African Americans have about
$1.6 trillion in buying power. And we are the
ultimate consumers, disproportionately
spending on beauty and personal care, apparel
and footwear, and entertainment and
technology. There are reasons for all of this,
many rooted in enslavement and exclusion, but
the reasons really don’t matter. We spend
rather than save, we spend to compensate for
structural challenges, we spend because it
makes us feel good. When we feel good, we buy.
When we feel bad, we buy. New job, we buy
because we want to look good. Lost job, we buy
because we “need” casual clothes. We buy.
We patronize those who oppress
us. Consider Elon Musk, the owner of
used-to-be Twitter, now X. We’re all in with
that platform, generating hashtags and sales
platforms.
To be sure, many a movement has
been ignited through the Twitter platform,
including #Black Lives Matter. It is time to
kiss Twitter, or X, goodbye.
More importantly, African
American people must use our dollars
strategically, which is why I welcome Rev.
Jamal Bryant’s call that we “fast” from Target
during Lent. Target was one of the first
corporations to back off DEI (“definitely
earned it” or Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion). Rev. Bryant has it right. Should
we fund our own oppression by patronizing a
company that has turned on us?
Rev. Bryant, the pastor of New
Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest,
Georgia, is a relatively young (53) and
totally revolutionary faith and civic leader.
He comes from “good stock” with both his
parents, Rev. John Bryant and Rev. Cecilia
Bryant, retired African Methodist Episcopal
ministers. It is fitting that he would ask us,
in the coming Lenten season, to fast from
foolishness. Already more than 50,000 people
have agreed to join the fast. You can sign up,
too, at targetfast.org.
This “fast”/boycott will only be
successful if the organizers cause Target
pain. Bryant says Black folks spend $12
million a day at Target. Refusing economic
engagement with Target could cause the company
quite a blow. But who’s counting? If we can’t
document that this “fast” made a difference,
we render the boycott tactic impotent. Lots of
people are throwing terms like “boycott”
around, but if they don’t hurt, they don’t
matter.
Our most successful boycott was
the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After Rosa Parks
was arrested for refusing to yield her seat to
a white passenger, the Montgomery Black
community rallied around her and did not ride
buses for more than a year. They were legally
and physically attacked, but they persisted
and prevailed for more than a year. Their
victory led to a Supreme Court ruling
desegregating public transportation. It
worked, not because the bus company yielded,
but because they were losing money – about
$30,000 a day in today’s dollars, or more than
$11 million during the 381-day boycott.
There have been other boycotts
where oppressive owners have capitulated to
popular demands. For example, the United Farm
Workers Grape Boycott lasted more than five
years, but ended up with major concessions,
including union recognition and higher pay for
migrant farm workers. There have also been
successful divestment campaigns, notably
against South Africa during the apartheid
regime. Thanks to activists like Randall
Robinson and Dr. Mary Frances Berry, South
Africa was forced to release Nelson Mandela
from his long imprisonment and back down from
apartheid.
Boycotts are only effective if
they are coordinated, impactful, and surgical.
The word boycott, bandied about, is
ineffective. A boycott that hurts the
oppressor is successful. Jamal Bryant and his
allies are to be commended for calling for
this “fast” from Target. I’m hoping that
someone is measuring the impact of this
boycott and that it causes Target to
reconsider its retreat from DEI and its
engagement with Black consumers. In 2021, in
the wake of the George Floyd murder, Target
pledged to spend $2 billion with black
business. There is no data available about how
much they spent, but their retreat from DEI
initiatives probably nullifies that
commitment. In the face of many calls to
boycott Target, some of the Black
entrepreneurs featured in the stores have
asked that Black consumers consider them as
they boycott. Most of their products are
available online. Black folks aren’t
boycotting innovative Black businesses, we are
boycotting an oppressive retailer.
African Americans must use our
consumer power to make the point that we will
not be erased or ignored. Historically, we had
the “Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work” Campaign.
We must revive that revolutionary energy. When
we support those who are retreating from DEI,
we are funding our own oppression. Thank you,
Jamal Bryant, for your leadership! Buy Black!
Buy online! Fast from economic engagement with
the oppressor.
