Latest news with #BlackoutFriday
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Supporters of Blackout Friday support Triad businesses
WINSTON-SALEM (WGHP) — Blackout Friday is a national movement with the goal of not buying anything from major retailers and directing all spending to local businesses only if necessary. It comes after major retailers like Target had a rollback on diversity, equity and inclusion Initiatives. Supporters say they want those big retailers to feel the impact of their hard-earned dollars to let them know they don't support this decision. 'From my understanding, the core is to not spend at all … But if you are going to spend money, if you need those things, shop Black-owned businesses. Shop local businesses,' Founder of the Buy Black Guide Temoura Jefferies said. The goal is to let major retailers know they don't support large business decisions going away from DEI policies. 'It's showing the power of Black dollars. It shows that we have power. It's putting resources into Black businesses,' Jefferies said. It's support Jefferies feels has been lost. Now, she's putting her money back into her community and showing others how to do the same. Veronica Bitting wanted to show her power by supporting BYGood Coffee. 'I think that we should shop and support Black-owned establishments. I won't go to Starbucks. I'm coming here to BYGood Coffee,' Bitting said. She says she wants to support local business owners every day. 'Not just today. I think that this is something that needs to happen multiple days, multiple months, entire years,' Bitting said. Abbey Garner, the owner of BYGood Coffee, says she's seen the impact in a good way. 'I think the blackout is what is bringing in all the new faces,' Garner said. She says she and her husband have been grinding for five years, so the change of speed to get recognition and local dollars is what she hopes to see more of in the future. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Group rallies for Blackout Friday in West Hartford
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — People across the country are taking part in Blackout Friday, an economic resistance against big corporations like Amazon, Target and Walmart. About 50 people gathered outside Whole Foods on Raymond Road in West Hartford. Ted Carroll, a member of the Call to Action group, organized the rally two days ago. 'One of the ways we can demonstrate our power is through our pocketbooks, our purses, our wallets,' he said. 'We don't need to spend money at companies owned by Amazon. We can go elsewhere.' Economic blackout: Will a 24-hour boycott make a difference? For 24 hours, a grassroots organization called the People's Union USA encourages consumers to buy locally and not spend money at big companies. The website says to not make any purchases on fast food, gas or at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. This group rallied to show their disapproval of Jeff Bezos's alignment with President Trump and the company's rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices. 'Diversity and opportunity have made this country great,' said Carroll. 'We want to maintain those policies, those values.' David Cadden, a Quinnipiac University professor emeritus of entrepreneurship and strategy, said a 24-hour boycott might not make much of a difference. 'This is just a wildfire that caught on, and I don't know if it will be able to be sustained,' he said. 'It would have to be a significant number of people and would have to be continued for a length of time.' Protestors know one event won't have much of an impact, but Carroll hopes the day's efforts spread awareness. 'When people are awakened to the power that they have and know that they can actually make a difference, then we will, in fact, bring about the changes that we're seeking today,' he said. News 8 contacted Whole Foods for a comment on Friday's protest but did not hear back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Beale Street employee sees little impact from ‘Blackout Friday'
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Consumers across the nation were urged to participate in an economic boycott called 'Blackout Friday,' which called for people to refrain from spending money at major retailers and support small businesses instead. A Memphis small business retail employee did not feel the impact of 'Blackout Friday.' 'Our business really depends a lot on, like tourists, and like, local people, you know, and so when people aren't showing up for that, it really hurts our business,' said Kylan Cothren, a retail employee at B.B. King's Blues Club. 'So, like, this 'Blackout Friday' has really hurt our business.' 'Blackout Friday' urges boycott of major retailers Organizers say the goal of the economic protest is to put money towards small or Black-owned businesses, rather than some major retailers who are rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Amazon and Target are just some of the companies that are no longer upholding DEI policies. A group of tourists I spoke with say that's why participating in Friday's 'economic blackout' is so important. U.S. measles outbreak leads health experts to urge vaccinations 'We standing together as a community, I mean we get so much negativity with going to all these different stores and they don't really support our communities,' said Cothren. 'I like the fact that when we have these types of events going on, that everybody can come together as a whole,' said Cothren. 'Everybody's reciprocating to one another due to what has happened in our past.' Supporters are encouraging people to support small or Black-owned businesses frequently, not only on days like this. Cothren said to look around town and learn who has businesses because these businesses do not have commercials like Amazon and Walmart, but they have great things, especially in Memphis. Organizers have other 'economic blackouts' planned for the future, but those events will specifically target certain companies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
28-02-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago faith and civic leaders encourage people to participate in nationwide ‘Blackout Friday'
