When President Trump announced he was firing Lisa Cook, Fed Governor, it sent shock waves through Washington and Wall Street. Legal experts called it unprecedented, likely illegal. Cook, who was confirmed to a 14-year term, vowed to fight back in court.
But there’s another part of this story that too few are talking about: Lisa Cook isn’t just any Fed governor. She is the first Black woman ever appointed to the Federal Reserve Board.
At the same time, the U.S. economy has seen over 300,000 Black women lose their jobs this year. Which begs the question: is this just coincidence — or are we witnessing a broader employment assault on Black women?
This Isn’t New — The Double Standard of Black Women at Work
For generations, Black women have carried economies while being excluded from them. Achievements are muted, struggles are amplified. Even Lisa Cook’s groundbreaking appointment in 2022 received little mainstream fanfare. Yet, the moment controversy arises, she’s front-page news (Washington Post).
What Lisa Cook, Fed Governor, Teaches Us About Work and Visibility
The firing attempt lands in the same year where 300,000 Black women lost employment. Pair that with a long history of wage gaps, glass ceilings, and racialized workplace hostility, and a troubling pattern emerges.
The message is clear: whether you’re a frontline worker or sitting in one of the highest economic seats in the country, Black women’s labor remains undervalued, questioned, and too easily erased.
The Resilience Story
And yet — the other part of this narrative is resilience.
- Black women are the most educated group by growth.
- We’re the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs.
- We keep rising in spite of systemic barriers.
Lisa Cook’s story, while painful, is also about visibility. She is there. She is fighting. And her presence itself is proof of progress.
The Call to Action — Don’t Let This Pass Quietly
It’s not enough to rise silently. We have to name the patterns and support one another in rewriting the narrative. Lisa Cook’s fight is our fight — not just for her seat, but for the principle that Black women deserve to belong wherever decisions are made.
✨ We’ve always been resilient. We’ve always risen. But rising today also means raising our voices.
From 300,000 job losses to the attempted removal of Lisa Cook, the question isn’t just about politics or economics. It’s about us. About how Black women are treated in work, in leadership, and in history.
And the answer isn’t doom. The answer is power. The answer is resilience. The answer is writing our own stories, on our own terms.
