Pastor Jamal Bryant comes to Cardi B ‘full of love' to confront her shopping at Target

Yahoo

a day ago

'I hope you will…walk alongside us,' Pastor Jamal Bryant publicly invites the rap superstar to join boycott after seeing her post in Target.
Pastor Jamal Bryant is very serious about mobilizing communities, especially Black communities, to join his national boycott against Target. Today, the religious leader took to Instagram to kindly call out rapper Cardi B, who recently snapped a photo of herself in Target with her children.
'Dear @iamcardib, Grace and Peace to you! I come to you with a chest full of love,' he wrote, explaining the reason for the ongoing boycott. 'When I saw you post a picture of you and your beautiful family in the store, I felt certain that with your demanding schedule, you were probably unaware. Having 163 million [people] following you is a great deal of influence, and many follow your lead. I hope you will visit targetfast.org and walk alongside us.'
Bryant continued: 'I'm fully aware that you identify as Latino and that you have children that represent both communities, and to that end, you should know the movement has support as well as buy-in from the Latino community and more specifically, workers. Your presence to be a part of the most effective boycott in 70 years since the Montgomery bus boycott! In the words of Martin Luther King, a person who doesn't stand for something will fall for anything.'
Since the beginning of this year, civil rights activists and community leaders like Bryant have been calling for consumers to boycott Target after the retailer decided to back away from its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in compliance with the Trump administration's continuous efforts to roll back DEI. As Bryant noted in his message to Cardi B:
'There has been a national boycott against @target because they have betrayed our community by dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion. African Americans have spent 12 million dollars a day, and yet they don't see us as a viable partner. We've asked them to invest in black banks, black colleges, and black communities, and under pressure from the administration, they haven't felt compelled to even respond. Our unified movement of churches and grassroots organizations has led to a drop in their stock, a reduction of foot traffic, a reduction of their valuation, and a slashing of the CEO's salary. Last, we collectively have cancelled Target because we don't think patronizing them is best for our community.'
While Bryant may have had good intentions with his message to the New York rapper, social media users have had mixed reactions about his choice to call her out publicly.
'A DM would've sufficed,' one user noted.
'Yeah you prob should have reached out to her directly that way you share more information and gain an ally in this. You basically opened her up for attack as evidenced in the comments,' another user commented. 'This is not productive and causes a distraction we don't need. Cardi has been clear in how she stands on a lot of issues. More so than many others who are quiet. I hope you will reconsider your method here.'
Others defended and applauded Bryant's approach, tagging the rapper to join them in their boycott efforts.
'I love this approach. I think you missed the spirit of his message. He came with love, not judgment — and offered insight, not indictment. It wasn't an attack, it was an invitation,' an Instagram user argued in the comments. 'We can acknowledge Cardi's impact and still hold space for strategic awareness around where our dollars go. That's how we move forward — with both truth and respect.'
Cardi B, who has previously been vocal about her political advocacy, has yet to publicly respond to Bryant's message.
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