hen it comes to marketing, Black influencers are often used talent and just that. Across all social media platforms, Black ideas get popular and then become property of the rest of the world to consume.
This would all make sense if the people who came up with those ideas got paid like the people who found them later and turned them into something easier to commercially digest. The world of a Black influencer is much like a Andre 3000 line,“I got more fans than the average man, but not enough loot to last me, to the end of the week.”
Far too Black influencers had to settle for peanuts while people who discovered the influence later were paid handsomely. It took a slew of Black influencers to bring the issue to the forefront and demand that brands pay Black influencers what they are due.
I had this conversation with Iyana Edouard. Host of the “Wine, Weed and Weave” podcast. Iyana helps cannabis brands navigate the murky waters of social media. She has seen first hand how Black influencers in cannabis get paid little to nothing for basically creating marketing campaigns for brands.
We discussed the problem between corporate brands and Black influencers, her amazing podcast and more.