Shavonne Jecmenic needed to go shopping for a few groceries and toiletries on Feb. 28, so she went to the Target store located two blocks from the DC USA Mall located in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Northwest Washington.
The Target had a small number of people coming in and out of it but Jecmenic paid no attention to that. She got what was needed and proceeded to leave the store when The Informer pointed out to her that a national boycott of Target was taking place because the company decided to cut its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
Jecmenic was puzzled by the development.
“That does not sound right,” Jecmenic, 41, said. “That does not sound good at all.”
Jecmenic said she was a regular customer at Target. Learning that Target was being boycotted as a result of a request from leaders of Black national organizations, she reluctantly agreed that it was a good idea.
“Yeah, I support it,” she said. “I guess something has to be done.”
The Target boycott, is part of a larger “economic blackout” of Target. The Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, is encouraging a Lenten fast, the Christian season of the 40 days and nights leading to Easter, with the support of Black organizations such as National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the trade organization with more than 200 Black-owned publications as members, and civil rights groups.
“After the murder of George Floyd, they made a $2 billion commitment to invest in Black businesses,” Bryant said in a February interview with the Black Press’ “Let It Be Known News.” “That commitment was due in December 2025. When they pulled out of the DEI agreement in January, they also canceled that $2 billion commitment.”
Bryant said that Target’s role in the Black consumer market makes it the logical first target of this economic protest.
“Black people spend $12 million a day at Target,” he said. “Because of how many dollars are spent there and the absence of commitment to our community, we are focusing on Target first.”
African American consumers were discouraged from shopping at Target and instead urged to spend their dollars with Black small businesses due to its termination of its DEI programming.
Target’s move against DEI is part of a national effort supported by the Trump administration to encourage companies and public agencies to dismantle their anti-discrimination programs, saying they are biased against white people.
NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. emphasized the need for financial realignment.
“Black Americans spend $2 trillion annually. We must evaluate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us. These contradictions will not go unchallenged.”
DMV Residents Weigh In on Boycott
Richard Keller, who lives in Northwest, stopped by the Columbia Heights Target to pick up some paper.
Like Jecmenic, he didn’t know much about the national boycott or that Target was one of those singled out.
But he said the boycott was no surprise to him.
“It’s a wake-up call for Black people,” Keller, 27, said. “This has been going on for quite a while. Things are really starting to hit the fan.”
Keller said he doesn’t expect anti-DEI activities to cease “anytime soon.” Plus, Keller questioned the value of boycotts.
“We have been doing that stuff for decades,” he said. “What has it done?”
Mary Williams visited Target but decided not to make a purchase. She spoke of her awareness of the boycott and voiced support.
“It’s OK, it makes sense to me,” Williams, a resident of Ward 5 in Northeast, said. “I think boycotts can be effective if they are done properly.”
Jhaff Idiris, a resident of Columbia Heights, agrees with Williams that boycotts are a good strategy to fight the anti-DEI trend among U.S. companies.
“I would support boycotting Target, including this one, but I need my medications, and this is the only place close to me where I can get them,” Idiris said.
Idiris, 67, had a shopping cart with packaged allergies and asthma medications. He assessed the Target at the time he was in the store.
“The place is empty,” he said, noting it is usually busy when open. “I support the boycott because Black people should be respected where they spend their money.”
The Target on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest had limited foot traffic on Feb. 28, also, with observers noting that parking spots were available in front of the store for portions of the day.
“It’s been about the same,” said an anonymous Target representative at the location. Target personnel are not permitted to talk to the media without authorization from corporate headquarters.
“Our Target is very convenient, the security is very attentive and aware, and ours is one of a kind; it’s uniquely sized and also has a variety of things compared to Targets,” the representative said.
The calls for the conscious consumption of consumers on that day extended into Prince George’s County, Maryland. A viral video showed a near-empty Target located in Glenn Dale, an unincorporated neighborhood in the county, that had seen bustling lines prior to their effort to roll back DEI policies.
Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey (D-At Large) echoed the call for a boycott on a Facebook post with Bladensburg Council member Carol McBryde co-signing.
Business owner LaTasha Ward, who runs a DMV Black-owned business group, encouraged the boycott as well.
“Consumers with a conscience should boycott today and continue to boycott because we matter — our families and friends matter,” said Ward. “If you don’t want to hire people who look like me, if you don’t want to stock our products in your stores, then just like you refuse to feed people like me and my family, I refuse to feed yours.”
Ward also noted that supporting small and local businesses benefits the local economy and creates local jobs.
“Our boycott shouldn’t just be for a day — it should be a movement to finish what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. started,” she told The Informer. “As we stop supporting businesses that don’t invest in our communities, we must build businesses that are by us and for us.”
