Target Corporation’s stock plummeted by approximately $27.27 per share by the end of February, erasing about $12.4 billion in market value. The drop came on February 28, the designated economic blackout day, and coincided with mounting backlash over the retailer’s decision to abandon its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments.
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has taken action through its Public Education and Selective Buying Campaign. NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. said, “Black consumers helped build Target into a retail giant, and now they are making their voices heard. If corporations believe they can roll back diversity commitments without consequence, they are mistaken.”
Reverend Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia, has led calls for a “40-Day Target Fast,” urging Black consumers to withhold their spending at the retailer. “Black people spend $12 million a day at Target,” Bryant said. “If we withhold our dollars, we can make a statement that cannot be ignored.”
The NAACP also issued a Black Consumer Advisory in response to Target’s DEI rollback, warning Black consumers about corporate retreat from diversity initiatives. The advisory urges them to support businesses that remain committed to investing in Black communities.
Target is also facing legal battles. Shareholders have filed lawsuits challenging the company’s DEI policies, arguing that the commitments hurt financial performance. Meanwhile, conservative groups have sued over Target’s diversity efforts, claiming they discriminated against white employees and other groups.
“Consumers have the power to demand change, and Target is learning that lesson the hard way,” Chavis said
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Target Corporation, which recently scaled back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, is facing financial consequences, community backlash, and new legal challenges from both sides of the political spectrum. The retail giant’s decision to retreat from its DEI commitments and Pride Month merchandise has drawn conservative-led lawsuits while also fueling boycotts and economic pressure from civil rights groups. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and America First Legal, founded by President Trump adviser Stephen Miller, have filed a lawsuit against Target. The suit, brought on behalf of a Florida board overseeing state pensions, alleges the company failed to disclose the financial risks associated with its DEI programs and 2023 Pride Month collection. The legal action is the latest in a wave of conservative attacks on corporate diversity efforts, aligning with former President Donald Trump’s push to dismantle DEI policies in both government and private sectors. At the same time, Target’s DEI retreat has provoked backlashes from civil rights groups, Democratic leaders, and even the heirs of one of Target’s founders, who argue that diversity is good business and should not be abandoned under political pressure. The company’s decision to reduce minority hiring targets and discontinue reports to diversity-focused organizations led to an 8.7% drop in its stock value. Data from Placer.ai shows store traffic decreased by 4% following Trump’s executive order banning federal DEI initiatives, with an additional 9% decline the following week. Walmart experienced a dip of less than 3% during the same period. In Minneapolis—Target’s headquarters and the city where George Floyd’s murder sparked national protests—civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong urged consumers to boycott the retailer. “We thought Target would stand firm in its values,” Armstrong told reporters at a news conference. “Instead, they bowed to the Trump administration. We will not step back.” Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the company should be held accountable for turning its back on DEI. “If you were moved by George Floyd’s murder to seek justice, it’s time to boycott Target,” Hussein told PBS. The boycott movement has gained traction, with local Black Lives Matter chapters participating in events where activists cut up their Target credit cards. Organizers have encouraged consumers to shop at companies like Costco, which recently reaffirmed its DEI commitments. The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, and civil rights organizations like the NAACP have launched campaigns to inform Black consumers about corporate retreats from diversity initiatives. “Black Americans spend $2 trillion annually. We must reconsider supporting businesses that disregard our contributions,” said NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. vowed that the Black Press would hold corporations accountable. “We will not be silent while corporations reverse progress that directly affects Black communities,” Henry asserted. Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, has called for a 40-day “economic fast” targeting Target. “Black people spend $12 million a day at Target,” Bryant stated during an appearance on Let It Be Known. “We’re focusing on Target first because of their broken promises to our community.” The campaign, which coincides with Lent, has drawn over 50,000 participants within a week at targetfast.org.
Target now finds itself under pressure from both conservative and progressive forces. After previously positioning itself as a leader in corporate diversity, the company has been forced into a balancing act that has left it vulnerable on all sides. “We encourage you to spend your money where you’re respected, support Black-owned businesses, and demand businesses prioritize people over profit,” said Keisha Bross, financial strategist at the NAACP.
Washington, DC: The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, has announced the planning and implementation of a national public education and selective buying campaign across the nation in direct response to those corporate entities that have dismantled their respective Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, programs and staffing. NNPA Chairman Emeritus Danny Bakewell Sr. explained, “Now is the time for the Black Press of America once again to emphatically speak and publish truth to power.”
