June 18, 2020 AM
Boycott for Black Lives: People plan to stop spending in companies that don’t support BLM.
As Juneteenth approaches, some Americans are commemorating the day by flexing the power of the dollar.
On June 19, advocates of Black Lives Matter plan to support the namesake civil rights movement by not spending money with companies that aren’t aligned with the movement or have remained silent. Some efforts include boycotting celebrities and politicians who’ve been vocal in opposition to the movement.
Juneteenth, an elision of June 19th, commemorates when news of the American emancipation of enslaved people reached the deepest parts of the former Confederacy in Galveston, Texas. In the midst of protests after the death of George Floyd, whose neck was pinned under a police officer’s knee for more than eight minutes, Juneteenth has garnered much attention as a cross-section of businesses scrambled to embrace it this year as a company holiday or time to commemorate.
“Our overall objective is to encourage companies and people to stop participating in anti-Black behavior, and we’re doing this by withholding our dollars and protesting with our pockets,” Carmie Basnight, co-organizer of Boycott for Black Lives, told USA TODAY. “Our hope is that companies will acknowledge the strength of Black people’s buying power, as well as our collective buying power with our allies.”
It’s about time African-Americans started challenging corporations that act in our demise. No matter the size of the company if they contribute to the dark forces that put their foot on our necks, we will cut the flow of capital derived from our collective spending.
Black Lives Matter, but our communities have not been historically valued and respected as though we matter, but just taken for granted. A new day has arrived and every day thereafter. Either get on-board or get off this train.