- Neighbors across the country were encouraged to avoid making any purchases during a 24-hour economic blackout.
- The goal was to protest the political and economic state of the U.S.
- Watch the video to see how neighbors in our community joined the movement by choosing to spend locally.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
24 hours of disrupting the economy through zero spending at big corporations — that's the goal of a nationwide economic blackout. I'm Kenya Cardonne in the Southwest Tallahassee neighborhood. Neighbors and small businesses I spoke with say the collective movement is meant to show the government "who is in charge."
New faces and long lines at Earley's Kitchen on Friday, February 28th.
Kimieka Dunkley, Earley's Kitchen - "When the rush was happening, I was like, what's going on? And then someone's like, 'the boycott.' I was like, oh!"
An economic blackout that blew up on social media, encouraging neighbors across the nation not to spend a dime for a full 24 hours.. and if necessary— only at small, local businesses.
Dunkley - "Literally just seeing a lot of people I've never seen before come to choose us and stuff. Like, this morning people were like, 'I was going to go to get coffee, but no, I'm going to come here and get coffee from here.' I was like, okay, so they're actually taking initiative to go somewhere else and spend their money on local businesses, black-owned businesses."
Sydney Friley, Neighbor - "When we come together and we're really mobilizing as a unit, it's really impactful."
This group of neighbors says they specifically came to Earley's Kitchen to take part in Friday's blackout.
They tell me their participation is in protest of the Trump administration's efforts to cut federal programs and policies on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Sir Blake Murphy, Neighbor - "That's how stuff all got done in the past. So, I feel like if we do that now in the modern day, we can really make an impact."
It's also an effort to highlight inflation and corporate greed.
Dunkley - "I feel like it will help in regards of just letting the people know who's in charge, knowing that we have what you want the most."
As for how much of a disruption and impact the blackout will cause..
Dunkley - "It really depends on how long people are willing to fight for it."
Activists say if today's blackout wasn't enough, they will arrange another, longer blackout. In Southwest Tallahassee, Kenya Cardonne ABC 27.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
