Millions of Christians in the U.S. are celebrating Ash Wednesday – a holy day of fasting and prayer which signals the beginning of Lent. This 40-day period of penance leading up to Easter symbolizes repentance, calls for us to remember human mortality and ushers in a time of self-sacrifice.
And while it’s observed in ways that include attending special services where one received ashes on their foreheads, to fasting and abstaining from meat or giving up something someone “loves” including chocolate, sweets, or social media.
Now, something else has been added for 2025.
This year, leaders of the Black Church asked their members and supporters to give up, that is, to withhold their financial support of businesses who have yielded to the president’s executive order and ended diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which formerly encouraged and required greater diversity within the workplace.
The buzz behind this nationwide boycott — which, like the season, began on Ash Wednesday (March 5) and continues for 40 days and nights — was first announced during February on President’s Day, by the Rt. Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, presiding bishop, 2nd Episcopal District, of the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church, which includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.
“We’ve got to do more than just make statements – we’ve got to do something,” Jackson said. “The Black Church must once again become the leaders, the moral conscience, of America. We’ve got to remind Americans that diversity has been essential to the nation’s success. America was once one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. How did it become the richest on the planet? On the backs of our ancestors – free labor.”
He emphasized the irony in the push to eliminate DEI, while trying to appeal to African Americans’ wallets.
“If diversity isn’t good for them, then neither is our money,” he said. “Corporate America will have to decide if they stand with us or not. We’re in a fight against spiritual wickedness in high places and we’ve got to do more than talk – we’ve got to act.” Jackson said.
Some African Americans have said that while they support the idea of a boycott, that they would have liked more time to hear the pros and cons and then consider if they will follow suit.
We believe such comments are like blowing smoke in the wind and do not consider the gravity of the issue at hand.
When boycotts were called for during the Civil Rights Movement, social media, cell phones and other technological wonders did not exist. And yet, Black folk knew what was happening and what was at stake.
Call it the Black Press or word of mouth, but they knew. And they moved quickly.
Let’s not pretend that the majority of African Americans don’t understand what’s going on under the watch of President Donald Trump. Many African Americans are not immigrants. Black Americans who descended from enslaved Africans did not volunteer to be kidnapped from their homes in the Motherland and brought to the Americas and other parts of the world as free labor.
But alas, African Americans are here, and have made critical contributions to the rise of the United States with blood, sweat, tears and lives.
The poet Langston Hughes said it best in the poem, “I, Too,” in which he concluded with the words, “I too, am America.”
So, while boycotting businesses like Target, Walmart and Amazon is a great first step, let’s not forget that there are thousands of Black-owned businesses whose goods we can and should purchase.
That’s right – it’s a good time to consider supporting and buying from Black-owned businesses again.
