage increases and voting rights. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/obituaries/dorothy-bolden-overlooked.html
In 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, the heart of the domestic worker movement, dozens of domestic workers — Black women, Latinx women, immigrant women from the Caribbean, Nepal, and the Philippines — joined together to found the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
After years of organizing, domestic workers passed the first Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New York State in 2010. https://www.popsugar.com/news/What-Domestic-Workers-Bill-Rights-46531279
Since then, Bill of Rights have passed in 10 states and 2 cities. And in 2019, we introduced the first ever #NationalDomesticWorkersBillofRights. https://www.vox.com/2019/7/15/20694610/kamala-harris-domestic-workers-bill-of-rights-act
On the international level, our movement won the ratification of UN Convention 189 on the Dignity of Domestic Work in 29 countries. This international treaty recognizes domestic work as equal and brings recognition and rights to millions of women. https://idwfed.org/en/campaigns/ratify-c189
Black domestic workers are also on the forefront of fighting for our safety in the workplace, as part of the #MeToo 
movement https://www.bet.com/video/the-rundown-with-robin-thede/season-1/highlights/episode-119-s1-hidden-fighters-me-too-movement.html
movement https://www.bet.com/video/the-rundown-with-robin-thede/season-1/highlights/episode-119-s1-hidden-fighters-me-too-movement.html
But work is not done. Black domestic workers are in the eye of three connected crises – the global pandemic, on the front edge of economic recession, and under siege from institutions like the police that don’t keep them safe.
So we keep organizing. We keep dreaming. We keep fighting. We keep winning.
Together we are building a world where Black domestic workers — and all care workers — can live with the safety and dignity they provide for those they care for. Join us: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/invest-in-black-domestic-workers-divest-from-policing
Together we are building a world where Black domestic workers — and all care workers — can live with the safety and dignity they provide for those they care for. Join us: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/invest-in-black-domestic-workers-divest-from-policing
