Black Friday boycott calls: Target to Home Depot - List of stores facing protests on Thanksgiving
Nationwide boycott led by 50501 movement and allied activists urges shoppers to skip Amazon, Target and Home Depot from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday.
The “We Ain't Buying It” slogan, anchored by the 50501 movement along with groups such as Black Voters Matter Fund, Indivisible and Until Freedom, has asked people across the U.S. to boycott Amazon, Target and Home Depot.
The movement is set to begin on November 27 (Thanksgiving) and is set to last through December 1 (Cyber Monday).
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Three retailers in cross-hairs
Amazon
The 50501 campaign says on its website that Amazon “holds a monopolistic position in the market, contributes to dangerous working conditions for its employees and drivers, and CEO Jeff Bezos has donated over $1 million to this administration.”
Amazon is also among the companies that are contributing to the rebuilding of the former East Wing of the White House to a $300 million ballroom.
Bezos' substantial donations to the current administration are seen as a sign of political alignment with the Trump administration.
Home Depot
On the campaign website, it is stated that “Home Depot is allowing ICE agents to illegally detain and kidnap laborers from their stores. The laborers in our communities are not able to look for work safely.”
Home Depot's silence on the deportation of its workers by ICE is perceived as a damn care attitude towards its employees and, by default, an alignment with the immigration policies of the Trump administration.
Target
Target has been targeted for allegedly rolling back DEI initiatives, including ending programs aimed at supporting Black employees and curtailing outreach to minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Newsweek spoke to a Target spokesperson who stated, "With over 400,000 team members and a footprint in all 50 states, Target has a long-standing commitment to creating growth and opportunity for all. We work every day to unlock potential and create lasting impact by empowering entrepreneurs, supporting small businesses, uplifting our team members and strengthening the 2,000+ communities we operate in."
After following suit with Trump's DEI initiatives, the market share price has significantly fallen since the beginning of 2025.
What's the boycott about?
The boycott is described as “an economic and solidarity campaign” aimed at corporations that organisers say are complicit with or supportive of the current administration, especially in policies dismantling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, and in what they call complicity with immigration enforcement.
According to the campaign website, the aim is not only to “withhold business,” but to redirect spending toward local, minority-owned, immigrant-owned or small businesses. The campaign emphasises community power over big corporate influence.
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The economic pressure of “We Ain't Buying It.”
The essence of the“We Ain’t Buying It” boycott reflects a growing strategy in activist circles of using consumer spending as political leverage.
Thanksgiving weekend, which includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is historically one of the most lucrative retail periods in the U.S., with consumers spending billions.
50501 is aiming to urge people to withhold purchases from select corporate giants. organisers hope to send a message about political accountability, corporate influence, and the socioeconomic consequences of business decisions linked to government policy.
ABOUT THE AUTHORShirin GuptaShirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More

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