by Julianne Malveaux
<TriceEdneyWire.com> — 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, 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 busses 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 the Supreme Court 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. 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.
