Target boycott: Atlanta pastor plans protest on anniversary of George Floyd's killing

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Customers walk outside a Target store Aug. 14, 2003, in Springfield, Virgina. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

ATLANTA - The pastor of a Georgia megachurch isn't letting up on his push to boycott Target over the company's dropping of its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church says he and his congregation will be staging a protest to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the killing of George Floyd.

The backstory:

Earlier this year, Target announced that it would be ending a program it established to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers, and promote Black-owned businesses following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Target, which operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it already had planned to end the racial program this year. The company said Friday that it would also conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously set in three-year cycles.

In response to the move, Bryant took to the pulpit to call for a "fast" during Lent to show the company the impact of Black consumers.

That call has turned into a full-fledged boycott of the company that has lasted past Easter.

What they're saying:

"It is so critical and important that corporations would recognize and respect the Black dollar and our consumer power," Bryant told FOX 5 in April. "Their stock has gone down; at the bottom of it, the valuation has gone down as well as the foot traffic."

Pastor wants to expand boycott against Target

A metro Atlanta pastor wants to expand a boycott against target. Rev. Jamal Bryant initially called for African American consumers to launch a nationwide "fast" against the retail giant after it did away with its DEI policies. The boycott was supposed to end on Easter Sunday, but now the reverend wants it to continue.

Bryant said Target has agreed to one demand: fulfill a previous $2 billion pledge to support Black businesses. But he says the retail giant has not met other demands, including depositing hundreds of millions of dollars into Black-owned banks and bringing back DEI. So now he’s calling for a continuation of the boycott. 

"Corporations will see they can’t take Black dollars for granted and that we’re in here for the long haul," he said.

What's next:

During last Sunday's service, Bryant said that his church would protest outside the Target in Conyers on May 25.

He said that 67 churches across the country will hold their own protests, and he invited more to do the same in their own cities.

The protests are intended to be peaceful and show the company that the pressure over the group's demands will continue.

You can learn more at TargetFast.org.