Labor Day exists to celebrate the contributions of working men and women so let’s talk about so called ‘women's work’. Women undertake 90% of all childcare and domestic chores, and of the two million domestic workers in America, the majority are immigrants and women of color. They lack the basic legal protections and employee rights, and work long hours with little to no pay. Today is a reminder that not all labor is rewarded equally.
Women
by Alice Walker
They were women then
My mama's generation
Husky of voice stout of
Step
With fists as well as
Hands
How they battered down
Doors
And ironed
Starched white
Shirts
How they led
Armies
Headragged generals
Across mined
Fields
Booby-trapped
Ditches
To discover books
Desks
A place for us
How they knew what we
MUST know
Without knowing a page
Of it
Themselves.
