Activists and consumers have rallied together to boycott a number of major retailers to express their outrage over the rollback of DEI initiatives and one of the biggest ones is taking place this weekend.
Activists are calling for everyone to participate in a 24- hour economic black out on Friday, February 28th. Consumers everywhere are encouraged to not spend any money anywhere for 24 hours. If you have to spend money, boycott leaders are encouraging you to buy from local and minority owned businesses.
In addition to this, starting on March 5th, ministers like Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Cathedral in Stonecrest,GA are leading the faith based community on a 40-day fast or boycott of Target. A website, www.targetfast.org, has been created with more information, and a pledge to sign. If you sign the pledge you get a digital directory of black owned businesses to support.
Since Target built some of it's brand on being inclusive and giving minority business owners a chance, it has become a major target in these boycotts, but it is not the only business targeted.
Some of the boycotts scheduled include a boycott of Amazon happening on March 7-14, Nestle on March 21-28, Walmart on April 7-14, and a 2nd broader one-day economic blackout on April 18.
In addition to all this, there is currently a national boycott of Target happening. This boycott started on Feb. 1 to coincide with Black History Month. It was launched by civil rights activists in Minneapolis upset that Target has rolled back its DEI efforts. Since the boycotts, Target's foot traffic has dropped 3.9%, and the daughters of Target's late cofounder have also spoken out saying that they are "alarmed" over the company's rollback of DEI.
In the past, activists have successfully rallied to force retailers and companies meet the needs of consumers via boycotts to hurt sales. Experts say boycotts can be successful in shaming a company into reversing decisions or taking action, but they don't always work. Only time will if these efforts force change.
Source: CNN, USA Today
