by nahlah Abdur-Rahman
May 19, 2025
The protest will continue to hold Target accountable for scrapping its DEI initiatives.
Pastor Jamal Bryant is calling for another boycott of Target over its axing of DEI policies, this time occurring on the fifth anniversary of the killing of George Floyd.
According to Fox 5, the megachurch pastor and his congregation will stage a protest at a Target in Metro Atlanta. He initially helped launch a nationwide protest against the retailer after it announced a scale-back of its DEI policies earlier this year.
Target once initiated its policies to uplift Black employees and promote Black-owned brands in response to national protests over George Floyd. Now, on the fifth anniversary of his death, this sector of the Black community will honor the loss while continuing to hold Target accountable. Bryant told Newbirth Baptist Church during a recent Sunday service that the protest will take place on May 25.
The original boycott officially lasted until Easter, during which Target saw continual declines in sales and foot traffic at its stores. The store noted a lower performance, which many experts attributed it to a loss of Black shoppers.
“It is so critical and important that corporations would recognize and respect the Black dollar and our consumer power,” Bryant told the news outlet in April. “Their stock has gone down; at the bottom of it, the valuation has gone down as well as the foot traffic.”
While Target has held discussions with religious leaders such as Bryant and Rev. Al Sharpton, the retailer has not met all their demands. Despite agreeing to fulfill its former $2 billion pledge to support Black businesses, Target has yet to comply with bringing back its DEI efforts.
Given their refusal, Bryant hopes that this act of civil disobedience directly at stores will apply more pressure on Target. He says that he and his congregation are in for the “long haul” for corporations to take their spending seriously.
“Corporations will see they can’t take Black dollars for granted and that we’re in here for the long haul,” he added.
However, Bryant’s church will not be the only one protesting in front of Target stores across the country. The pastor also claimed that 67 other churches also plan to hold demonstrations. While prioritizing a peaceful protest, Bryant and fellow boycotters want Target to know that they mean business.
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