“We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or nonresponsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America,” stated NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. “The Black Press of America continues to remain on the frontline keeping our families and communities informed and engaged on all the issues that impact our quality of life.”
At a recent convening of NNPA member publishers and editors, a united resolve was reached that each member publication of the NNPA will begin a national public education campaign coupled with the release of research data on those America companies that are engaging in efforts to sanction racial injustice, inequitable polices, divisive leadership, and economic apartheid in America.
“We note forthrightly that Black Americans spend $2 trillion dollars annually as consumers of products and services throughout the United States,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. emphasized. “We now must evaluate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us,” Chavis continued. “This now must come to an end. These contradictions will not go unchallenged by 50 million Black Americans who have struggled for centuries to ensure equality, fairness and inclusion in our nation’s democracy.”
A selective buying campaign involves exercising the right to select what we spend our money on and who we spend our money with. We are starting with targeting TARGET.
The following are some of the major American companies that have publicly retreated from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
TARGET Lowe’s John Deere, Walmart Meta Tractor Supply, Amazon, McDonald’s and Ford
The Greene County Democrat is a member of the NNPA and prints this notice, from the Philadelphia Tribune, which has more details on the DEI deniers, as the start of a national campaign to educate the public and encourage a selective buying campaign to withdraw our support from these companies.
In the interest of fairness, the Democrat prints this list of major companies that have decided to continue their ‘diversity equity and inclusion’ initiatives: COSTCO, JPMORGAN CHASE, GOLDMAN SACHS, DELTA AIRLINES, APPLE, MICROSOFT, PINTEREST, and elf Cosmetics.
We are counting on you our readers to target TARGET, by not buying from them! Tell your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and others!
Many African Americans have expressed worry about a potentially perilous four years under President Donald Trump. To that point, nationally renowned attorney Ben Crump called for an often-under-appreciated force to come to Black people’s rescue – the Black press. Specifically, Crump called on The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a national association of African American newspaper publishers, to be Black people’s “north star.”
“As we come upon this new year, now more than ever, we’re gonna need the leadership of the NNPA to lead our Black community,” said Crump, who viewed that leadership coming in the form of providing unfiltered, truthful hard news to combat potential dangers.
Crump’s NNPA call
“To all the [NNPA members] and executives across the country, I say, now is our time to stand up and be counted. History will ask the question, where were you when they tried to roll back our civil rights, when they tried to destroy Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and when they try to say to our children that Black history doesn’t matter? Where were you,” he stated.
Crump added that NNPA members must be ready to confront individuals, Black people, lawmakers and others who turn their backs on the needs of the Black community. “This time in history, we must challenge [the] souls of Black people every opportunity we get. Because there will be some people who would take the path of least resistance, and we have to be ready to call them out,” he said.
Crump is not the only one sounding the alarm about Trump’s actions. Even before Crump’s charge to Black media, multiple Black media members have used their platforms to keep the general public, and Black people specifically, up to date on the barrage of Trump executive orders impacting Black people.
Trump-era challenges
New York Times–bestselling author, TV and film producer, and former CNN political commentator Keith Boykin, recently spotlighted the eight different goals of the federal DEI program Trump demonized and ended.
Data collection, to give us a better understanding of who is and isn’t in the federal workforce Paid Internships, which provide valuable opportunities and experience for people from underserved communities Recruitment, so that the government doesn’t just hire the usual suspects but posts job announcements in places where other people can see them, Professional development, so that once people are hired they can continue to expand their skills and become better workers, Fair treatment of people with disabilities, so that they can get a job and find appropriate accommodations, LGBT fairness, so that spouses and families of LGBT employees get the same benefits as other families do, Pay equity, to review government policies, hiring, and salaries to make sure that women and people of color aren’t being paid less to do the same jobs, and Opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals, to review barriers so that qualified job applicants who have served their time get a fair shot at getting a job.
“These are not radical, illegal, or immoral ideas,” said Boykin. “These are calls to the highest principles of America, with the stated goal that “all employees are treated with dignity and respect.”
Like Boykin, and true to Crump’s call, Word In Black reporter Jennifer Porter Gore has reported on Trump’s moves that carry with them potentially deadly ramifications for Black people.
“In a flurry of executive orders signed just hours after he took office, President Donald Trump rescinded a Biden administration order on prescription drugs — a move that could hike drug prices for millions of Medicare and Medicaid enrollees,” reported Gore. “At the same time, Trump also reversed Biden’s efforts to make it easier for people to enroll in Medicaid or to get insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.”