Faith-based and community leaders from across Chicago urged the public to not buy from major retailers and companies on Friday as part of nationwide 'Blackout Friday' protest. The movement is a 24-hour economic blackout in which consumers are not supposed to buy from corporations, avoid all nonessential purchases and if necessary, only shop at local businesses. 'The time for silence is over,' the Rev. Ira Acree with the Greater St. John Bible Church said. 'We refuse to stand by while corporate greed devours our communities, while diversity and inclusion efforts are dismantled and justice is trampled under our foot.' The nationwide protest is the brainchild of John Schwarz, a meditation teacher who lives near the Chicago area and founder of The People's Union USA. The boycott is an act of 'economic resistance' to protest what the group's founder sees as the influence of billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties on the lives of working Americans. The movement also comes as the Trump administration and major corporations roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Shortly after taking office, Trump signed executive orders demanding the end of DEI programs in the federal government and other industries. Since then, companies such as Walmart, Google and McDonald's have cut either some or all of their DEI commitments and policies. For faith-based and civic leaders, the economic protest is an opportunity to stand up to not only attacks on DEI, but also toward the Trump administration's mass firing of federal workers, shuttering of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among other actions. 'Just in the last 30 days, we've seen a fierce attack launched on our civil rights and on our ability to develop equal employment opportunity,' said Yusef Jackson, son of civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson went on to describe Trump as someone who is 'part of those who are responsible for, on one level, trying to topple our government.' From the firing of U.S. Gen. Charles Q. Brown to the support Trump has garnered among Christian supremacists, the actions of the Trump administration have been felt deeply for faith-based and civic leaders. 'He's been given power in large part by our faith community, and that's why, as a faith community, we must get together and respond,' Jackson said. For some of those religious leaders, who participated in protests during the Civil Rights Movement, participation in Friday's protests is a callback to some of the boycotts of that era. 'We must participate in this blackout,' said Michael Eaddy, pastor of the People's Church of the Harvest Church of God in Christ. 'In 1961, '62, that was their time. But in 2025, it is our time.' The protest is also supposed to be one of a number of protests that will take place in the coming months, according to The People's Union USA. Other protests include more targeted boycotts of Amazon (March 7-14), Nestle (March 21-28), Walmart (April 7-14) followed by a second broader economic blackout on April 18. Some retailers may feel a slight pinch from Friday's broad 'blackout,' which is taking place in a tough economic environment, experts said. Renewed inflation worries and Trump's threat of tariffs on imported goods already have had an effect on consumer sentiment. Anna Tuchman, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, said she thinks the economic blackout will likely make a dent in daily retail sales but won't be sustainable. 'I think this is an opportunity for consumers to show that they have a voice on a single day,' she said. 'I think it's unlikely that we would see long-run sustained decreases in economic activity supported by this boycott.' Regardless of the outcome, Chicago leaders still urged the public to participate in the 24-hour blackout. For those who are undecided about participating, James Moody, presiding elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago, said that not participating is not an option. 'Why go inside our houses, close our doors, turn off our telephones, turn off our televisions and act as though what is happening is not,' Moody said. 'Why sit here and die when we have been called to mobilize on tomorrow not to buy.' Acree expressed a similar sentiment. 'History has proven that when the faith community moves with courage, change is inevitable,' Acree said. 'The marching orders are very clear. … Let's shut it down.'
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Blackout Friday' urges boycott of major retailers
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An economic protest planned for Friday suggests not to shop at any major retailers. In cities like Memphis and on some social media sites, information has been spreading for weeks about a nationwide economic protest called Blackout Friday. WREG talked to Joseph Kyles of Rainbow Push Coalition and Representative G.A. Hardaway of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators about the message they hope it will send. Man charged with forging quitclaim deed to steal property 'Well, Rainbow Push Coalition along with other organizations. I know that action, National Network, with Reverend Al Sharpton, NAACP, and others are calling for a 'buycott,' not necessarily a boycott,' said Kyles. 'One is to demonstrate our purchasing power by denying it to the majority businesses, but also to demonstrate our purchasing power by supporting and promoting small businesses, Black businesses in particular,' said Representative G.A. Hardaway. The call to action or 'inaction' is asking consumers to not make any purchases on Feb. 28 at major retailers, online retailers, grocery stores, and gas stations. Bond denied for Timothy Herrington; state will not seek death penalty 'We'll be speaking out individually and collectively so that people of color and those white folks who are economically challenged will understand their power,' said Rep. G.A. Hardaway. The protest comes as people continue to endure rising prices on everything from food, gas and housing. 'We had to battle Jim Crow, and now it's not so much your color of your skin, but it's your economics, it's your banking. It's where you get regular rates or prime rates,' said Kyles. Some critics say that halting spending for a single day isn't likely to make much impact on major retailers, but organizers say it will draw attention to the fact that economic justice is needed. 'It's where you have the opportunity to save and invest or just live for the day. And so, we want people to be able to thrive and not just survive,' said Kyles. 'And so, we've got to have these economic disparities addressed.' Organizers of Blackout Friday say they will also fight for better jobs, contracts, and other opportunities for people struggling in today's 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
