As the nation enters the critical 2025 holiday shopping season, civil rights leaders, grassroots organizers, and community members will gather outside Target Headquarters this Thursday, November 20, to call for renewed energy and increased visibility for the ongoing Target boycott. With the shopping season underway, organizers say this is the movement’s most important moment yet and are urging communities to hold the line and keep their dollars away from Target.
Launched in February 2025 after Target abruptly rolled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, the boycott has already reshaped consumer behavior across the country. The boycott’s national founders — Jaylani Hussein, Nekima Levy Armstrong, and Monique Cullars-Doty — emphasize that this holiday season presents the clearest opportunity yet to demonstrate the power and unity behind the movement.
PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS
- Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025
- Time: 12:00 PM
- Location: Target HQ – 1000 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN
- Speakers: National boycott founders, civil rights leaders, economic justice advocates, and grassroots organizers
A Movement Born in Minnesota — and Now at a Turning Point
The Target boycott began in Minnesota, a state still carrying the unresolved weight of racial injustice. After the murder of George Floyd, corporations nationwide promised to lead on equity. Target — headquartered just blocks away from where that global reckoning began — was seen as having a special responsibility to uphold those commitments.
Instead, Target reversed course.
Target’s rollback of its DEI programs, community partnerships, and public commitments sparked outrage across Minnesota and beyond. On February 1, 2025, the boycott’s founders — Hussein, Levy Armstrong, and Cullars-Doty — launched a coordinated national boycott rooted in economic pressure, or what activists call “dollar diplomacy.” Families, organizations, and everyday consumers shifted their purchasing power toward businesses that uplift diverse communities — and away from those that abandon them.
Now the holiday shopping season has arrived, and boycott founders say this is the decisive moment to deepen the movement and increase its public visibility.
Financial Fallout as Target Enters Peak Season
- In January 2025, Target stock traded at $142.50.
- After months of sustained boycott pressure, shares have dropped to $98.00, a 31-percent loss representing billions in erased market value.
- Analysts warn that Target’s holiday sales will determine whether the company stabilizes or slides further into crisis.
National Boycott Founders Speak Out
“Target abandoned the values and communities it once championed, and our communities felt that betrayal deeply,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, civil rights attorney, activist, and boycott co-founder. “This holiday season, we’re choosing to shop elsewhere as an act of solidarity — a reminder that when we stand together, our collective economic power cannot be ignored.”
“Target is deliberately sidelining Black and marginalized individuals by rolling back its DEI commitments,” said Monique Cullars-Doty, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota and national boycott co-founder. “The subsequent National Target Boycott has demonstrably caused a notable decline in sales, store traffic, and stock value — impacts Target refuses to acknowledge. We are asking the nation to commit to not shopping at Target this holiday season and to stay the course in demanding a genuine return to the equitable practices the company once promised.”
“Target is hoping the holiday season will rescue its numbers,” said Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of CAIR-Minnesota and national boycott co-founder. “But without restoring its DEI commitments, there is no way forward. We are calling on the community to hold the line — to keep their dollars elsewhere and remind Target that our values cannot be compromised.”
What’s at Stake This Season
With more than 1,900 stores nationwide, Target relies heavily on holiday revenue to anchor its yearly performance. But many consumers who left after the DEI rollback say they’re not coming back — and boycott founders are encouraging others to join them in making the boycott more visible, more unified, and more impactful during the busiest shopping period of the year.
The message from the movement is clear:
This is the boycott’s most important season. Hold the line.