That Trump move could prove fatal on a large scale for the just over seven million Black people who have health coverage through Medicare.
Another Black press member, Roland Martin, recently discussed how many of the Project 2025 projections are already coming to pass, including Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship – an addition to the U.S. Constitution that granted citizenship to formerly enslaved Black people and their future kin born in the U.S.
A different kind of danger to Black people was alluded to via a social media post celebrating Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 inauguration by the Proud Boys, an identified white domestic terrorist organization. The group known for threatening and engaging in violence against Black people posted: “There are no more safe spaces.” By the end of his first week in office, Trump had pardoned all of the January 6th insurrectionists, including the Prod Boys leadership.
Crump told NNPA members during his address that Black people can’t rely on mainstream media to keep us informed about weighty issues like those mentioned. “There’s a fourth branch of government. It is called the independent press. And I’m not counting on MSNBC. I’m not counting on CNN. I’m not counting on Fox News. Me and my house, we will count on the NNPA to be our fourth branch of government. To make sure that we get information that is hard-hitting facts and it’s not watered-down, it’s not orchestrated, it’s not manipulated. But it is the information to help us be unapologetic defenders of Black life, of Black liberty, of Black culture,” said Crump.
Crump added that the NNPA has the power to “well arm” Black youth with intellect, diplomacy and strategic thinking to protest the prison industrial complex, voter suppression, denial of access to quality healthcare and denial of access to capital.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent
Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, one of the longest-serving members of the Texas delegation, has died at the age of 74. In June, Jackson Lee announced her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, yet she showed little indication of letting it interfere with her plans to run for a 16th term this November. The fiery congresswoman disclosed her diagnosis in a written statement shortly after winning renomination in a fiercely contested Democratic primary. Known for her unwavering commitment to social justice, she was a fervent advocate for reparations for African Americans and a vocal critic of the twice impeached and 34 times convicted felon and former President Donald Trump. Unlike some of her colleagues, she did not join the calls for President Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 race. As recently as Wednesday, July 19, Jackson Lee continued to champion President Biden’s re-election campaign. “Something that does not get talked about enough: we were able to bring down homicides in Houston with federal investment,” she wrote on X. “After President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, we brought $50 million to the city to take on crime—and it worked! Local/federal partnership saved lives.” She added, “This House Democrat believes Joe Biden has served us well and has the best plans for the future. I am laser-focused on beating Donald Trump and delivering for America because that’s what matters.” Jackson Lee also reminded her followers that America saw one of the most significant homicide spikes ever in Trump’s last year in office. “He threw his hands in the air and did not know what to do,” she asserted. “Since he left, I am proud that our American Rescue Plan has done the very important work to bring these numbers down! Federal/local partnerships worked.” Jackson Lee’s many legislative achievements are significant and wide-ranging. She played a crucial role in the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. She was a senior House Committee member on the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Budget Committees. She was the first female ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, serving as Chair during the 117th Congress.
“The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) extends to the family of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee our profound condolences. May the legacy and memory of Sheila Jackson Lee be enshrined in the pantheon of global freedom fighters,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Jackson Lee was a powerful advocate for a free and energetic press — and for the Black Press of America in particular. Among her notable legislative efforts were the Sentencing Reform Act, the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, the RAISE Act, the Fair Chance for Youth Act, the Kimberly Vaughan Firearm Safe Storage Act, Kalief’s Law, and the American RISING Act. She also introduced the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant Reauthorization and Bullying Prevention and Intervention Act and the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act.
A staunch supporter of women and children, Jackson Lee championed the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. She authored the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act.
