NEW YORK — In President Trump’s first 100 days in office, he has made clear that his administration has a target on Black America.

Whether in the rolling back of programs he has deemed “illegal” because they advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across every sector, the cutting of crucial services in healthcare, education, and aid benefits, or in the firing of thousands of federal workers, the Black community has been and looks to continue to be hit the hardest.

And now, elected officials and activists who represent Black America, the impoverished, and marginalized people are fighting back or vowing to act through boycotts, legal action from state attorneys general, and overall challenges to the crackdown on all things diversity-related.

DEI is a necessity to American life, particularly in this tumultuous period, activists said during a four-day convention organized by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) in New York earlier this month.

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion is a baseline to comply with your obligations as an employer, as a workplace, as an organization, as a school campus to comply with your legal requirements to ensure that that environment is welcoming,” Damon Hewitt, president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said during the meeting that marked the largest meeting of Black leaders and community members since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

“DEI is not a favor. DEI is the least they can do,” Hewitt said.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who has successfully prosecuted Trump on fraud charges and now is leading a coalition to stop his attempted block of COVID-19 research funds, said she and 23 other Democratic attorneys general from several states have collectively filed at least nine federal lawsuits against Trump administration actions. AGs, attorneys, and other officials encourage regular people to come forward with their testimony of being impacted by the anti-diversity crackdown. 

Among her criticisms of Trump are his moves to purge the U.S. Department of Justice database tracking federal police misconduct and fired officers, his demand that states remove or limit the teaching of Black history in textbooks and arts institutions, the elimination of federal programs combating discrimination in federal contracting and home appraisals, and cutting scholarships for HBCU students, to name a few. 

“We’ve been working to fight and defend America’s rights from the onslaught by the Trump administration, to oppose the manipulation and the reinterpretation of our laws and our constitution — and, we have been winning,” James said during a speech at the NAN meeting. “I’m not afraid of no president. Donald Trump, we’re ready for you. We’re coming for you,” she said.

Another action encouraged by leaders to get involved in is boycotting companies that have “bent the knee” toward Trump in eliminating their DEI initiatives.

Rev. Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, is one of the faith leaders who has been vocal in going after Target, which infamously eliminated its DEI initiatives early in February. Since then, the company has reportedly lost over 5 million customers, while Costco, conversely, has gained up to 7 million after publicly standing by its diversity commitments. 

Sharpton, NAN founder and president, issued a warning during the convention to the PepsiCo corporation after they eliminated DEI initiatives focused on hiring and contracts. Sharpton said that in a letter sent to CEO Ramon Laguarta, NAN indicated it was giving the company 21 days to meet with them and resurrect DEI initiatives, otherwise the boycott would begin.

“If Dr. King can take on the Montgomery Bus Boycott when we couldn’t even ride the front of the bus, if Jesse Jackson could take on major corporations before we had cell phones, then we in our day can take these companies that want to say no to DEI down and shut them down,” Sharpton told an audience. “ He (Trump) got the Senate, he has the House of Representatives, but we have the power with the private sector.”

The two sides met earlier this month, with Sharpton referring to it as a productive conversation and indicating that there will be follow-up meetings. He said NAN will then announce the status of a potential boycott on PepsiCo. The corporation has not publicly responded.

Sharpton noted that NAN is challenging PepsiCo in particular because of its history of supporting initiatives for diversity and Black advancement, including an advisory council board with figures like Sharpton, the late Johnnie Cochran, and the late Clarence Avant in the past.  

“You are not allowed in the name of friendship to slap us in the face because you’re afraid of Donald Trump,” said as if addressing PepsiCo. “If you’re afraid of Donald Trump, then you’re going to have more to fear with the consumers that make you. Trump can’t make me buy Pepsi Cola.”

Sharpton indicated he is looking to apply more pressure going forward. He announced that his organization will host a March on Wall Street on Aug. 28 to urge major corporations to stand up to Trump. Normally, NAN hosts a rally on Aug. 28 to commemorate the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice.

There is a need for America to push back on the right-wing weaponization of the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion, said Georgia activist and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

“They can narrow our language and that is how they narrow our minds,” Abrams warned during the meeting in New York. “We must talk about DEI everywhere … because civil rights matters, human rights matters, access matters. And the best way you can talk about it is to say that DEI is our right.”

Fighting back is necessary because Black Americans will be affected more than other Americans by the administration’s actions, activists warn.

Among those who will be harmed are Black farmers, said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. Boyd has continued to sound the alarm on how Black farmers will face deep hurdles with Trump’s elimination of DEI measures in the Department of Agriculture, where oversight over discriminatory practices has been removed and millions of contracts cancelled. Boyd emphasizes that the president’s tariff hikes with other countries will further hurt Black farmers.

“It’s gonna hurt white farmers; it’s going to hurt us worse. When they need a Band-Aid, we need major surgery,” Boyd said. 

Boyd also pointed out Trump’s seemingly hypocritical behavior in wanting to remove the mention of race in Department of Agriculture business and documents, but looking to provide a direct path to citizenship and support for white South African farmers. 

Other activists say local organizing and engagement with larger groups, such as NAN, should also be part of the plan moving forward. 

Making decisions and fighting back against the DEI attacks and other moves by the administration are good for people, said Ras Jomo Akono, a regional representative with the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. 

“The people who mean the most destruction to our communities, in particular, all seem to be at their full power, and many in our community have been a little worn out, depressed, a little wobbly since the election,” Akono said. “But coming together now with a plan and others who are still working on the ground, it’s refreshing to see.”