Rev. Al Sharpton likened his latest stunt to key moments in civil rights history as he put one soda company on notice about backing off from DEI.
“We’re not asking. We’re organizing.”
(Video Credit: MSNBC)
Whereas President Donald Trump has taken steps to restore merit-based systems throughout the public and private sectors, the push for Marxist diversity, equity, and inclusion policies persists on the left. Among those leading the charge, Sharpton has used his National Action Network and MSNBC platforms to warn PepsiCo that it has three weeks to restore DEI or be faced with “marching and boycotting.”
The activist pundit’s threat kicked off Friday with a letter to PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta that spoke of his “profound disappointment” at the company’s decision to back down on the divisive policies, according to the Associated Press.
“You have walked away from equity,” wrote Sharpton who argued the company’s actions were “clear signals that political pressure has outweighed principle.”
Speaking at his NAN convention, he insisted, “We want you to either retreat on you saying you are out of DEI or we in 21 days will start marching and boycotting Pepsi-Cola all over this country.”
Sharpton has also used airtime on his MSNBC program “PoliticsNation” to promote the threat to the company, stating, “Martin Luther King the Third and others joined me as we put on notice those companies, like Pepsi-Cola, that we will withdraw patronage from those that do not live up to what they voluntarily committed in DEI.”
Meanwhile, social media was used to liken the action to bus boycotts led by Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in 1941 and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1955 as well as a boycott against Coca-Cola led by Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1986 that called for more black employees on their staff and greater support for black-owned businesses.
“This weekend at the National Action Network Saturday Action Rally, I gave PepsiCo 21 days. Not to think about it, to reverse course on walking away from DEI. We helped to build their brand. We won’t fund our own exclusion,” read the post. “If they don’t respond, we begin the boycott. We will not be silent while our dollars are used against our dignity.”
This weekend at the National Action Network Saturday Action Rally, I gave PepsiCo 21 days. Not to think about it, to reverse course on walking away from DEI.
We helped to build their brand. We won’t fund our own exclusion.
If they don’t respond, we begin the boycott. We will… pic.twitter.com/KRnO6RKzDA
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) April 7, 2025
Sharpton went on to preview a march on Wall Street come August before adding, “We’re not asking. We’re organizing. We’re not your consumers. We are your conscience.”
The latest action attempting to weaponize the black community against businesses backing down from discriminatory policies followed a march against Costco led by the activist, in addition to the NAACP producing a Black Consumer Advisory that listed whether companies were aligned with or standing against DEI.
“These rollbacks reinforce historical barriers to progress under the guise of protecting ‘meritocracy,’ a concept often used to justify exclusion,” read the advisory in part.
Meanwhile, as the activist, who was the center of controversy in the fall after his NAN had received two payments of $250,000 prior to hosting then-Vice President Kamala Harris for a campaign interview, used MSNBC’s airwaves to promote his boycott, the network’s parent company Comcast faced scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission for allegedly promoting DEI against FCC regulations.
“As you know, the Communications Act and Commission rules prohibit regulated entities–like Comcast and NBCUniversal–from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender,” wrote FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. “Indeed, the FCC’s longstanding Equal Employment Opportunity or EEO rules set forth specific requirements that both Comcast and NBCUniversal must adhere to.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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