Transcription
Before the goalpost starts moving, because I already know what some people in the black community are going to say. Why are you comparing black men to black women? Why are you competing with black women? I'm correcting a narrative. For years, if not decades, prominent voices in our community, influencers, media personalities, celebrities, and even highly educated and financially successful people have pushed the idea that black women outearn black men.
"Black women especially," "that's what I was going to say," "are earning above our male peers." "In America, the black woman outearns your mate. What power do we have over you?" Now, the second reason why a lot of women are single is because we are making more money.
"I lose a topic. Go on. Yeah. Black women making more than [clears throat] black men." "More black women are graduating from colleges, which in turn will mean that there of course there's black men that are doing well, but if you have more black women graduating from college, more likely more black women might do more than black financially better than black men." "Black women are excelling. They're getting accelerated degrees, graduate degrees, doctorate degrees, they're starting businesses, black women are running circles around men."
"If black women are excelling at such an accelerated rate," "how do men keep up with that?" "Our society right now," "black women are making a lot more money for the most part than black men, right?" There are a lot of black men who are successful, but for the most part, black women are making the money. And they also can't compete in their households because even though currently they are making more than black women, not enough to be considered the gap in income between a black woman and a black man isn't enough for him to get the label of primary bread winner. And he also feels like he can't um sustain his household because even though he might be making more than his wife, the gap isn't big enough for him to say, "I am the primary bread winner for my family."
"Y'all understand now?" So, when I compare black men's earnings to black women's earnings, I'm not doing it to put black women down. I'm doing it to actually level set the conversation and correct the misinformation. If people are going to use black women as the benchmark to criticize black men, then we're going to look at the real numbers, not the feelings, not the narratives, and not those viral sound bites.
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Black men are not at the bottom. Not economically, not statistically, not educationally, and not factually. Okay? I've seen people try and move the goalpost again, and they'll say, "Well, compare yourself to white men." White men make up a far larger share of the US population. Black men represent, like I said, about 7.5% of the population, while white men are closer to about 30% or more. That population difference alone affects income distribution, career networks, institutional access, and generational wealth pipelines. That's not me making excuses. That's acknowledging reality while still recognizing the black man's progress. And that's something that we rarely do in these spaces.
And then when it comes to Asian men, they tend to earn more for multiple reasons. Higher marriage rates, household income consolidation, different immigration and historical uh economic pipelines, and uh fewer historical systemic uh setbacks compared to black men. Minus the historical setbacks, the Asian blueprint is something that the black community should mirror. But, and I say but, when you have a community hellbent on believing false narratives about black men, it's damn near impossible to partner with the majority of black women who lead the disdain for black men train. And again, this is not an excuse. It's just context. And I'm being honest because even with all of that, black men's earnings are still rising. Black men's economic position is improving. And black men are not what the internet says.
So before anyone tries to deflect the data that I'm about to present, understand, I'm not attacking black women. I'm not competing with them. I'm correcting misinformation, defending black men from false narratives, and showing real statistical progress. Because the truth is this, black men are not failing. Black men are not at the bottom. Black men are improving steadily, and the numbers prove it. I'm proud of my brothers and I look forward to presenting this positive information to a group of men that are forced to go it alone, even in our own community. Sad, but true.
So, estimated uh median weekly earnings for black men for the first quarter it was $1,17 and then the second quarter it was $1,53. We showed our ass. And then uh in the third quarter it was $1,32 and then as I stated before guys, we typically do very well in the fourth quarter. We earn $1,054 for the week for the fourth quarter estimates. And remember this is um [music] the the October data missing because of the government shutdown. And I actually put a note right here that's explain that. So black men again we earned $54,28 for the whole year. Shout out to y'all man.
Then so for black women for the first quarter black women started off very strong $984. And then uh for the second quarter, don't mind the the blocks. They was kind of off when I was generating this. $942. Okay. And then you see right here between the second and third quarter, that's where the government shut down and also black women lost all those jobs, about 300,000 jobs. That's where that started to hit. So $942 in the second quarter and then it it continued to decrease in the third quarter, $927. And then for the fourth quarter, estimated $915. That is important. Okay, black women be mindful. And black women earn $48,984 annually.
