Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and a group of advocacy organizations recently came together to address the economic perils facing Black Americans. The Massachusetts Democrat pointed a finger squarely at President Donald Trump, arguing that his policies are targeting and disproportionately hurting Black communities.

Trump administration policies lead to Black economic crisis

“The state of the Black economy is under attack,” Pressley declared during the Wednesday press conference. “We are plagued by an economic crisis that is a direct result of Trump’s reckless financial policies that are precisely targeting Black communities, who already carry the weight of systemic economic harm and now suffer from the daily impact of this affordability crisis — felt from grocery stores to the housing market to the gas pump.”

The Massachusetts representative also criticized the president’s broader agenda.

“Trump’s attacks on workers’ rights, the federal workforce, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility are costing us Black jobs — which we know he never cared about,” Pressley said.

Pressley’s condemnation of the Trump administration’s policies and their impact on Black Americans came during a Wednesday press conference highlighting what organizers described as a growing Black economic crisis.

Alongside Pressley were leaders from major advocacy organizations, including Nadine Smith, president and CEO of Color of Change; Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP; Tara Murray, executive director of the Washington Bureau and senior vice president for policy and advocacy at the National Urban League; and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

“Dr. Martin Luther King warned America about the interconnected dangers of racism, materialism and militarism,” Asante-Muhammad told attendees, “and today we see all three colliding in ways that threaten to deepen racial inequality for future generations.”

The need for policy changes and a renewed call for reparations

Pressley’s warnings come as many of the Trump administration’s economic and social policies have been criticized for contributing to an ongoing affordability crisis facing Americans nationwide.

Black Americans in particular have been hit hard by economic downturns, as well as targeted policies from the Trump administration. Federal job cuts and Trump’s campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion have disproportionately affected Black workers, especially Black women. One analysis showed that 300,000 Black women lost their jobs within a three-month span in 2025.

One recently filed lawsuit also accuses the Trump administration of firing 75% of the Black officials serving at independent federal agencies.

The speakers gathered for Wednesday’s press conference highlighted the magnitude of the economic crisis, noting that Black unemployment stands at 7.3%, compared to 4.3% for the overall population.

The speakers urged greater attention to the crisis and called for policy changes to address the economic challenges facing Black Americans under the Trump administration.

Pressley and other speakers also framed the issue within the context of American history and racial justice.

“Not one promise has been kept to Black Americans in this country when every bit of prosperity that you enjoy was built on our backs — 400 years of labor,” Pressley said, renewing calls for reparations for Black Americans that she said are “long overdue.”

Overall, Pressley and the other leaders who gathered Wednesday described a situation in which the long history of racial inequity in the United States, combined with current Trump administration policies, has created economic hardship for many Black Americans.

For Pressley and her allies, the situation represents a crisis that requires urgent action.