NEW YORK (RNS) — On Thursday (Aug. 28), Black faith leaders, activists, and protesters descended on Manhattan’s financial district to denounce efforts by the Trump administration and some private companies to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, known as DEI.
Protesters join the March on Wall Street on Aug. 28, 2025. RNS Photo by Fiona André
The demonstration, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, also marked the 62nd anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington.
“DEI is the civil rights fight of our generation, and will make the difference in what the future of America looks like. … On August 28th, as we commemorate the March on Washington, we will continue the fight by taking it to Wall Street,” read an announcement for the event.
As Sharpton took to the stage on Whitehall Street, near the end of Broadway in Lower Manhattan, he addressed companies that have abandoned their long-standing DEI initiatives in the wake of White House pressure, urging Black Americans to fight back.
“We marched for your offices because we know your address, and we will march and keep coming to you until we turn the economic inequality in this country around. We’re not going back,” said Sharpton.
The rally cemented a monthlong boycott campaign, promoted by Black church leaders across the country, to denounce private companies abandoning DEI policies.
Thousands of protesters had flocked to Lower Manhattan early Thursday morning, many traveling from out of state by bus for the occasion. They gathered at the African Burial Ground National Monument on Foley Square, heading toward Wall Street shortly after 10 a.m.
As they walked downtown, protesters held signs reading “What Trump will erase, we will replace” and chanted: “No DEI, no dollars. No justice, no peace.” During the hourlong march, some protesters hummed the gospel anthem “We Shall Overcome.”
Halfway through the march, the procession halted in front of the Charging Bull, a bronze sculpture that symbolizes Manhattan’s financial power. During the procession, mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani joined the marchers at the head of the procession alongside Sharpton and members of Martin Luther King Jr.’s family.
Tying the day to their father’s legacy, Martin Luther King Jr. III opened the rally when it reached Whitehall Street, standing with his wife, Arndrea Waters King. “Something is wrong with this nation, all right? My father would say that something is wrong,” said the civil rights icon’s son. “We must create the climate where people can raise themselves by their own bootstraps. … We must create a climate where housing is affordable. Where health care is available.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton leads the March on Wall Street on Aug. 28, 2025, alongside Martin Luther King III; King’s wife, Arndrea Waters King; and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. RNS Photo by Fiona André
Though all the major candidates in New York’s November mayoral election were invited, noted Sharpton, only Mamdani attended the event. In his address, the 33-year-old democratic socialist candidate pledged to keep King’s legacy alive by fighting for an affordable New York for all.
“How is it that we have still yet to answer the question that Dr. King posed all those decades ago? ‘What good is it to have the right to sit at the lunch counter if you can’t afford a hamburger?’ Our freedom is only as good as our ability to exercise it. … I tell you that every day I will wake up with Dr. King’s dream at the forefront of my mind.”
The speakers who followed, who included the Rev. Samuel Tolbert Jr., president of the National Baptist Convention of America International, and the Rev. David Peoples, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, encouraged protesters to stay firm in their boycott of companies that abandoned DEI initiatives after the Trump administration took office.
In February, Black faith leaders joined a boycott movement begun by the Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, prompted by discount chain Target abandoning its DEI initiatives. Bryant challenged his peers to lead their congregations in abstaining from buying from Target during Lent, the 40-day period that leads to Easter.
In recent months, the chain has experienced weak sales and declining stock levels. Last week, Target’s CEO, Brian Cornell, stepped down.
“We will take our dollars where we’re respected, and we will close down where we’re rejected. … We will shop with who does business with us. We will walk with who walks with us. We will stand with who stands with us. And we are not afraid of Trump. We’ve been beaten giants since David,” said Sharpton
Sharpton called on protesters to show resilience in the months to come, as he pointed out they stood on the very place where African slaves used to be sold. “We’ve come back, the children of our ancestors. We’ve come back ready. Ready to spend our dollars. We’re not slaves anymore. We’re not going back on the slave market. Donald Trump, get ready for the fight of your life,” he said.
The Rev. Michael Jordan spoke during the march on Aug. 28, 2025, on Wall Street. RNS Photo by Fiona André
Many speakers noted how the recent abandonment of DEI initiatives disproportionately affected Black women. Nearly 300,000 Black women have been pushed out of the workforce within three months, partly due to the policies, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“We have been pushed out of the workforce, but we are strong people. We are faith people,” said Stacie NC Grant, president of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.
As the march ended, the Rev. Boise Kimber, president of the National Baptist Convention USA, prayed over the crowd. The administration’s first months, he said, though challenging, shouldn’t discourage attendees.
“Lord, we pray for the healing of the soul of our nation from the disease of human exploitation and its root cause, the love of money,” said Kimber, as attendees bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Americans, said Kimber, must repent for “making profits be more important than people, and for making the accumulation of wealth be more important than the well-being of those made in God’s image.”
The Rev. Michael Jordan of New Era Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, who attended the rally, said recent hits at DEI initiatives are setting Black Americans decades behind. “I’m a preacher of social justice, I preach against social injustice. The Trump administration has made them bamboozled, not just Black folks, but also poor white folks,” he said.
