A new Walmart spending freeze is set to start soon. More economic protests are planned through the spring and summer. Organizers are calling on companies to bring back diversity, equity and inclusion policies or change other stances.
Advocacy groups are encouraging more and more people to vote with their dollars, and it started with a nationwide 24-hour economic blackout of major corporations on Feb. 28. A 40-day spending freeze at Target is ongoing through Lent until the week of Easter and a weeklong boycott of Nestlé products ended on March 28.
When President Donald Trump took office in January, he immediately started rolling back DEI at the federal level while encouraging a larger culture shift. Multiple companies, including Walmart, Lowe’s and Meta, have dropped their DEI programs.
The NAACP is urging people to shop with Black-owned businesses and others that still have DEI programs.
Protest organizers from multiple groups are mostly targeting major brands that have stopped DEI work, hoping to show them that shoppers want to support brands that help women, minority groups, disabled people and veterans.
But some protests, including against Nestlé, target other issues.
John Schwarz, the Chicago man who formed the People’s Union USA, listed multiple reasons for targeting the Swiss company in a March 17 Instagram video. Among other reasons, he cited the corporation continuing to use child labor in chocolate production. It also has drawn criticism for the low prices it pays for the water it uses when communities, such as Flint, Michigan, need affordable, clean water.
Here’s what Oregon shoppers should know about the upcoming Walmart boycott and the one at Target, along with other economic protests across the country this spring and summer.
What we know about the weeklong Walmart boycott
The Walmart blackout will run Monday, April 7, through April 14 and is targeted at all Walmart stores, affiliated brands and store brands.
“Now it’s time to hit even harder. Walmart is one of the biggest beasts in the game. A mega-corporation that has swallowed up local economies, crushed small businesses, underpaid their employees, and helped fund the same political machine that keeps us all stuck,” Shwartz wrote on his website.
The People’s Union is asking people to avoid shopping at Walmart online or in stores, Sam’s Club location and using services like Walmart+ or MoneyCard.
He also wants people to skip buying their private label food and other products:
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Great Value (food and home/cleaning supplies)
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Mainstays (home products, kitchen goods, appliances and furniture)
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Parent’s Choice (baby and kid products)
How many Walmart stores are in Oregon?
Walmart has one distribution center and 43 retail locations in Oregon, according to the company website.
They include:.
The company employs about 12,426 associates in Oregon and donated about $6.7 million to “empower communities” in 2024, according to the company website. Walmart pays about $79.6 million in taxes in Oregon.
What we know about the 40-day ‘Target fast’ boycott
The Target boycott was organized by Atlanta Pastor Jamal Bryant and other faith leaders. They encourage people to avoid shopping at the major retail chain for the duration of Lent. They also ask investors to sell off their Target stock.
It started on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and is encouraging people to skip Target through April 17. Additional information is available at targetfast.org.
How many Target stores are in Oregon?
There are Target locations in 15 Oregon cities, according to its store directory.
What boycotts are coming up?
The People’s Union boycott will include different companies throughout the spring and into summer, according to USA TODAY. A new, broader economic blackout will be on April 18-20 and a third is set for July 4.
More boycotts and other actions are planned throughout the coming months. Organizers hope to gain momentum after other smaller-scale protests. An Amazon boycott was March 7-15. The Nestlé one ran March 21-28.
Here are more brand boycotts the group is planning:
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Walmart: April 7-14 and May 20-26
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General Mills: April 21-28
Social media posts — using #LatinoFreezeMovement and #LatinoFreeze — also have encouraged Hispanic consumers to “hold your money” to make statements about DEI initiatives, National Institutes of Health funding and immigration actions.
National Action Network set to announce new boycott soon
The National Action Network, founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, has encouraged support of Costco, which has kept its commitment to DEI.
Sharpton said he will announce at the end of the NAN Convention on Saturday, as the group is joined by civil rights leaders from across the country, who is being put on boycott notice.
“If they do not comply, we will move forward with an effective, sustained boycott. Whether it takes a day or a year, we will not back down,” he said in a social media post.
“Dr. King and the Montgomery movement didn’t have Instagram or cell phones, but they had unity and discipline,” Sharpton said, referring to the 1955 bus boycott in Mongomery, Alabama. “If they could walk in dignity for a year, so can we.”
Contributing: Cailey Gleeson, Alex Perry, Mariyam Muhammad, Rea Li
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
Ginnie Sandoval is the Oregon Connect Reporter for the Statesman Journal. Sandoval can be reached at GSandoval@gannett.com or on X at @GinnieSandoval.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: DEI protests in Oregon at Target, Walmart and other companies
