In the wake of the rollback of DEI initiatives at many major companies, Black folks are giving those same corporations two scoops of “Mess Around and Find out.” We have once again rallied – in our communities, our churches and out social groups – against companies like Walmart and McDonald’s, who through rolling back their DEI initiatives have told us that we are not valued.
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And what about Black folk who continue to shop there? Your friend group will DOG you for stepping foot inside a Walmart or sipping on a McFlurry. Black people ain’t playing. Recently, I was on a group call with my girls and one of them had background noise going on. “Girl, what are you doing?” someone asked. She said she was in Walmart picking up a couple of things and – record scratch – the conversation stopped! Ahhh hell naw! For the next five minutes, my girl was catching heat from the rest of us! The pressure is real. The shade is real. The lost dollars will be real. And if we stick together, the results for these companies can be real too.
Black folks have always held each other accountable, through conversation, shame and shade. Back in the day of civil rights, people weren’t seeing Tik-Toks from our Black leaders, seeing Instagram posts from the latest boycott, or getting emails about protest logistics; and yet Black people protested. They rallied, sat-in, marched and boycotted.
While in 2025 it may remain true that “the revolution will not be televised,” it will be liked, shared and cosigned on social media and in our community.
Communication – and pressure – from within the Black community has been key, as folks got their information in smoke-filled bars, beauty and barber shops, churches, phone-trees and the “corner store.” While we now have the internet, thousands of media outlets and social media, not much has changed.
Randi Bryant is a DEI specialist, writer and Tiktok Essayist
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