Episode Overview

Podcast: How Is This Better?
Host: Akilah Hughes
Episode Title: "Can Your Shopping Choices Fight Fascism?"
Date: December 5, 2025

On this episode, Akilah Hughes explores the power of organized consumer action, specifically the recent “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign that targeted major U.S. retailers—Target, Home Depot, Amazon—as a response to their perceived capitulation to anti-democratic and anti-diversity policies during Donald Trump’s second term. The episode focuses on the tradition of boycotts as protest, the potency of collective consumer power, and how ordinary people can “vote with their dollars” to demand change from the corporations that dominate American life.

Key Discussion Points

The "We Ain't Buying It" Campaign: Background and Purpose

• [01:41] Akilah introduces the “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign, launched in response to major corporations abandoning their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments under political pressure.
• The campaign urges consumers to withhold spending from targeted retailers during the crucial holiday season, emphasizing that economic action can protest the normalization of fascist and bigoted policies.
• Not a boycott in the strictest sense, but a broad spectrum campaign: Some withdrew patronage (“boycotts”); others redirected spending to community causes or mutual aid.

“We ain’t buying it. We ain’t buying this fascism. We are not buying that we’re in the wealthiest country in the world and we can’t take care of its citizens… while you’re stockpiling and supporting billionaires, we just ain’t buying it.”
— Latasha Brown, [03:54]

Guest Spotlight: Latasha Brown

• [02:08] Akilah interviews Latasha Brown—longtime organizer, founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, and a key leader of “We Ain’t Buying It.”
• Brown traces her activist roots back to growing up in Selma, Alabama, and highlights the economic clout of Black consumers: $1.7 trillion annually.

Why Target These Retailers? (Amazon, Home Depot, Target)

• [05:08] Brown explains the rationale for targeting these companies:
  • Amazon: Gets massive tax breaks, fosters monopolization, and erodes small business competition.
  • Home Depot: Relies on immigrant labor yet cooperates with ICE, facilitating detainment of its own customers and failing to protect vulnerable patron communities.
  • Target: Symbolic of large corporations “caving” to political pressure to drop DEI and inclusive practices.

“These are companies that have made billions off our communities, but when it comes to standing up for the people who power their business, they turn their backs.”
— Akilah Hughes, paraphrased [06:09]

The Broader Legacy and Traditions of Boycotts

• [04:16] The episode contextualizes “We Ain’t Buying It” within U.S. protest history, from colonial-era boycotts of British goods to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
• Economic action is an old, proven tool for demanding justice, dating back to the nation’s founding.

“The bottom line is enough of the games. We’re holding these companies to account—you cannot continue to support this authoritarianism and still get our money.”
— Latasha Brown, [08:06]

Metrics and Community Participation

• [08:46] The campaign’s reach is notable:
  • 6.5 million online engagements.
  • 226 organizations (many with millions of members) endorsed and participated.
  • A wide cross-section of community involvement—multi-racial, multi-generational.
• The ultimate goal: Building the “muscle” of coordinated economic resistance for the future—not just for this boycott, but to prepare for potential general strikes or broader actions.

Critique of Corporate Monopolies and the Consumer Trance

• [11:03] Brown describes the dangers of unchecked monopolies like Amazon and Walmart:
  • Small businesses are squeezed out, limiting competition and consumer choice.
  • Convenience has made Americans complacent—“America’s a big commercial,” says Brown, warning against trading social justice for fast, cheap service.

“We’re literally buying that—purchasing ourselves out of our own jobs.”
— Latasha Brown, [12:49]

Social Responsibility and Redirecting Dollars

• [19:53] Hughes and Brown discuss redirecting spending, not just halting it.
  • Support local, Black-owned, women-owned, and socially responsible businesses.
  • Build community resilience by patronizing businesses embedded in local life.

“When my child is doing a fundraiser, it is the corner store that I’m going to get an ad for… not Amazon.”
— Latasha Brown, [20:22]

Why Boycotts Work (and Why They're Hard)

• [16:46] Brown offers a frank assessment:
  • Boycotts are hard, especially in a society addicted to convenience.
  • Success comes when collective action creates a sense of belonging and purpose.
  • Power comes from achieving “critical mass”—enough people acting together to force change.

“You can’t make me buy your stuff… Once people see the change and are feeling a part of this change, you know, people like to feel a sense of belonging.”
— Latasha Brown, [16:46]

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Powerful mission statement:
  “We ain’t buying it. We ain’t buying this fascism. We are not buying that we’re in the wealthiest country in the world and we can’t take care of its citizens.”
  — Latasha Brown, [03:54]

• On consumer sovereignty:
  “It’s one thing—like you can’t make me buy your stuff, right?”
  — Latasha Brown, [16:46]

• On economic muscle:
  “This is about longer term—how do we become more conscientious of our spending? So then when there is a big boycott, when there is a general strike… we’re going to have to say no. Part of this is about building a muscle.”
  — Latasha Brown, [08:54]

• On the role of small business:
  “The truth of the matter is the lifeblood of this country… has been because of small businesses.”
  — Latasha Brown, [20:15]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:30 | Introduction of “mandate” and rollback of DEI, Trump’s second term | | 01:41 | Introduction of “We Ain’t Buying It” and campaign background | | 02:08 | Interview with Latasha Brown begins | | 03:54 | Brown on the origin and spirit of the campaign | | 05:08 | Brown details the selection of Amazon, Home Depot, Target | | 06:12 | Brown on Home Depot’s complicity with ICE | | 08:46 | Campaign impact: numbers, organizations, and online reach | | 11:03 | On monopolies, consumer culture, and economic resistance | | 16:46 | Why boycotts are effective and difficult | | 19:53 | Redirecting dollars: building local economies | | 21:32 | Akilah’s closing summary and consumer call to action |

Final Thoughts / Takeaways

• The episode urges listeners to see themselves as active participants in shaping both the market and democracy—a call to turn everyday spending into votes for a more equitable society.
• Boycotts and economic campaigns should be viewed not just as short-term stunts but as practices that build long-term power and community consciousness.
• By supporting small and ethical businesses, consumers can create a ripple effect that challenges both corporate misbehavior and political authoritarianism.

“Coordinated, intentional actions add up. They tell a story about what we expect from the people who profit off of us.”
— Akilah Hughes, [21:32]

This summary captures the episode’s essential arguments, strategies, and spirit for listeners curious about the intersection of spending and protest in today’s America.