Atlanta clergy calls for boycott of Black Friday

By Pete Combs

November 25, 2014 at 4:07 pm EST

Nov. 25, 2014 Civil rights advocate the Rev. Markel Hutchins, center, and other leaders announce a boycott of Black Friday as a result of the Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury decision, from their gathering spot across from historic Ebenezer Baptist Church near The King Center, on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, in Atlanta. "One language all of America understands is money," said the Rev. Timothy McDonald. DAVID TULIS / AJC SPECIAL (David Tulis)

By Pete Combs

November 25, 2014 at 4:07 pm EST

Furious at the grand jury’s decision to exonerate Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the August 9 shooting death of 18-year old Michael Brown, Reverend Samuel Mosteller and a dozen other community leaders say something’s got to change.

“The only time you white folks pay any attention to us is if we burn something down – or stop spending money,” he told reporters at a news conference Monday, just 24 hours after the St. Louis County grand jury reached its decision.

About a dozen clergymen stood outside the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, calling for a boycott of holiday spending this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Reverend Tim McDonald says it’s time corporations had a stake in the discussion about racial violence.

“When Corporate America hears,” he said, “The killing will stop.”