The US film-makers behind civil rights dramas Fruitvale Station and Selma are leading a retail protest over the death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
The “Black Friday” protest urges consumers to stay at home on a day when Americans traditionally head to stores for a post-Thanksgiving bargain shopping splurge. The movement, which is using the hashtag #BlackOutBlackFriday on Twitter, aims to highlight the perceived injustice of a grand jury decision on Monday not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown on 9 August which has led to violent protests in a number of American cities.
The idea was conceived by Ryan Coogler, whose 2013 Cannes award-winning drama Fruitvale Station told the real-life story of a young black man shot dead by a white transport policeman in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009. Also on board is Ava DuVernay, director of Oscar-tipped civil rights drama Selma, who told The Wrap: “I’m a part of Blackout which was conceived by film-maker Ryan Coogler. Ferguson is a mirror of the past. And Selma is a mirror of now. We are in a sad, distorted continuum. It’s time to really look in that mirror.”
The campaign says it aims to “make Black Friday a nationwide day of action and retail boycott. Blackout will be organising grassroots events, nationwide, for people to come out and show their solidarity in the fight for equal human rights.” Backers include Fruitvale Station actor Michael B Jordan, Vampire Diaries star Kat Graham, hiphop mogul Russell Simmons and erstwhile Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
Documentary maker Soledad O’Brien told The Wrap: “They are trying to do the same thing [as the civil rights movement]. What is the impact that black lives can have? Well, they don’t need to spend their one trillion dollars that they spend shopping every year. Would American businesses feel that? So I think it’s a movement to empower people.”
A relative calm fell on Ferguson on Wednesday following two nights of violent protests but demonstrators in Los Angeles and Oakland took to the streets for a third night in a show of solidarity with Brown’s family. Nearly 150 people were arrested in Los Angeles for failure to disperse, reported the LA Times on Thursday.
