Expect More. Pay Nothing. Target And Amazon Boycotts Are ON!
Don't buy stuff!
Hey! You know what you can probably do for a week, starting today? Not give Amazon any money! Why? Because there’s a one-week “economic blackout” starting today, and while a lot of people live in areas that make it difficult for them to fully boycott something like Amazon entirely, pretty much all of us can do a week, right? I know I, for one, can certainly manage to fall asleep watching “Midsomer Murders” on a different streaming service, and I am willing to make that sacrifice if it means making the world a slightly less horrible place.
I’m gonna be straight with you, I have never heard of The People’s Union USA or its organizer John Schwarz (though apparently he is a fellow Chicagoan), but that’s who’s organizing the whole thing. Specifically, the boycott is meant to address Amazon’s “impact on small business and treatment of workers” — but given that many of us are also super horrified by Jeff Bezos’s general grossness, his shackling of the Washington Post, and the company’s recent embrace of racial discrimination and segregation, it seems like this can serve as a pushback for all of that — as well as a reminder of the fact that they can’t really exist without us.
In addition to not buying anything off of Amazon, the group is calling on people to refuse to spend any money on Amazon or on any company owned by Amazon, including ShopBop, Audible, Washington Post, Amazon Alexa, IMDb, Prime Video, Ring, Twitch, Whole Foods and Zappos.
In other news, I just remembered that Zappos exists and is apparently still a thing.
The Target boycott (or Target Fast, as it is being called by organizers), however, is set to last a bit longer — 40 days, all the way through Lent. That started on Wednesday and is being led by Atlanta pastor Jamal Bryant of the New Birth Missionary Baptist megachurch, in protest of the company’s move away from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion laws.
Some of us have already been boycotting Target since they first announced that they would no longer be honoring these policies, simply because the idea of shopping there now just makes us feel as gross as the idea of shopping at Walmart or Hobby Lobby.
“In recent days, we have witnessed a disturbing retreat from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives by major corporations — companies that once pledged to stand for justice but have since chosen the path of compromise,” the church’s Target Fast website says. “These rollbacks represent more than just corporate decisions; they reflect a deeper erosion of the moral and ethical commitments necessary to build a just society. As people of faith, we cannot be silent. We are called to resist systems that perpetuate exclusion and inequity.”
Those of us who are not people of faith don’t have to be silent either.
The Target Fast issues the following demands of the big box retailer.
1. Honor the 2 billion dollar pledge to the black business community through products, services, and black media buys
2. Deposit 250 million amongst any of our 23 black banks
3. Completely restoring the franchise commitment to DEI
4. Pipeline community centers at 10 HBCU to teach retail business at every level
Good!
“The advances made during the civil rights movement are being pushed backwards with the cancellation of DEI,” Bryant said, according to The Independent. “This generation owes it to the previous generation to fight to try to make America great, which is only happening through diversity.”
Personally I am a little “eh” about Jamal Bryant as a person, as he is the ex-husband of Gizelle Bryant of “Real Housewives of Potomac,” and though she may be messy at times, she sure as hell did not/does not deserve his bullshit.
However! These times call for solidarity with those of us on the right side of this bullshit. Though we may not agree on everything, we can certainly agree that we are not going to support businesses that go along with the bigoted, anti-worker bent of this administration.
These shorter boycotts and economic blackouts are definitely a great idea, as they allow those who don’t necessarily have the ability to participate in long term boycotts of these stores for economic or geographical reasons to make their voices heard. The February 28 boycott of Target already hit them pretty hard — resulting in a 9 percent drop in web traffic and a 14 percent drop in app use — and it’s likely that this will hit a lot harder, especially since it’s getting more attention.
We all saw how the Right’s boycott of Target led them to stop selling a lot of LGBTQ+ pride merchandise and gender neutral clothing and bathing suit options, so now it’s time for us to vote with our feet and vote with our dollar and show these corporations that there is an economic cost to complying with bigotry.
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
In my little town in central NC, the GOP controlled county commissioners approved the construction of a big honkin' Bucee's at my exit. The planning board voted against it and many here opposed it because of the traffic, which is already terrible.
I found out a couple of days ago that the GOP county commissioners have done it again, approving the construction of a huge Target next door to Bucee's.
Fuck the GOP with shards of glass.
This warms my cockles as a recently retired target employee.