Pastor Jamal Bryant is receiving—and taking—some credit for the downward economic spiral of retail giant Target. But the Atlanta-area faith leader and activist said he wants more than just progress or a symbolic win.
Back in February, shortly after Target slashed its corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, Bryant launched a 40-day “fast” from the retailer. The megachurch pastor, who leads New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, urged people not to shop at Target during Lent. But then on Easter, Bryant told congregants the fast had become a “full out boycott” because Target had met only one of his four demands.
RELATED: Pastor Jamal Bryant Says ‘Target Fast’ Is Now a ‘Full Out Boycott’: ‘We Ain’t Going Back in There’
This week, after Target announced that CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down in early 2026, reporters talked to Pastor Bryant about his social justice protest. “This was the most significant boycott [by] Black people since the Montgomery bus boycott 70 years ago,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Wednesday (Aug. 20).
Target’s stock shares fell “from $145 a share to $93 a share,” Bryant continued. “They lost $12 million in valuation. The CEO’s salary was cut by 42%. Foot traffic was down by 7.9%.” As a result, the pastor declared the boycott to be “a Herculean part of what happened in [Target’s] downfall.”
Pastor Jamal Bryant: Target’s Move Is ‘Smoke and Mirrors’
During his CNN appearance, Pastor Jamal Bryant was asked what he thinks about Michael Fiddelke, the 22-year Target veteran who is slated to become its next CEO. “We’re looking at the moving of peanut shells in Central Park,” Bryant replied. “There’s really nothing different about the ideology or their [corporate] stance on DEI. It’s really smoke and mirrors.”
The pastor is “anxious and zealous” to see if Fiddelke will meet with him, he said, adding “just moving the COO to the CEO is really stylish, but it has no substance.”
To end the boycott, Bryant required that Target fulfill its $2 billion pledge to the Black business community, deposit $250 million into 23 Black-owned banks, establish 10 retail training centers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and make “full restoration and recommitment to DEI principles.”
On the website TargetFast.org, Bryant said the retailer “broke…promises” it made to the Black community after police killed George Floyd near Target’s Minneapolis headquarters. The Target boycott was “not rooted in cancel culture but in moral clarity,” according to the pastor.
TargetFast.org lists companies that Black consumers should boycott as well as “buycott,” or patronize. Bryant is also trying to force changes at Dollar General, which he has accused of “predatory practices” against Black people.
RELATED: Pastor Jamal Bryant Announces Boycott of Dollar General Now That Target Is ‘Canceled’
‘We Felt It Was a Betrayal,’ Pastor Says of Target
In January, President Trump struck down many DEI initiatives via executive order. Target, which had long supported diversity efforts including the Pride movement, was among the many companies and organizations that ended or scaled back DEI programs as a result.
“We felt it was a betrayal,” Pastor Jamal Bryant told an Atlanta reporter this week. But the activist didn’t declare victory; he wants “something substantive” rather than symbolic.
“Progress is not the same as victory!” Bryant posted about Target’s CEO shakeup. “We are making strides but we haven’t crossed a finish line.” He expressed gratitude to consumers “who have held the line against @target,” but added, “let us fight on until victory is won.”
In a clip played on CNN, Bryant told a crowd, “Target is depreciating. It is not because of tariffs. It is not because of the stock market. It is because of the power of Black unification.”
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