So, with those setbacks, and I want to say this, um, I was expecting black women to eclipse the $50,000 mark this year, but with the jobs lost and the government shutdown, it affected black women significantly. Again, I know how prideful black women are because the first time y'all heard that black women lost 300,000 jobs, there was a narrative floating around social media of black women saying, "Well, that's because those black women removed themselves from the from the workforce [music] and became entrepreneurs." Every black woman kept saying the reason why black women's unemployment rate dropped is because all of those black women left the workforce and became entrepreneurs. That wasn't true. And that's just that pride speaking. I get it. You feel like you can do it alone. You know, you go at it alone. You don't need any help. I don't need a man. I understand the narratives. I'm not going to argue with you. But I will show you the statistics. So if you feel it's necessary that you need to do something about this. If the black women who care about your fellow sisters, if you guys want to discuss this amongst yourselves, I would do so because I know sometimes you shun black men when they try and help. And I'm probably one of them. But if y'all want to discuss this, let me know and I'll put put together some so we can go into uh detail.
All right. So, this is the news release for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor. This was released 10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026. This is the usual weekly earnings of wage and salary workers for 2025. However, I do want to explain something because if you guys look right here, they have a little note. Federal government shutdown impact on fourth quarter data. Remember I told you guys that it pushed back the third quarter and it absolutely affected the fourth quarter as I projected. So this is before anyone tries to misrepresent or dismiss the data that I'm about to present. I want to explain something clearly about the fourth quarter earnings figure for 2025. As I stated, it was missing because the federal government shutdown in October prevented the Bureau of Labor Statistics from collecting onethird of the required survey data for that quarter. So they are missing October. So normally the BLS calculates quarterly median uh weekly earnings using three months of household survey responses per quarter. So and that includes October, November, December. But because October's data was unavailable, the BLS stated they could not publish an official quarterly earnings estimate for the fourth quarter. However, what the BLS did publish and what remains fully valid is the official 2025 annual median weekly earnings figure, which is based on an 11th month data set and serves as a statistically uh reliable anchor for the year earnings trend. And I'm just saying all this because I know that sometimes people like to dismiss some of the information that they don't like. So I'm giving you the information ahead of time. So if somebody tries to say, "Well, they're missing some data from the fourth quarter." No, I'm explaining it to you so you guys can explain to them.
But what I did to estimate the missing fourth quarter value is I simply used a standard algebraic back calculation method. I know that sound like point Dexterism. "That's what you get for cheating off my test. Po Dexter," "you should have studied for the test." "I did study." "But I know some smart folks. Y'all college. Y'all college students." "I thought you Aren't you college student?" Pronunciate "the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter. And then you divide that by four. Okay. So since I already know the values for quarter 1, quarter two and quarter 3 and I also know the annual median which made it very simple. I simply solve for the missing variable. So quarter 4 and you just use that you know you you do that by using simple algebra because I want people to understand that this is not guesswork or speculation. It is a mathematical reconstruction that ensures the quarterly figures remain consistent. So the same statistical method we use it in economics, we use it in science, government forecasting. So you just gather the variable using all the information that you already have. This one was very simple. If you are a mathematician, this is a layup for you. So I'm disclosing this because you know how the black community does. And I also like to allow, you know, math to speak for itself. Unlike, you know, emotional narratives or internet talking points, the conclusions that I made are grounded in simple arithmetic, not in opinions, guys. And when you let you know, mass speak, the reality becomes undeniable. So if anybody wants to do this equation, they'll find exactly what I found.
So black men and black women combined, we earned $970 per week. White men and white women, they earn $1,238 per week. Asian workers earn $1620 per week. And Hispanic workers earned $944 per [music] week. Black men, we earned $1,32 per week for the full year. So, give yourselves a pat on the back. White men earned $1362 per week. Black men earn 76% of white men's earnings. And that actually indicates a racial earnings gap among men. Okay? As you guys know, and I'm going to go into detail about this in a second, but I want to say this, black men account for about 7 to 7.5% of the United States population. White men account for about 30% of the United States population. So when you hear anybody in the black community giving us push back by saying, "Why don't you outearn white men," it's because of the fact that there's over two times more of them than us. Okay? And I'm going to go into detail in a second, but I just wanted to point that out here. A realistic goal for black men will be what? To decrease the earnings gap. If white men earn a dollar, black men earn 76 cent of that dollar. If we can decrease that earnings gap from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, that should be our goal. Let's try and get that to at least in the 80s. So, that is a realistic goal for black men. It is highly unlikely that black men will end up out earning white men. Highly unlikely. However, we can decrease that earnings gap. Y'all know that I'm fair and balanced when it comes to the statistics. So, black men need to know this and be aware. So, we have a goal to shoot for. Don't let the black community shame you. I've seen it done before. So, I'm just putting that out there. We put where we lack and we will address it. We did this year by increasing our earnings. And I'm I'm pretty sure we can do this by decreasing that earnings gap between white men. All right. Just wanted to put that out.
