NEW YORK, USA — Some Jamaicans across the US plan to join today’s nationwide boycott of spending with certain big companies to protest what organisers have described as an attack on Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) by the Donald Trump Administration.

DEI is the organisational framework designed to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially those who historically have been under-represented or have been subject to discrimination for one reason or another, such as race.

Organised by consumer group The People’s Union USA, today’s action calls for a 24-hour economic blackout, urging consumers not to engage in any purchases except for essential purposes.

It encourages consumers to resist spending money on fast food and avoid major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and the fast food chain McDonald’s. It instead promotes spending at small local-based community retailers and discourages the use of credit or debit cards, especially for online shopping during the period.

Florida-based Dr Allan Cunningham, former head of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council for the southern United States, is among the Jamaicans who plan to withhold spending during the boycott.

“I am in solidarity with the move,” he told the Jamaica Observer, declaring that action speaks louder than words.

Juliet Mattadeen, a retired real estate broker, said she, too, plans to join in the nationwide boycott, adding that what is being asked by the group is not unreasonable.

In New York, Patrick Callum, who heads the New York Chapter of G2K, the young professionals affiliate of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), confirmed during an interview with the Observer that he plans to participate in the boycott.

Callum noted that while some large corporations had indicated that they could continue engaging in DEI, “the action of The People’s Union USA is critical to ensuring that fairness is preserved and applied for all concerned”.

In Pennsylvania, the president of Ex-Service Men and Women of Jamaica, Stafford Grant, said he was all-in on the boycott plans, declaring: “We have to stand up and fight back against all elements that seek to hurt us as a minority. The planned boycott is one way of doing so.”

In Connecticut, Mark Millward, founder and editor of the recently launched Caribbean American Diaspora newspaper, said he was committed to supporting the boycott, as did Ferris McLean-Edwards, a retired health-care worker, also from that state.

Damion Bailey, who works in retail, said his support for the measure was automatically baked in “as I won’t get paid until after the boycott and so I will not have enough to spend anyway”.

The People’s Union USA has also received the support of National Action Network (NAN), the non-profit civil rights organisation founded by renowned civil rights leader Rev Al Sharpton of New York. A spokeswoman for the network said that while it is not involved in planning the boycott, “those involved have our support”.

People’s Union USA did not respond to an Observer e-mail seeking comment. But on its website it made clear that it is “a movement of people unionising to take back control of our economy, government, and future of our country,” and is neither a political party nor a protest group.

The DEI programme has its genesis in a 1965 Executive Order by then President Lyndon B Johnson which required government employers to “hire without regard to race, religion, and national origin”.

Today’s action is to be followed by week-long boycott against specific retailers, among them Amazon, March 7 to 14; Nestle, March 21 to 28, and Walmart, April 7 to 13.