Pastor Jamal Bryant Implemented a 40-Day Fast Against Target — Here’s Why

In the months following President Donald Trump's election into his second presidential term, there have been an abundance of buzzwords and acronyms associated with his administration. One of them is DEI, also known as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Trump enlisted several executive orders highlighting his stance to end or rollback diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. Before and during his executive orders, retailers followed suit.

Target became among the staple U.S. retailers that has reportedly decided to rollback its DEIA initiative in January 2025. Target's cuts come years after it implemented its DEI program to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and promote Black-owned businesses following the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Since news of the rollback broke, Pastor Jamal Bryant implemented a boycott on Target starting on March 5, 2025. Here's what to know about the boycott.

Plans for Pastor Bryant's boycott on Target were announced in February 2025. The Senior Pastor at New Birth Baptist Church in Metro Atlanta and Ron Busby, Sr. President and CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., joined forces to launch the boycott in hopes to gain Target's awareness to how its decision to cutback DEI affects Black businesses and professionals. According to Black Enterprise, Bryant implored100,000 Black supporters to join him in boycotting Target.

The fast was proposed to begin on March 3 until April 19. However, multiple outlets, including Fox5 Atlanta, have reported that the boycott began on March 5, which is the first day of Lent. Bryant said in a statement that his hope for the boycott is to show Target and other retailers how effective the Black dollar can be.

"Dr. Bryant’s FAST calls for immediate action: he is urging Black consumers to halt all purchases from Target and to divest any stock holdings in the company,” the press release said.

“This aligns with the philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who championed economic restraint as a powerful form of protest during the Civil Rights Movement.

"Just as Dr. King and other civil rights leaders leveraged economic boycotts to challenge injustice, this FAST is a call for Black consumers to use their collective spending power to demand accountability from corporations," it continued.

Jamal's call for a Target economic fast is also tied to his belief that Black consumers are stronger when they resist together. In the press release describing the boycott, he stated that Black people account for $23 million of Target’s daily revenue. The influx of consumers has much to do with Target adding multiple Black-owned brands and businesses to its stores in 2020.

During the news of Target's DEI rollback, companies like The Lip Bar, owned by Melissa Butler, and creators like Tabitha Brown came under fire for encouraging consumers to continue shopping at Target to further support the Black-owned brands contracted to be on the retailer's shelves, per Vibe. Bryant stated he believed the boycott will help the Black-owned brands and entrepreneurs as the boycott continues gaining traction.

The pastor and the U.S. Black Chambers also listed 250,000 Black-owned businesses consumers can support during the fast.