Women earn less than men overall. So, men earned $1,333 per week. women earned $1,76 per week. So, women earn 81% of men's earnings and gender pay gap still ex still persists nationally. But I want to I mentioned this I think on the last live stream when I was I was just talking about finances for some odd reason. But I want to talk to the women real quick because I I keep saying this gender pay gap um conversation come up and I don't know if anybody has explained to women what that means and also to some men because when I mentioned it was a couple of guys they commented they was like man the gender pay gap doesn't exist. The gender pay gap absolutely exists. Okay, but let me clear up, you know, the gender pay gap because you guys don't understand what I'm saying. For the people that had an issue with me saying that, the way that it's commonly explained is very misleading. Yes, there is a raw pay gap. Women earn less than men on average, but that does not mean men are getting paid more just for being men. When you actually control for uh for what determines pay like job type, industry, hours worked, overtime, experience, tenure, um and career interruptions, the gap actually shrinks dramatically and often disappears in a lot of cases. So when researchers compare men and women working the same jobs with the same hours and experience, they found that in many cases the the pay gap is near zero. And in some points, especially early in careers, women actually earn the same as or slightly more than men. That alone tells you the issue isn't women being underpaid at the point of hire. The real uh divergence happens later largely after marriage and children. When women have children, they are more likely to reduce hours and that pauses their careers, you know, because they need to prioritize flexibility. While men tend to increase hours and earnings, did not just explain the marriage premium. When men have a family to take care of, they earn more money. So, it just makes sense. So what people call a gender pay gap is mostly a reflection of different career paths, time, commitments, and life choices over time. It's not a system where men are broadly paid more just for existing. That doesn't mean bias never exists. It does. But the idea that women are routinely underpaid simply because they're women does not hold up when you look at the data honestly. And I say honestly for a reason because sometimes people like to skew this information and make it seem like women are just being shortch changed. And I always say this, if that was the case, then men would just simply hire women to work for them because we could pay y'all less. But then, you know, I mean, I'm pretty sure will be some human resources complaints. There are agencies out there, ladies. If you feel that you are getting short chains and your job, hey, take it up. You know what I'm saying? You you may become a millionaire damn there in a couple months because they're going to eventually settle. If you can prove that you're being paid paid less for doing working the same amount of hours, the same job as your male counterpart. If you can prove that, oh yeah, they going to pay you some ducking.
Asian men, $92,000 for the year, and this is over a 52-week period. Asian women, $72,000. White men, $70,000. They uh place third. White women, $57,000. Black men, right there, $54,000. Hispanic men, $52,000 for the year. Black women, $48,000 for the year. Almost $49,000 for the year. And Hispanic women, $889 for the year. And they come in eight. So, this is for 2024. And I wanted to show black women that you guys actually do uh sit closer to black men in regards to earnings ratios because you guys are number one in regards to being close to your male counterparts. And this was for 20204. So, these are the women's to men weekly uh median weekly earnings ratios for 2025. So again, black women to black men, 90.7. It slightly dipped in the fourth quarter for black men and black women, but it's 90.7%. Remember in 2024 at the end of the year, black women and black men were number one. Now we're number two. Okay? [music] And that's because black men have increased their earnings. So, Hispanic women to Hispanic uh men, they earn 94% of the Hispanic men's dollar. Black women earn 91% to uh black men's dollar. And that puts us in number two for the year. White women to white men, 82%. And then Asian women to Asian men, 78%. So, it dropped the percentage which dropped us down to number two. And Hispanic women actually increased their earnings a significant amount. So they got a little bit closer to Hispanic men at 94%.
