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Episode 32: Bringing Black Women to the Policy Table with Cassandra Welchlin and Shannon Williams

Listen to Cassandra Welchlin and Shannon Williams discuss equal pay and the role of Black women in the push for progressive change in Mississippi and the U.S. South.

Read the transcript here or download as a PDF.


To learn more about Cassandra’s work with the MS Black Women’s Roundtable, visit: msblackwomensroundtable.org

To learn more about Shannon’s work with Equal Pay Today!, visit: equalpaytoday.org.

For more on wage disparities and economic security in Mississippi, see our report, Mississippi is America.

How can Black women bring their chairs to the policy table in Mississippi, and beyond? 

And can more Southern states leverage the organizing power of Black women to replicate Georgia’s blueprint for turning the political tide?

Cassandra Welchlin, Executive Director and Co-Convenor of the Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable and Co-Founder of the Mississippi Women’s Economic Security Initiative, and Shannon Williams, Director of the Equal Pay Today! campaign led by Equal Rights Advocates, joined Anne Price on the podcast to explore these questions and more.

With a focus on their shared work to advance equal pay legislation in Mississippi—the only state in the U.S. without an equal pay law, Cassandra and Shannon discuss family economic security, the role of Black women in organizing and advocacy, and pathways for progressive power building and policy change in the South. 

“We continue to bang on that door and say, no, you’re going to listen to us,” says Cassandra of her advocacy work in her native Mississippi. “This is important to our families.”

Cassandra and Shannon also share thoughts on what’s possible, and what should be prioritized, under the Biden administration as Black and brown people, and women in particular, experience deeply disproportionate impacts of the pandemic.

To listen to the full discussion, use the audio player above or subscribe to the Hidden Truths podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Android. And if you like what you hear, leave a review for Hidden Truths on your favorite podcast platform.

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