On Tuesday, July 7, in an economic protest dubbed Blackout Day, Black shoppers, people of color, and allies are being encouraged not to spend any money, and if they must purchase something, to buy only from Black-owned businesses.

The goal is to highlight the economic power of Black Americans. According to Nielsen, Black buying power reached $1.3 trillion in 2018, up from $320 billion in 1990.

Activist Calvin Martyr, creator of The Blackout Coalition, posted a video calling for Blackout Day back on May 8.

"Although this movement is exclusively targeted at empowering and uplifting black people all over the world, we welcome ALL people of color to stand with us in solidarity," a blurb on the informational website for Blackout Day reads.

"Black people alone account for an estimated 1.2 trillion dollars or more of spending in the economy annually. Together we have 3.9 trillion dollars in economic spending power. While we welcome allies who choose to stand with us, we make absolutely no apology for the fact this movement is FOR US & BY US."

Cisco tweeted that it would be postponing a planned security summit to Wednesday in order to support the Blackout Day cause. Soap and personal care brand Dr. Bronner's tweeted in support of the economic protest and said it would shut down its website, though the site was still functional as of Tuesday morning.

"This is only the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of economic empowerment as a reality for ALL BLACK PEOPLE," The Blackout Day site continued.

"United, we are an unstoppable force. We are a nation of people within this nation that at any time can demand our liberation by withholding our dollars. If we can do it for a day, we can do it for a week, a month, a quarter, a year and one day we will look up and it will be a way of life."

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Blackout Day is July 7, calls for boycott of non-Black-owned business - Business Insider - Business Insider