Despite starting the year strong, black women's weekly earnings dropped sharply second, third, and fourth quarter. If you guys remember my last live stream that I did with the update of the third quarter, I mentioned this to black women. We need to be mindful of this because if we had another quarter where black women's earnings decrease, then that will be a huge problem. You remember people talking about 203 where the black community is going to be, you know, poor. We're not going to have any money. If this continues to happen, black women, as predicted, will hit that mark faster than any racial group to include black men. Between 1983 and 2016, black family wealth fell by more than 50% while white wealth rose by 33%. By 2016, nearly 37% of black families had zero or negative net worth. That is not a disparity. That is economic apartheid. But that's not even scratching the surface of what's going on in our own community. The divide is sharp. Single black men hold a median wealth of about $10,100, while single black women just $1,700. This means that while the road to zero wealth predicts collapse for households overall, black women, especially single black women, will feel it first because black men's earnings are increasing. This is the third quarter in a row that black women's earnings have decreased. That's a problem. And I'm not telling black women to try and make peace with black men or anything like that. All I'm saying is you guys need to be mindful. If you want me to develop some solutions for you, I can. But you guys have to be willing to listen. Of course, I already figured this stuff out because I care about the black community. I mean, if y'all ain't noticed that, that's why I'm doing this.
So, second, third, and fourth quarter, black women's earnings decreased. Black women are very prideful, man, and they don't want to, you know, admit that they may need some help. But this is cause for concern in my opinion. So, black women do not earn more than black men. I'm just putting a pin in that right here. That claim is statistically false. Black men still earn more than black women. The bigger issue is uh black earnings versus white earnings. And I told you guys that we need to focus on structural reality, not social media myths. Occupation and industry matters. Keep saying that higher pay in management and professional fields. That was highlighted on the BLS report. And then uh the it's lower pay in service sectors. And guess what? Black workers, both black men and women, are over represented in lower paying roles. So, we have to select our jobs or our careers a little bit better. Black men have seen a slight pivot because there's a lot of black men going in the trades because they seen, you know, the college debt and they're like, "Hey, I need to get to it." And, uh, the, you know, the trucking fields, I don't know if y'all noticed, but that is actually going up. Um, peace officer, that's going up. Military is going up for black men as well. So, black men are starting to pivot and that's why you continuously see the earnings increase. When I covered the third quarter earnings report, I told you this comeback was coming, right? I told black men, you know, we were going to rebound and I told you the narrative about black men. It wasn't rooted in data. It never is. When you see people on podcast lying about black men, all it is is simply rooted in bitterness, bias, and people just simply projecting their own personal disappointments onto an entire group of men. Black men, we didn't collapse. We didn't fail. We didn't fall behind. We actually improved, man. We showed a lot of resilience because we get cooked cooked in the black community in society. But once again, the statistics prove that we do not need validation from people who don't like us. People who don't support us or don't want want to see us win. So, and I've said this before and I say it again, man. We do not need the black community's approval to build our futures. We do not need people who resent black men to define our worth. We do not need internet narratives, trauma-based opinions, or bitterness to determine our reality. What we need is discipline. What we need is focus, man. And we have the data. So, every time I bring you these statistics, I'm reminding you to trust the numbers, not the noise. I told you to stop internalizing negativity and I told you to block the slander, block the disrespect, block the propaganda and keep working, man. And that's exactly what you all did. While people were talking, you guys were actually grinding out there. While people were complaining, you were earning. And while people were blaming you, you were actually improving your lives, man. And the 2025 report proves it again. Black men, we are still standing. We are still rising. We are still competitive. We are still providers and we are still building. We still have work to do. So today, this isn't just a breakdown of data. This is actually a moment of recognition, man. This is me saying thank you. This is me saying I see your effort. I see your discipline. I see your resilience, man. And I see how you guys push forward even when people from your own community try and tear you down. And I want you to understand something clearly. We are blessed. We are progressing. We are going to be good. And if you stay locked in, if you stay focused and stay disciplined, it only gets better, bro. I promise you, black men, I'm proud of you. Keep going, keep building, and keep winning. The numbers don't lie, and neither does your progress. Okay. So, again, blessings to you guys. Thank you for working so hard. And um again, man, I'm just proud of y'all, you know, because we get cooked in our own community. And it's sad, but I'm starting to notice that you guys are adopting the reality that, man, let me just go ahead and keep my head in head head down and focus on what I need to do. And it's very commendable, man. So, celebrate the small wins. We're doing well, but we're not done. We still got work to do. Okay. All right. [music] [music] [music] >> [music]