NEW YORK (AP) — The Rev. Al Sharpton will lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963.
Sharpton, in a statement, called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation.”
Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has moved to end DEI programswithin the federal government and warned schools to do the same, or risk losing federal money.
In response, Sharpton’s civil rights group, the National Action Network, has encouraged consumers to avoid U.S. retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity among their employees and reducing discrimination against members of minority groups, women and LGBTQ+ people.
Earlier this year, Sharpton met with Target’s CEO as groups called for a boycott of the retail giant, which joined Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers in foregoing DEI initiatives.
The civil rights leader has also called for “buy-cotts” in support of companies such as Costco that have stuck by their DEI principles despite the conservative backlash.
“Corporate America wants to walk away from Black communities, so we are marching to them to bring this fight to their doorstep,” Sharpton said in a statement ahead of Thursday’s march.
The march is expected to start around 10 a.m. in Foley Square, located in downtown Manhattan near the African Burial Ground that’s the largest known resting place of enslaved and freed Africans in the country.
The square is also near 26 Federal Plaza, the federal government building that’s become a symbol of Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been detaining migrants during their routine appearances at the immigration court located there. A federal judge earlier this month also ordered the Trump administration to improve conditions for migrants jailed there.
Marchers are expected to make their way past Wall Street’s famous Charging Bull statue before the event ends with a speaking program.
New York City mayoral candidates, including incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, state Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, are among those expected to join the demonstration.
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