After Target made a $300,000 donation to the National Baptist Convention (NBCUSA), one of the largest Black church groups in the country, some of the organizers who helped push for national boycotts of the company over its rollback of its stance regarding diversity, equity and inclusion are asking them to return the funds.
According to USA Today, Nekima Levy Armstrong, a Minnesota-based activist, and Pastor Jamal-Harrison Bryant, in separate statements, called for the group to return the money because they see it as a betrayal of the boycotts they worked to organize, particularly among members of the Black Baptist church community.
Both Target and the NBCUSA characterized the donation as part of a larger commitment to shared values, including access to education, economic development, and entrepreneurship programs.
According to a Target spokesperson, “We’re proud to be sponsoring NBCUSA’s conference series as one of the many ways we invest to make a meaningful impact in communities across the country by supporting access to education, economic development initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.”
Meanwhile, a press release from the NBCUSA contained a statement from National Baptist Convention President Boise Kimber that emphasized the “shared commitment to community empowerment through small-business and entrepreneur development, investments in education and student support, and workforce and skill development that unlocks growth across our communities,” between Kimber’s organization and the Minneapolis-based retailer.
In their statement, Kimber also added that Target’s donation will help “provide scholarships, support senior citizens, and invest in entrepreneurship programs that uplift our people and the future.”
From his church pulpit, the Atlanta-area megachurch made famous by the late Bishop Eddie L. Long, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Bryant accused Target of going around him to take meetings with Rev. Al Sharpton and get to the National Baptist Convention.
“Are you crazy to think we’re going to sell out for chump change?” Bryant said.
In an interview with USA Today, Bryant clarified that the donation to the organization was actually four donations of $75,000 to Black church organizations which the NBCUSA had received and then divided up. Bryant also described the donation to the news outlet as “really a slap in the face and an insult,” and called for the organization to return the money.
Bryant also indicated that his primary asks of Target, which include the organization honoring its own $2 billion pledge to the Black business community, calling for Target to invest in Black-owned banks, establish retail centers at HBCUs, and to fully restore its diversity initiatives.
“The black eye for us is that they (National Baptist Convention) walked away with nothing that we asked for,” Bryant pointed out.
Based on a May 28 statement the company released in response to Bryant’s boycott, Target appears to have a different view.
“Target is absolutely dedicated to fostering inclusivity for everyone – our team members, our guests and our supply partners,” Target’s press release read. “In the last five years, we have: committed to invest $2 billion in Black-owned businesses and brands within five years; supported students at over 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); invested $100 million to Black-led community organizations; given scholarships to over 30,000 members of our team to advance their careers; committed 5% of our profits to the communities we operate in; volunteered millions of hours to organizations across the country and created meaningful opportunities for our team members to thrive both personally and professionally.”
Levy Armstrong, who has clashed with Bryant over which of them deserves credit for starting the boycott, issued her own statement via an open letter she sent to the NBCUSA and shared with USA Today. In the letter, she called for the group to “reconsider its alignment with a corporation that has caused such profound harm.”
Levy Armstrong continued, “This $300,000 payment does not heal – it deepens the wound. It appears to be a payout for silence and an attempt to regain Black consumer trust without accountability.”
Bryant also responded to Levy Armstrong’s criticism of him, as he told USA Today, “My focus was singularly to align with the Black churches as Black churches were not involved or engaged. I’d say everywhere from the rooftops that we were not the originators of it, but it was our intention to bring out the Black church alongside.”
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