An Early Child Education teacher, CaShawn, who tweets from @thepbg, has faulted Harvard University for asking her to speak on a panel for free.
The Washington DC-based grandma, who coined the hashtag #BlackGirlsAreMagic/#BlackGirlMagic, took to Twitter to disclose her encounter with the Ivy League school on Saturday morning.
CaShawn explained that she got invited as a speaker to different fora because of her coinage of the hashtags, which she described as her “claim to fame”.
She frequently highlights that she does not work for free, revealing that she got paid $500 for doing a similar gig with PG Community College.
The oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, Harvard University’s endowment is valued at $41.9 billion, making it the largest of any academic institution in the world.
Giving one of the reasons she does not work for free, she wrote: “I just got over COVID. I haven’t been to work at a job where I am no longer employed in a month & my new job doesn’t start until January.”
CaShawn wrote, “A few months ago, an organization @ Harvard University reached out & asked me to speak on a panel for them. They said there was no honorarium.
“I told them ‘I cannot afford to take off of my job as a Headstart Teacher to come and do free work for Harvard Univerity’.
“They quickly apologized and asked me if there was anything they could do for me.
“I said, ‘Ask someone if I can take a class in Early Childhood Education at your school for the summer semester.’
“I never heard from them again.”
She added, “I do not work for free. If you ask me if there’s anything you can do for me, I will tell you.
“They really thought I gave a damn about Harvard University.
“I definitely pointed out that Harvard has a history of exploiting the work of Black women but I was their opportunity to stop that. They didn’t take that opportunity.”
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CaShawn’s narration drew a deluge of comments, with many calling out Harvard University.
See comments:
Reminds me of a similar tweet from @avantgame a few years ago. Seems like prestigious Ivy League colleges and Fortune 100 companies are always trying to get people to work for free.
— Chris Wilson (@CWcatchingup) December 19, 2020
That is really unfortunate. I will not personally invite anyone to speak in a lecture series at Harvard without offering an honorarium but I know some of the university still regards it as a privilege to be asked.
— Mary Lewis (@profmarylewis) December 19, 2020
How tacky of them
— Slimothy James (@BkBap) December 18, 2020
Intellectual labour is labour! I recently turned down a public gig by a university. They said they have never paid speakers – well then, y’all should start budgeting for it.
— Zinhle ka’Nobuhlaluse, M.A. (@ConflictedBlkW) December 19, 2020
Universities who say they don’t pay speakers are lying.
— Rev. Jess HB (@jess_h_b) December 19, 2020
A high school can act like that but when you're sitting on a $40 billion endowment…………
— 🎃🎄👻von but seasonal👻🎄🎃 (@vonhonkington) December 19, 2020