Money Talks

(Boycott against Safeway until they employed African Americans in 1941)

When logic and reason get you nowhere, when compassion and empathy and understanding are absent, when integrity and principles and ethics are discarded, there is always, here in the U.S. of A. the Great God Money.

Money Talks.

As we move forward, as we transform our shock, fury and pain into action, as we consider what we can do to (once again) fight for the right to control our own bodies, let’s consider the boycott. Boycotts work.

(Brief historical sidebar)

In the 1920s, the auto tycoon Henry Ford ran a weekly newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, which regularly published anti-Semitic articles. In response, the Anti-Defamation League helped to organize a boycott of his cars. After a dramatic hit on sales revenue (and after Fox Film Corporation threatened to show footage of wrecked Ford vehicles before showing films in its cinemas across the country), Ford  apologized and shut down the newspaper in 1927.

In July 2018, Ivanka Trump closed her fashion brand after boycotts from consumers following her father Donald Trump’s election in November 2016. The Wall Street Journal reported sales of her brand at Amazon, Bloomingdales and Macy’s fell almost 45 percent in the year to June.

Find more inspiring examples of successful boycotts here and here.

We know which states have so-called trigger laws that immediately abolished women’s reproductive freedom after the overturn of Roe. We know which states will soon follow. We know which states already have Draconian restrictions and will likely move to abolish.

Of the many actions we can and must take, let’s let our money talk. Do not travel to these states and spend your money there. If your organization holds a conference in one of these states, refuse to go. Do not buy goods sold by companies headquartered in these states.

Conversely, a number of companies have announced their support of women’s reproductive rights by covering abortion travel expenses for those employees living in states where the safe termination of pregnancy is no longer possible. Support these companies. Money talks.