By S.E. Williams
Black Voice News
https://blackvoicenews.com/
Overview: Civil rights leader Latasha Brown has called for a boycott of Amazon, Target, and Home Depot during Thanksgiving weekend as part of the “We Ain’t Buying It” initiative. The aim is to encourage members of the Black community to leverage their economic power to drive change and support retailers who align with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives. The boycott is a response to the federal government’s inaction on providing emergency food stamps and extending healthcare stipends, as well as the detrimental actions taken against diversity initiatives. The initiative is a reminder of the economic power that Black people possess and their historical role in driving change.Thank you for reading this post, don’t forget to subscribe!
S.E. Williams
Civil Rights Leader Latasha Brown, co-founder of the national organization Black Voters Matter and the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium, in coalition with others, has called for a massive boycott during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Aptly titled, “We Ain’t Buying It,” the initiative calls on everyone–particularly those in the Black and Brown communities–to take economic action in solidarity aimed at defending democracy and reclaiming community power.
Brown’s call to action is rooted in the belief that America is the wealthiest nation in the world and yet it continues failing in its obligation to care for its citizens. And, yet, the federal government can authorize over a trillion dollars in tax breaks in the coming years to the top 1,000 wealthiest people in the country; was unwilling to supply emergency food stamps to those in need during the government shutdown despite legislation that specifically authorized such payments; and congress has refused to extend healthcare stipends depended on by millions of Americans.
All of this has occurred along with other actions detrimental to Americans while the federal government has also taken direct aim directly at initiatives designed to foster diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA). It appears federal officials are with the intent on continuing long standing impediments to progress for Blacks and other people of color.
Although ongoing boycotts against a number of retailers continue—with negotiations underway in some instances, Brown’s call to action targets three of them specifically for a pre-determined five day boycott period that begins Thanksgiving Day. The targeted retailers include Amazon, Target and Home Depot. The selection of these five days–is aimed at encouraging the Black community to leverage its economic power for change during a period that is important to these retailers to achieve their annual revenue objectives. The selection of these can significantly impact their bottom lines.
In a capitalist society, how consumers elect to spend their dollars is what determines winners and losers among retailers. As consumers, Blacks in America spend between 1.8 trillion to two trillion dollars annually–this is not a measure of Black wealth, it is a projection of what Black people will spend this year–in other words, our contribution to the economy.
Collectively, the economic buying power of Blacks in the U.S. rates America’s Black community as the 14th largest economy in the world.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday this year, 88% of U.S. adults – or nearly 235 million people – plan to spend about $127 billion–this is more than what was spent last year.
“Often our [Montgomery Bus] movement has been referred to as a boycott movement. The word boycott, however, does not adequately describe the true spirit of our movement. The word boycott is suggestive of merely an economic squeeze devoid of any positive value. We have never allowed ourselves to get bogged in the negative; we have always sought to accentuate the positive. Our aim has never been to put the bus company out of business, but rather to put justice in business.”Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The purpose of the “We Ain’t Buying It,” call to action is to encourage members of the Black community to not only exercise its political power but to “flex and develop our economic muscle,” as well, according to Brown.
I am a strong advocate for not spending our money with companies that are unwilling to stand up for equity, justice and democracy for our community. This Thanksgiving weekend, the “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign has asked Blacks, other people of color and those who support the intention of DEIA not to shop with Amazon, Target, and Home Depot. These retailers have made it clear they do not support DEIA and are aligned with the destructive actions of the Trump administration.
Home Depot for example, quietly removed information about its commitment to DEIA as if no one would notice, and then, adding insult to injury, so to speak, there are reports of this mega (MAGA) retailer feeding information to ICE regarding workers gathering outside their places of business and other surveillance information.
Although a fact-check published on October 22, 2025 concluded that Home Depot did not have a formal agreement to install cameras specifically to identify undocumented people, “the practical reality that retailers share footage with law enforcement when requested, and AI-enabled camera systems create potential pathways for such data to be used in immigration investigations,” gives some indication of where the truth may lie in this regard.
Instead of shopping with retail giants that are actively working against the best interest of Black and other minority communities, let us spend our money with retailers who align with our humanity. The call to action includes the following request:
On Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2025:
Spend time with loved ones and do not spend any money.
On Friday, Black Friday, November 28, 2025:
Do not shop
Saturday and Sunday, November 29 and 30, 2025:
Shop local small businesses, including Black and other minority-owned and women-owned businesses
Monday, Cyber Monday, December 1, 2025:
Do not buy online. Most importantly, make sure you do not shop online at Amazon during the entire five days of this boycott.
I understand this action may be inconvenient, but I believe we can hold onto our money for five days. I love shopping as much as the next person, but I love my children, grandchildren and community more. I am unwilling to continue spending money with corporations that could care less about their future.
If nothing else, this year has taught us that we cannot depend on our government to create the future we deserve. We cannot depend on our political party to ensure equity and care for those in need at this moment in history. Instead, it is up to each of us to help raise the consciousness of this nation–a role Black people have historically played in the history of this nation. We have the economic muscle to change the direction of this country. We must come together and exercise it.
Remember, Black people walked miles to and from work for 381 days during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. During that era, Blacks leveraged their economic power at great sacrifices to themselves to drive change on behalf of their people. We still possess that power. Now is the time to leverage it. Surely if they walked for 381 days, we can refrain from shopping for five days—by comparison, this is an easy ask.
A folk song that helped inspire activists during the civil rights era proclaimed…”The only thing we did right, was the day we started to fight. Keep your eyes on the prize . . . Hold on.” This Thanksgiving weekend I encourage you to “keep your eyes on the prize.”
Of course, this is just my opinion. I’m keeping it real.
Follow this link to learn more about the “We Ain’t Buying It,” campaign.
S.E. Williams
Stephanie Williams is executive editor of the IE Voice and Black Voice News. A longtime champion for civil rights and justice in all its forms, she is also an advocate for government transparency and committed to ferreting out and exposing government corruption. Stephanie has received awards for her investigative reporting and for her weekly column, Keeping it Real. Contact Stephanie with tips, comments. or concerns at myopinion@ievoice.com.
