Dr. Jamal Bryant has apologized for confusion caused by his announcement that the past year’s “Target Fast” was over, saying that the fast was conflated with a broader boycott of Target that was not started by him. Bryant attributed the Target boycott to civil rights Attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong and former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner and said he would never want to “co-opt what it is that Black women are building.”
“I was reading from a different sheet of music. I made assumptions that were not true,” Bryant said in a livestream of his “Let’s Be Clear” podcast March 13. “And I wanted to apologize to you for being a leader that was out of touch with what it is that the community wanted and sensed.”
“And I’ve heard you, overwhelmingly so,” he said. “And not having a good read of the room, I take full responsibility.”
Jamal Bryant: Target Fast Was Not Intended To Replace Target Boycott
In February 2025, Pastor Jamal Bryant of Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church called on the “conscientious Christian community” to participate in a “Target Fast” during Lent, urging believers to stop shopping at the retailer after the company scaled back several diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
RELATED: Pastor Jamal Bryant Urges Christians To Boycott Target During Lent Over DEI Changes
Target had announced in January 2025 that it would conclude its three-year DEI goals and its Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives. It also said it would stop participating in external diversity surveys such as the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and would rebrand its Supplier Diversity team as Supplier Engagement.
Bryant said the move represented a betrayal by a company that had previously pledged to invest $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025. Organizers of the Target Fast campaign promoted Black-owned businesses as alternatives to Target and outlined four demands the company needed to meet for the fast to end: honoring the $2 billion investment pledge, reaffirming its commitment to DEI, investing $250 million in Black-owned banks, and supporting retail-training pipeline centers at 10 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
When Lent ended last year, Bryant announced the Target Fast would continue as a broader boycott, saying Target had only agreed to fulfill the $2 billion commitment but not the other demands. The pastor credited the campaign with reducing Target’s foot traffic and contributing to declining stock performance; the company has acknowledged that boycotts have affected its sales.
RELATED: Pastor Jamal Bryant Says ‘Target Fast’ Is Now a ‘Full Out Boycott’: ‘We Ain’t Going Back in There’
In August, Target announced that Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke would be replacing Brian Cornell as chief executive officer effective Feb. 1.
In a press conference on March 11, Bryant appeared with Turner and civil rights activist Tamika Mallory. At the time, Bryant said, “The Target Fast entity, which is the faith-based initiative, is claiming victory and giving God glory for what it is that we have done.”
Dr. Jamal Bryant has apologized for confusion caused by his announcement that the past year’s “Target Fast” was over, saying that the fast was conflated with a broader boycott of Target that was not started by him.Click to Post
