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WNBA All-Stars Make ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’ Statement During Warmup 

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The WNBA All-Stars sent a message this Saturday during warmup rounds before the game. All of the players on Team Clark and Team Collier wore shirts that said “Pay us what you owe us.”

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“We get a very tiny percentage of all the money that’s made through the WNBA, which obviously is made through the entertainment we provide. So we want a fair and reasonable percentage of that,” said Napheesa Collier.

The decision was also made after the players and the league failed to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The WNBA’s fortune is tied up with the NBA, and while the relationship between both has grown over the years, there are many WNBA teams with no direct ties to the NBA. 

The league’s players opted out of their last CBA in October as they are looking for a better revenue-sharing model, increased salaries, improved benefits, and a softer salary cap, according to reports. 

After the last failed negotiations, many of the players stated that there was a large discrepancy between what they wanted and what was being offered to them from the league. Some players, including All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese, have discussed a potential walkout if a new CBA is not reached by October. 

While the WNBA players aren’t suggesting that they should be paid the same as their NBA counterparts, they understand the high revenue they bring in. A WNBA rookie minimum is $66,000 compared to $1.27 million in the NBA. 

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Fans and supporters alike supported the players’ wishes at the end of the game with chants of “pay them!” and some even held up signs that read “pat the players” throughout the game. 

“We had no idea that they were in solidarity with our demonstration,” said Nneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBPA.

 “I’ve been hearing it all weekend at the fan events, supporting us and wanting us to get our fair share of the value.”

The players also recognized that this All-Stars game was potentially the last time that so many of them would be together in one place before the season ends, so they had to take advantage of the opportunity to get their message across. 

“This is a perfect opportunity to raise awareness for what we’re doing and do it together,” Collier stated.

The players have yet to decide if they’ll wear the shirts on their own teams throughout the second half of the season which begins this week. 

“You put it out there, and you stand on business, and we’re standing on business,” said Courtney Williams.

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New Online Platform Aims To Link Black Women To Supportive Healthcare Systems 

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Health In Her Hue is a New York City-based digital platform that has been operating since 2018 with the goal of empowering Black women with the community and resources they need to find a supportive and culturally sensitive care facility. 

Ashlee Wisdom and Eddwina Bright are the co-founders of the platform. Back in 2018 they secured a $1 million pre-seed funding which helped them immensely when it came to getting their business running. 

“Fundraising is never a walk in the park, especially as Black women. No matter how credentialed you are, it’s hard for everyone. But then you add on the layer of the fact that there aren’t many Black women who are building venture-backed companies or get funding. We’ve experienced some challenges throughout that journey,” says Wisdom.

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The pair are currently working on building their new web platform and membership experience to offer care, support, and resources tailored to each woman’s specific healthcare needs. 

“Ultimately, our vision for Health In Her Hue is to be the first touchpoint for women of color managing their healthcare.”

Eddwina Bright explained how the social relationship between herself and Wisdom led to their desire to make a change in the industry: 

“I think our first foray into working together was when Ashlee was doing a video series on maternal health and asked me to share my birthing story – at that point, we knew each other socially. My experience giving birth to my oldest was not great. I felt very much coaxed into a C-section; doctors were not answering my questions, not telling my husband anything. It was just not a great experience. And so from that, I was able to take a step back and find a provider that was more culturally aligned with me. So when it came time to have my second child, I felt seen, I felt heard, I felt taken seriously, and was able to really advocate for myself and have a much better birthing experience.”

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“So that’s the passion that I bring to the work that we do. I’d like us to help the women that we serve to advocate for themselves without having to go through really traumatic healthcare experiences. And the company happens to align with my professional experience in finance and non-profit entrepreneurship. So we definitely have a great balance of health and business expertise,” Bright explained.

 Wisdom explained how the “resounding thing we kept hearing was that it’s difficult to find a Black doctor, or a doctor of color, on existing platforms. So that was the impetus to build out a curated directory of Black physicians across the country. When we launched that directory in June 2020 – given the pandemic and the racial reckoning – people were ready. Thirty-four thousand people logged in within the first week or two.”

In the future, the pair hope to become the ultimate resource for BIPOC women so that they feel confident when it comes to their health. 

“I’d love for us to also become a resource for BIPOC women to better navigate not only their individual health, but the health of their families: their kids, their spouse, their parents. Because we know that community health is very important for the collective.”

The two are currently working on launching their online platform to get their message out there and to ideally help as many women as possible.