by | After 40 days of a “Target Fast” led by Pastor Jamal Bryant and supported by 200,000 petitioners and Black churches across the U.S., the New Birth Missionary Church pastor announced at Easter Sunday service that the fast would shift into a “full-on boycott.” It’s just one way that the big retailer has been hit since it rolled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments on January 24.
For 10 consecutive weeks, foot traffic at Target has decreased, and its stock has dropped. According to data from Placer.ai, Target saw a 7.9% decline year-over-year. As of Thursday, Target stock has dropped from $138 in January to $93.11. For many, the decline increasingly shows the force and power of the Black dollar.
“One church had an idea, and it became a spark that became a flame,” Bryant said.
With the fast, Bryant said they had four demands of Target:
- Honor the $2 billion pledge to the Black business community through products, services, and black media buys
- Deposit $250 million in any of our 23 Black banks
- Completely restoring the franchise’s commitment to DEI
- Pipeline community centers at 10 HBCUs to teach retail business at every level
Bryant said the deadline to meet those demands and end the boycott was 9 a.m. on Sunday. Target only committed to one of the demands and did not meet that deadline.
“40 days was not the deadline. It was the benchmark for us to see where it is that we are, and to be able to recalibrate. History will record that this is the most effective boycott for our community, nationally, since Montgomery. And strikingly different, Montgomery was just a city, and this is impacting the entire nation. So, we’re glad to have such a grasp and have such a bridge.”
On Friday, New Birth unveiled its Bullseye Black Market, a curated marketplace at the Samson Health & Fitness Center, featuring 104 entrepreneurs and their businesses. From art and makeup to sweet treats, clothing, and skincare, the market is a hub that allows people to invest their money back into the Black community.
“Black people have no shortage of creativity, we have no shortage of ingenuity, we have no shortage of talent,” Bryant said before he cut the ribbon welcoming DeKalb County residents and leaders into the space.
Clark Atlanta University graduate Kim Roxie is the founder of LAMIK Beauty, the first Black-owned clean makeup brand to be carried by Ulta. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, Roxie said she traveled to Stonecrest to participate in the Bullseye Black Market.
“I opened up a store in Black Wall Street because I believe in us having equity and ownership in the beauty industry,” Roxie said. “We need this unity. We need to make them respect us. It is very important that we take back our power.”
When Target scaled back its DEI efforts, Black business owners who sell at Target warned that the boycott could also hurt their businesses. Chantel Powell owns Play Pits, a non-toxic natural deodorant geared toward kids and sold on Amazon and at Walmart and Target. While she expressed disappointment at Target’s decision, she was confident it wouldn’t change the “trajectory of what God has for me.”
“As a Black business owner, obstacles are just part of the process. Two years ago, I lost my warehouse to a fire. I lost everything in it. And so coming out of that, nothing really scares me,” Powell said. “I’m a Black woman before I was a founder. Just like everybody, it was disappointing to hear that a retailer who stated that they were for us seemed to be rolling back on that.”
Powell shared that she never considered pulling her products from Target, noting that leaving would hurt her business even more. She intends to focus on her customers, give back to the community, and keep pushing forward by providing accessible products for busy parents and their kids.
“I think the work that Pastor Jamal Bryant is doing is amazing because he’s making them pay attention and really getting our people to unify and pay attention to how we have dope businesses, and we deserve spots on those shelves.”
Bryant plans to host a town hall meeting at New Birth on Tuesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. to discuss the next phase of the boycott.
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