How about a Day of ABSENCE February 28th

I don’t know about your cell phone, but my cell phone has been flooded with text messages, all the same, from different friends and associates of mine, promoting “No Shopping” and no spending money on the last day of Black History Month, which is February 28. The purpose of doing such is to send a message to the current leadership in Washington D.C. that our voices, our thoughts, our lives, our families, our people, we do matter.
So here’s the DEI Boycott Plan. This is the first step, and this plan is being credited to Rev. Al Sharpton, the Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN). We can and we must, the text reads. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and our Ancestors achieved it, and so can we. (They achieved some successful boycotts, and so can we).
On February 28, 2025, there will be a 24-hour blackout scheduled as the first of multiple countermeasures to the attack on DEI.
As our first official act, the Black Community is being asked to turn it off. For one day, we show them who really holds the power. When? Friday, February 28, from 12:01 am – until midnight.
Here’s what NOT to do: Do not make any purchases. That means no shopping online or in brick-and-mortar stores. No Amazon. No Walmart. No Best Buy. Nowhere! Do not even spend money on food on February 28. That means make any purchases you must make before February 28. If it’s about getting lunch, darn it, make lunch at home and take it to work. Let’s do this thing. Let’s show America that Black folk have money. Money is power in the real world.
Do not spend money on gas. Do not use your debit or credit cards on February 28.
On February 28, only spend money in an emergency, such as getting your prescription drugs or emergency supplies.
If you really have to spend money on February 28, spend it with a Black-owned business, how about that? Spread this message. Talk about this Financial Day of Absence on February 28. Post about it. And document your actions on February 28.
Why does this matter? Corporations and banks only care about their bottom line. If we disrupt the economy for just one day, it sends a powerful message. If they don’t listen, we make the next Blackout longer. This is our first action as a people in America on this issue of DEI and how we respond. Our numbers are powerful. Again, February 28 is when the 24-hour Economic Blackout Begins.
Reverend Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network (NAN), back on January 22 of this year, announced a plan to identify two companies within 90 days that would be boycotted for abandoning their Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) pledges. Walmart and Target are just two of the national corporations that have been identified. NAN’s formation of a Council to identify companies came forward as President Donald Trump began his proposed assault on DEI programs in the Federal Government. “Donald Trump can cut Federal DEI programs to the bone. He can call back Federal money to expand diversity. But he cannot tell us what grocery store we can shop at,” said Rev. Al Sharpton. “Companies that think they can renege on their promises to do better, bring in new voices, or abandon us will see the impact of Black buying power. That’s why, in the next 90 days, we will send a message that we will go back and we will bring this issue to the top line. Going after their bottom line.
There is strength in numbers, and I believe that if African American people across the country and other people from the Diaspora join together for this February 28 Blackout Day, it can have an impact and draw attention where it hurts–in the pocket.
I went to the National Action Network website to see exactly what Rev. Al Sharpton and NAN were saying about this national Blackout Day set for February 28, and oddly, there was no press release, official statement, or anything like that on the NAN website as of February 16, 2025, when I last checked before time to turn in this column. There were press releases about Rev. Sharpton and members of NAN shopping at Costco because they are sticking with their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program. There’s mention of boycotting on the NAN website, but the actual text message that I keep seeing, that’s starting a buzz across the nation, I did not see it spelled out, point for point on the NAN website.
Nonetheless, I think each one of us, as the people largely under attack currently by Donald Trump, needs to do something. We need to say something. We can’t just lay back in the cut and do nothing. We also cannot expect that our elected officials can save the day all by themselves. It’s time to stand together.
At the end of the day, consumers are rallying to speak through their wallets − or lack of spending – as a way to protest the retreat by some companies from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and President Trump’s actions to eliminate federal DEI programs since taking office. They are calling on consumers to boycott specific retailers and, for one day later this month, to refrain from spending any money at all.
It is actually unclear which organization started the February 28 blackout concept. However, several Instagram posts by a group called The People’s Union and its founder, who goes by the Instagram handle “TheOneCalledJai” have been reshared and circulated thousands of times over.
I know one thing for sure. On February 28, I am going to make it my business to not spend any money on that date.