MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Are you shopping at Target? Well, that is a question being posed across social media, also in family group chats after the retail giant announced it's rolling back DEI programs. Well, Pastor Jamal Bryant - the senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta - he knows his answer to that question. Pastor Bryant is leading his congregation in a 40-day Target fast, along with Black faith leaders across the country. Pastor Bryant joins us now. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
JAMAL BRYANT: It's an honor. Thank you for having me.
KELLY: Tell me how it's going. You're about - what? - a week into this fast. Are you finding it hard not to shop at Target?
BRYANT: Oh, no. It is getting easier every day. We just, ironically, just got the report that on January 28, the stock for Target was $141 a share. As of today, it's at 105. So our soul is really invigorated to see the impact that we're making thus far.
KELLY: I guess difficult to measure how much of that may be due to your efforts versus other factors. I do wonder what you're hearing from your congregation about this. They're all in?
BRYANT: No. They're super excited. There are congregations across the country. And now, they are latching hold and becoming a part of it. Amazingly, 145,000 people have signed up to do the fast with us.
KELLY: Lay out for me, briefly, Pastor, what specifically you are calling on Target to do?
BRYANT: There are four things we're asking them to do. After the murdering of George Floyd - Target is headquartered in Minneapolis - they made a pledge to invest $2 billion into Black business. From President Trump disconnecting DEI, they disconnected the covenant. So we're asking them to reinstate the covenant of 2 billion into Black business. The second thing we're asking them to do is to invest a quarter of a billion dollars into Black banks, so that entrepreneurs can have access to cash. The third thing that we're doing is asking them to partner with 10 historically Black colleges' and universities' business programs, so students will know how to scale a business. And the fourth is to reinstate DEI, because diversity, equity and inclusion is what really makes America great.
KELLY: Now, lay out for me why you are targeting Target - far from the only retailer that is currently making a big pivot on issues of diversity, equity and inclusivity.
BRYANT: Target is first and not last. It will be first and not only. But because they are a publicly traded company, we have the open data and demographic research that Black people across the country spend $12 million a day on Target. So they're amassing that much revenue out of our community that we expect a different level of loyalty. Secondly, Target is one of the largest employers of Black people across the country. And so because we're not just consuming, but we're helping to build the company, we look for a different level of dedication.
KELLY: There are a lot of Black-owned brands that are still on the shelves at Target. Have you heard from any of those people? Are you worried that your efforts might hurt them?
BRYANT: No. Well, a hundred of those brands have walked away from Target to stand in alignment with us. A part of the Target fast - when people go to targetfast.org, immediately upon making a commitment to be a part of the fast, we email a digital directory as curated by the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce of 300,000 Black businesses across the country. Many of those businesses have their wares in Target. So in no way, shape or form do we want to have an adverse impact on minority-owned businesses. But what we are saying is that you have alternatives as to how you can support them.
KELLY: Your choice of words feels intentional. We're in the season of Lent. You are calling this a fast, not a boycott. Why?
BRYANT: Well, I'm taking a page from the Montgomery Bus Boycott that was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for over a year. Every night of the boycott, they came back to the church for prayer and to stabilize their faith. If people go to targetfast.org, they will receive a 40-day prayer journal. But we do understand that what we're dealing with is a spirit that is happening in this nation. It is a war not just against African Americans or Latinos; it's a war against interfaith, that anybody who is disenfranchised or marginalized seems to be put upon. So we're really praying that that spirit that is adverse to the marginalized will be overturned.
KELLY: Pastor Jamal Bryant, thank you for your time.
BRYANT: I'm so grateful. Thank you for having me.
KELLY: Jamal Bryant is senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta and the chief organizer behind this fast. A note - we did reach out to Target for a response. They did not have anything new to share about this story. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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