Economic Blackout Day
- Taylor Ryan
- Feb 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 5
Hopefully you have heard that today is Economic Blackout Day. This is your opportunity to flex your community muscle and partake in a social movement. Today we are only making local purchases with cash. We are not buying anything from any large corporations like “Amazon, Walmart, Target, fast food chains or gas stations.” (See image). What if 340 million Americans participated today?
Taking the time to reflect on that question may allow you to change your mindset on the power you may be sitting on as an American citizen. We have been programmed to consume, and day by day we spend. Capitalism and consumerism is going to kill us. Some Americans are already resisting through financial protest. National personal consumption expenditure dropped to -0.2% after rising +0.8% in November and December 2024.
When 2024 was ending I made a commitment that within my household we will no longer be supporting corporations like Amazon, Target, Walmart, SheIn or Fashion Nova. We are about to start March 2025 and I know my household has saved over $1,000 by simply not accessing these apps so frivolously. Sometimes we see a thing and buy a thing.
We spend money we don’t have with our credit cards. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s “Household Debt and Credit Report” states that “Credit card balances, which now total $1.21 trillion outstanding, grew by $45 billion during the fourth quarter and are 4.0% above the level a year ago. Auto loan balances rose by $11 billion, and now stand at $1.66 trillion. Other balances, which include retail cards and other consumer loans, grew by $8 billion. Student loan balances grew by $9 billion, and now stand at $1.62 trillion. In total, non-housing balances grew by $73 billion, a 1.5% rise from 2024Q3.” The average American is in debt. CNBC recommends allocating no more than 36% of your monthly income to paying down your debt. 35% of American households are living paycheck to paycheck, how are we going to allocate 36% of the barely anything that we already have? This generates an endless cycle of debt and owing.
And, we spend the money we worked hard for all while giving funds to corporations that do not respect us, care for us, or love us. When I was thirteen I made $7.25 an hour, about $2.10 above the minimum wage. That was 21 years ago. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that $7.25 from 2003 has the buying power of $12.68. This means that what used to cost $7.25 now costs at least $12.68 yet the minimum wage is still $7.25. This is financial terrorism.
You are going to have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I attended the Goodwill’s Power of Storytelling event yesterday and Rauol Cunningham and Yejide Travis both talked about what it takes to make a difference, to make a stance against injustice. People organized, pooled their resources, strategically boycotted and protested for months during the Civil Rights Movement. So the next time change makes you uncomfortable, lean into that feeling and allow it to move you.
Our collective economic power is real. Blavity reports that,”Black buying power was $1.4 trillion in 2019 and is projected to grow to $1.8 trillion by 2024. This represents a huge opportunity for businesses, brands, and advertisers to tap into this influential demographic and harness the power of their purchasing potential.”
And if that blackout was not enough, we’ll do it again. In the meantime, here’s how you can continue to build and support Black economic and social justice year-round:
Support the Following Organizations
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