One Day Without Spending Money
Did you spend money July 7, 2020? I didn’t. This past Tuesday was what’s known as a Blackout day. A Blackout, according to CBS author Khristopher J. Brooks, is a day that Black Americans are asked not to spend any money.
The reason for this Blackout day was to help build support for the Black Lives Matter movement and justice for those like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. It is said that Black Americans account for about 1.2 trillion dollars annually in the American economy. That means, if all Black Americans and other allies don’t spend any money for an entire day, it can help push the government to make the changes so many Americans are currently asking for.
Here at LIM, we spend a lot of time talking about consumer buying power. Consumers are what keeps companies running, without them their would be no demand for products. From what i’ve learned here at school I know that growing one whole day without purchasing can have a great negative effect on the economy.
That meant, no buying the coffee you normally get every morning, eating the food you already had at home, no online shopping, and possibly having to avoid tolls for ONE day. When you think about it, it shouldn’t be that hard to go ONE day without spending money; if you ask me, that’s the bare minimum someone could do. While leading up to the Blackout date, there were many popular celebrities and important figures who promoted the “boycott”. Among those were famous singer Rihanna, Cardi B, and basketball player Tristan Thompson. With celebrity support, I can only hope enough people heard and participated in the one-day spending stoppage.
While I have been keeping up on the news, there has yet to be that much conversation on how many people actually participated and the impact it has had on the economy. With it only happening the day prior to me writing this, I can only imagine we will be hearing more on the topic in the days that follow.
I can gladly say that I personally participated in the Blackout, as did many of my friends. Black Lives Matter is a fight for equality, the changes needed to accomplish this will only come from major changes in the systems rooted in American government. If you do not support campaigns to achieve greater equality or do not see the injustice many people of color, and other minorities, face, I greatly urge you to start researching and educating yourself on the topics.
This year is one for the history books; how you chose to act will matter and will reflect in future students' education of these times. If you did not participate in the Blackout date that’s okay, there are still many ways to help. There are tons of petitions to sign, organizations to donate to, or you can simply just educate yourself on the topic, start supporting Black businesses, movie directors, even Black artists; all these things can help make a difference.