Cancel Black Friday? Why these groups are calling for a nationwide economic boycott. [View all]

Source: USA Today

Nov. 11, 2025, 8:43 p.m. ET


A coalition of grassroots organizations is calling for a nationwide economic shutdown during the busy holiday shopping season, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to protest the Trump administration and economic inequality.

The groups — Blackout the System, The People’s Sick Day, American Opposition, the Money Out of Politics Movement, and The Progressive Network — urged Americans to stop all spending and refuse to go to work during the "Mass Blackout," which runs from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2.

Avoid travel and restaurants and cancel streaming and digital subscriptions, organizers said. "If you must spend: support small, local businesses only. Pay in cash." Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30 is exempted from the blackout. The groups in the coalition had all independently called for shopping boycotts but decided to join forces.

"We are living under a political system captured by special interests, where billionaires and corporations write the rules," Isaiah Rucker Jr., founder of Blackout the System, said in a statement. "Congress serves donors, not the American people, and democratic norms are being dismantled in front of our eyes, with corporate backing. This campaign is about showing them where the power truly lies, with the people."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/11/11/black-friday-cyber-monday-donald-trump-boycotts/87221297007/