Financial Boycotts When Black

At the beginning of 2025 I released my only Your American Money podcast episode for the year. It was titled “How to Design a Boycott Strategy that Works for You.” That episode was in response to how corporations, in particular Target, were rolling back DEI efforts as a signal to the Administration that they were in on board with the changes that were happening. Many Black Americans were rightfully disgusted, frustrated and pissed off because if felt like Target played in our faces. A few weeks ago, a new push for financial boycotts has gained some traction and I feel like it’s a very important conversation we need to be having. I do want to share the context briefly about why this new boycott call-to-action has come up. An Asian-American convenience store owner racially profiled, followed, shot and killed an African-American child and was found not-guilty and acquitted of those charges. I would like to pause and ask that we remember Cyrus Carmack-Belton’s life and keep his family in our prayers.

Black activists have called for a boycott of Asian businesses in response and an Asian-American content creator increased tensions by daring Black people to boycott and alluding that they couldn’t because they relied so much on goods produced in Asia and services provided in the U.S. Now there’s also conversation around boycotting Black businesses from the Asian community. I don’t want to get too much into the racial undertones of the conversation (there’s so much history to cover and not enough time in this episode) and some of the comments made that I and many other people found pretty insulting. Instead, I want to discuss something else that I feel we don’t talk about often enough when calls for boycotts come up. Those topics are Capitalism, freedom of choice and financial support in the communities and spaces that have been divested from because of gentrification, economic policies and technology such as Amazon. This has been on my mind for years and in today’s episode, I’ve decided to reflect on this.

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What is Capitalism

I’m not going to share the dictionary’s definition. Instead, I’m going to share how I’ve experienced what American Capitalism is and the talking points that have been indoctrinated into me and everyone else throughout my life as an American.

• Capitalism is defined by freedom of choice by the consumer. You go to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread. There are 27 different loafs of bread, you opt to purchase the loaf that most appeals to you. It could because of the type of bread, the price, or what’s the size of the loaf. It’s your choice. You would like to get a cup of coffee, there are 123 coffee shops in your town, you may go to the coffee shop with gluten-free pastries, a patio and no wifi-again that’s your choice.

• Let the Market (Consumer) Decide-By the way, I remember when American Citizens were called citizens. Then there was a push to call us consumers in the early 2000’s and that language has stuck with us. The consumer creates the demand for products, spaces, etc.

• The consumer can decide to say “NO” to a space, product, etc.

• Profit is the ultimate goal

Whenever I see conversations around boycotts-no one really brings up how boycotts are the purist Capitalist actions. Free markets and choice. Why isn’t Black spending and financial decisions viewed from this perspective? Why do so many people feel like we are obligated to spend in ways that are counter to our safety, values and empowerment.

The Target Boycott vs. Boycotting All Asian-American Businesses

I did want to touch on something important. Before I do that I want to say that how you boycott OR don’t boycott is up to you. I boycott three states and people always get in their feelings about that. There is a huge difference between a targeted boycott of one business vs. a group of people defined by an ethnicity.

Many of you might not know that I lived in Japan for two years as a little kid and attended school there. I’ve visited Japan as an adult and have a life long affinity for many things across the Asian Diaspora. I spent a lot of time thinking about the calls for a boycott before working on this episode and here are my thoughts.

• I feel like we’ve reached a point where many African-Americans feel so disrespected and taken for granted specific to how our money flows and the spending decisions we decide to make.

• While I won’t be boycotting all Asian businesses, I will be doing what I’ve always been doing which is shifting my spending to the businesses and products that are aligned with my values and treat me with respect.

For me, the real conversation isn’t-how to stop supporting Asian business. Instead, it’s how do I set up systems for ongoing support of Black businesses? It’s a different conversation and priority that I’m reflecting on internally and candidly I’ve been working on this for years especially last year.

The Role of Technology in Supporting Black Businesses

Several years ago I noticed that I wasn’t going to the mall anymore. I was ordering things and having them delivered to my house. Now before I say this, not every business is set up or makes sense to have online orders. It takes time and effort to package goods and ship them. In many ways, the market and how the consumer interacts with goods has changed.

• Miirya App

• Eat Okra

• Shop The Hood TV Show

• TheBlkMarket Shop

• Threads

• Ghost Kitchens are wildly popular in my town. They incubate food ideas from a rented space and customers can place orders and pick them up.

• Door Dash-Even though I’m always a little creeped out by the potential of folks eating an order, this type of food delivery can open up a restaurant’s customer base at a cost.

• Social Media-In my hometown of Denver and likely yours as well, there are local influencers and regular people who share and shout out local businesses oftentimes for free.

