WASHINGTON, DC – Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), today announced the organization and its partners will identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) pledges.
NAN’s formation of a council to identify these companies comes as President Trump has begun his promised assault on DEI programs in the federal government.
“Donald Trump can cut federal DEI programs to the bone, he can claw back federal money to expand diversity, but he cannot tell us what grocery store we shop at,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of National Action Network (NAN).
“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 begin to send a message that we will not go back, and we will bring this issue to the topline by going after their bottom line.”
Rev. Sharpton formally announced the council on Monday during NAN’s MLK Day Rally at Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, D.C.
His remarks on the need to safeguard DEI were delivered as Trump was sworn in as president for the second time, promising to target federal DEI programs in his inaugural address.
On Tuesday, Trump followed through on this vow by ordering all federal DEI staff on paid leave. Agencies have until the end of the month to submit a plan to the Office of Personnel Management on how they will shrink the number of employees who work on their respective DEI programs.
Equally alarming is an order Trump gave to the Justice Department to deliver recommendations to private companies and educational programs that receive federal funds to downsize their initiatives.
Trump’s actions this week culminate an assault on DEI that Rev. Sharpton has fought since the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in higher education in June 2023. Since then, NAN has sought to hold companies accountable for the billions of dollars they collectively pledged toward DEI initiatives after the protests over the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
NAN’s new initiative will send the largest message yet to the private sector on the importance of DEI. While hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman has led the push to end these crucial initiatives, global business leaders such as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have stressed the economic benefits of DEI.
Now, those companies who have felt pressure to drop DEI and ignore the fact it is good for business will begin to feel the economic impact from Black Americans, whose buying power is expected to reach $1.7 trillion in the next five years.