Jackson Lee was widely recognized for her effectiveness and influence. Congressional Quarterly named her one of the 50 most effective Members of Congress, and U.S. News and World Report listed her among the ten most influential legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was a founder, member, and chair of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus and the Congressional Children’s Caucus. She was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Energy Braintrust and the Justice Reform Task Force co-chair. A Yale University alumna, Jackson Lee earned her B.A. in Political Science with honors and later received a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Elwyn Lee, an administrator at the University of Houston; her two children, Jason Lee, a Harvard University graduate, and Erica Lee, a Duke University graduate and member of the Harris County School Board; and her two grandchildren, twins Ellison Bennett Carter and Roy Lee Carter III.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
Amber Geiger and Botham Jean
Recent indictments and convictions suggest a swinging pendulum, and at least some cracks in the “Blue Wall” that all too often conspires to hide details and protect officers guilty of unjust shootings of African Americans and others. Prosecutors in Chicago have won an indictment, alleging that three Windy City police officers conspired to protect a fellow officer after he fatally shot a Black teenager, Laquand McDonald, in 2014. The officers did so in spite of available videotaped evidence of the shooting, prosecutors said. McDonald, who was 17, was armed with a knife when he was shot 16 times. In Dallas, Texas, an officer was indicted last week on murder charges, nearly three months after she shot and killed an unarmed Black man whose apartment she said she entered by mistake, believing it to be her own. Also, in the last week, four Missouri police officers were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the assault of a fellow officer who was working undercover. Officers Dustin Boone, Randy Hays and Christopher Myers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, are accused of beating the undercover officer with a riot baton and tampering with witnesses to cover up the incident. Myers was also charged with destroying evidence and Officer Bailey Colletta was indicted on a charge of providing false statements to a federal grand jury in connection with the incident. According to CNN, the indictment details text messages between Myers and Boone in which they talk about how much fun it will be to beat “the hell out of these s**theads once the sun goes down and no one can tell us” apart. In Chicago, prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes said in her opening statement that defendants David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney offered accounts of the deadly incident that conflicted with the video evidence. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice. The bench trial is expected to run into next week, according to Reuters. Earlier, a jury found former Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting of McDonald. What all of trials instances shares in common beyond the fact that officers are involved, and face prosecution, is that the perpetrators were white officers and the victims are all black males, and with the exception of McDonald, were unarmed when they were injured or killed. “For all the sacrifices and headaches of covering the murder trial of Chicago Officer Jason Van Dyke, it was worth it. Finally seeing a police officer led out of the courtroom left me speechless,” said Erick Johnson, who covered that trial for the Chicago Crusader. “Dressed in a black suit, he looked as if he was going to his own funeral. Only I, and a handful of Black clergy and activists in the courtroom were not mourning,” Johnson said, noting that “Silently, we were rejoicing.” The conviction, which led to Van Dyke being marched out of the court in handcuffs, was a day many Blacks in Chicago never thought they would see, said Johnson, who sat in the front row reserved for media and just yards away from Van Dyke. “A white police officer found guilty of killing Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, and locked up immediately after his historic conviction. For Black Chicago, it was the trial of the century, a moment they had been waiting for a long time,” he said. “For this Black journalist, it was history unfolding before my very eyes. It was a story that changed Chicago forever and the climatic ending was about to take place in courtroom 500.” Meanwhile in Dallas, Amber Guyger told fellow officers that she opened fire when Botham Jean appeared in the darkness. Jean, a 26-year-old native of the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, attended college in Arkansas and had been working in Dallas for accounting and consulting firm PwC. Jean’s relatives joined the district attorney for the announcement of murder charges against the disgraced officer. “I truly believe that she inflicted tremendous evil on my son,” Jean’s mother, Allison said after the announcement of the charges, according to ABC News. “He didn’t deserve it. He was seated in his own apartment.” Guyger was arrested on a manslaughter charge three days after the Sept. 6 shooting, prompting criticism that the original charge was too lenient. But Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at the time that the grand jury could upgrade the charge, which it did last week. “When you look at the facts of this case, we thought that it was murder all along,” Johnson said. After finishing her shift, Guyger told investigators, she returned home in uniform and parked on the fourth floor of her apartment complex’s garage, rather than the third floor, where her unit was located, according to an affidavit prepared by the Texas Rangers. She said she got to what she thought was her apartment — Jean’s was directly above hers — and found the door ajar. She opened it to find a figure standing in the darkness. She said she pulled her gun and fired twice after the person ignored her commands. “The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) for decades has chronicled racially-motivated police murders and brutality against Black America,” said NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. “The recent indictments and sentencing of perpetrator police officers across the nation is long overdue. The NNPA will continue to demand an end to these systematic deadly actions and policies,” Chavis said. An analysis by the Associated Press also marked the latest developments in the national conversation on issues of law enforcement and race. A slew of law enforcement officers have faced charges for the shooting deaths of Black people. They include Guyger, Van Dyke, Stockley, and Robert Bates, a white Tulsa, Oklahoma, volunteer sheriff’s deputy who was sentenced in 2016 to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter in the April 2015 death of Eric Harris, 44, who was unarmed and restrained.