• Word of Mouth

• Local partnerships and distribution-There’s a coffee that I would like to buy and I’ve discovered that it’s stocked in several grocery stores across the Denver metro area.

• Business websites-I check to see the closest place I can pick up something that I’m excited about or would like to try.

There’s more than one way to connect with many of your favorite business and brands. Not all, but many have a digital component to interact with their business, a list (email or newsletter) and becoming even more intentional about supporting Black business.

How I’m Supporting Black Businesses

Several years ago I read a book called “Our Black Year: One Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy“ where an African-American family living in Chicago endeavored to spend almost 100% of their money with Black businesses. This experiment took place in 2009-a weird year for the American economy.

I really wish that they or someone else would try that experiment or a variation of it in 2026 or 2027. I feel like it just would be a lot easier to do than when they tried this years ago. There are a number of ways that I actively support small Black businesses both in and around my town and outside of my city and state. Maybe these tips will be inpiring to you.

• I share local businesses in both my personal website and podcast content AND I shout them out when I’m a guest co-host on City Cast Denver.

• Threads is the best and I share links and photos to businesses that I love in and around town.

• Constantly bookmarking all of the cool businesses, experiences and spaces that cross my social media feeds. And I visit those spots when I’m in those towns. I also share those spots with people who mention that they’re visiting those towns.

• As I’m needing new things I make a point to check and see if there’s a cool Black business that I could support.

• Nail polish-I’m buying my next couple of bottles from People of Color Beauty

• Perfume-Oui the People has a sampler set I want to try

• Black Girl Kimchi-One of my favorite things to eat is kimchi and pickled items. This is one of the products that I’m super excited to try.

• Backpack flair-You know those enamel pins that are on a lot of bags and backpacks? Rebellious Pins and other companies are on my list.

• Ghost Creamer-I drink a lot of coffee, so I’m using creamer weekly. I’m picking up some cartons ASAP.

• Coffee-Share all of your Black owned coffee recommendations.

• I need to replace all of my bags. All of my bags are a mess and need to go.
  • Must Have Joy is the tote that I really want.
  • Eumelanin leather bags-Gorgeous
  • Stiched By Sukie

• During the farmers market season I shift to locally grown foods as much as possible. There’s a lovely Black woman owned farmers market in Denver called “Mo Betta Greens Fresh Market” that I will be buying from and Freedom Acres Farm, a Black owned farm in Colorado will be where I plan on purchasing meat products such as lamb, beef and pork. They also ship.

I find this process to be an exciting and fun experience. I love discovering all of the cool things that Black entrepreneurs and creatives are imagining and reimagining and releasing to the world. I want to attach joy and empowerment to my spending choices as often as possible. Finally, I want to mention something important. I grew up learning to buy local goods and products. It’s a pretty big deal in Colorado-that’s why I focus so much on locally owned businesses and brands here in my state when I’m sharing where to go on my Colorado website and podcast Square State Colorado.

Adding a deliberate focus to support Black owned business wasn’t hard-I was already doing it. Now, I’m increasing the percentage of my spending. My goal is to hit 50% spending with African-American owned businesses by the end of 2026. I want to also acknowledge that I will be spending with communities that are a part of the African Diaspora. When I was scrolling Threads while working on this piece I found the following comments that I would like to share for some additional perspective:

Lashanne “It’s not a Boycott, It’s an Economic Shift, a Transfer of Wealth” #BuyBlack

Kiandria– “I’m not going to tell Black people to boycott every Asian owned business. That’s not realistic or attainable. But I will tell Black people to stop spending money where we are openly disrespected. Stop going to the places where they follow you around suspiciously, treat you like a criminal, give you terrible customer service, and still expect your dollar. If a business does not value Black people beyond our money, separate from it completely and never go back. Too many Black people normalize poor treatment because the products or services are convenient. Meanwhile there are business owners who are openly suspicious of us, hostile toward us, rude to us, and still build entire industries off Black spending power.”

Tequila M. Johnson “A boycott is not an economic strategy by itself. If we want people to spend differently, we have to build businesses that are just as convenient to support. Most people don’t shop based on politics. They shop based on what’s closest, fastest, and easiest. Economic power requires more than outrage. It requires infrastructure.”

About That Infrastructure

Not all of us live in densely populated Black cities, so the infrastructure around supporting Black businesses will look different and will have to be a lot more intentional and we will have to practice patience with the process and the vendors as we make these spending choices.

A final thought, I think the insights really echo where I stand on this. My money will NEVER knowingly be spent in places or with people that disrespect me or that support policies or people who endanger me and mine. I don’t care if you’re Black, White, Hispanic or Asian. You won’t be getting my hard earned money if you’re an asshole.