Once upon a time, there was a conference. The organizers of this conference asked John and Courtney for speaker recommendations. John recommended a white guy with lots of experience in building businesses. Courtney recommended a black woman with lots of experience in building movements. They hoped both would get good exposure, meet new collaborators, say smart and compelling things that would influence people, and live happily ever after.

But of course, this is modern America, not a fairy tale. A few weeks after the conference, an outrageous truth emerged. It turned out that the white guy had been paid $15,000 and was flown first class, while the black woman had to haggle just to get her flight funded, and was paid nothing for her time and talent. Same conference. Same organizers. Two vastly different interpretations of worth. More >>