Lenten Boycott (2025)

Divesting from Empire, Investing in Community

It’s been a while since I posted on Substack, but I’m slowly hoping to revive my usage of this platform to share thoughts and writings with others. Lent seemed like a good time!

I’ve been feeling compelled by movements of boycott that are happening nationally right now, and have been reflecting on what it would be like to take on intentional practices of boycott as a Lenten discipline, especially in this current moment.

Some others around me have expressed interest in a Lenten boycott practice, so I’ve compiled some thoughts, reflections, and invitations on what this practice could look like, and want to invite others to join me!

WHY LENT?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen? To loose the chains of injustice and untie the yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6)

The Lenten season in the Christian tradition invites us into an intentional period of reflection, repentance, and returning to God, as we remember our mortality and journey toward resurrection. In this current political moment, we are acutely aware of both our personal and societal need to turn- away from false idols and allegiances that lead to death, and toward God’s ways which lead to life.

As we continue to witness violence enacted by toxic theologies, religious nationalism, and the worship of power and profit, I wonder if Lent can be a time of fasting, as an act not just of personal piety, but of intentional resistance. How might we choose practices that help us divest from Empire and invest in God’s vision of community?

WHY BOYCOTT?

“Disrupting power takes practice.” (Turning over Tables- A Lenten Call for Disrupting Power, by Kathy Escobar)

The tradition of boycott has a long and powerful history, across many different movements and causes. Just as Lent invites us to fasting as a way to retrain our appetites, I believe boycott can help us divest from the goods of Empire- material goods, specific narratives, and power and privilege- and invest in God’s vision of community.

I invite you this Lent to a practice of boycott, so that you might experience the inward turning of your hearts toward God while also working towards an external turning- of corporations, powers, and leaders- away from harmful and unjust practices. Note that the practice of boycott should be coupled with some form of protest or demand, as a way of aligning your actions with your intentions and motivations.

I hope that the practice of boycott is more than just a restriction of spending, but also an expansion of collective imagination for new economies that do not prop up injustice and new communities that both practice and experience abundance.

3 OPTIONS FOR A LENTEN BOYCOTT

**We suggest choosing just one idea from below, rather than trying to do everything, so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Try not only to reflect on what you are divesting from, but also what you are investing in.

1. CORPORATE BOYCOTT

   
   Join the national boycott of specific corporations, such as Target, Walmart, and Amazon, which have taken an active role in rolling back DEI, being complicit in recent administration changes, and profiting from political corruption. Make sure to voice your demands to these corporations and share why you are boycotting.

As you divest from these corporations, invest in local economies instead. You may consider:

• Supporting local, small business

• Participating in local Buy Nothing groups

• Utilizing local libraries, not just for books, but for tools, for resources, and other household objects. The San Leandro has a “Library of Things” and others may have the same.

• Seeking repair services rather than buying new. Find or participate in local repair workshops, or check out places like Repair Cafe.

2. ATTENTION BOYCOTT
   
   Consider a Lenten boycott of social media, particularly Meta platforms, to protest recent changes to community policies and their complicity in the harms of the current administration.

   
   This could be a complete fast for the whole Lenten season, or partial fasts, such as limiting time to a certain number of minutes per day, deleting apps from your phone so you can only access through a browser, or fasting from social media on certain days of the week.

As you divest from this attention economy, consider investing your attention in real, human connection and building community. Some ideas include:

• Host a weekly, no-phones dinner with friends or neighbors, to share your lives and ideas with one another

• Find reliable news sources and subscribe to voices you trust for important news happenings, rather than relying on the algorithm to feed you the news.

• Host a book swap with friends, and exchange paper books with each other to read during the Lenten season.
  

3. CONSUMERISM BOYCOTT

Consider rhythms to reduce consumerism and waste, and to divest from your addictions to the goods of Empire. This could include divesting from:

• Clothes: Fast from clothes shopping/fast fashion this Lenten season

• Food waste: Reduce food waste by cooking meals with food you already have in your pantry or freezer and buying ingredients only when necessary. If produce is needed, support a farmers market or CSA. Try to reduce meat intake.

• Single-use plastic: Boycott buying or utilizing single-use plastics during Lent.

As you divest from easy/convenient shopping, consider investing your time and energy into community and sustainability:

• Recycling/repairing: Invest in clothing swaps, thrift stores, and mending clothes rather than replacing them.

• Using what we have: Host “leftovers” or “pantry cleanout” parties with friends. Borrow and share items with one another. Try out some new vegetarian recipes.

• Connect with the earth: Go on hikes with friends. Participate in a shoreline clean up day. Share ideas and strategies with each other on reducing plastic use, waste, and carbon footprint.

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PERSONAL COMMITMENTS:

For accountability, I am hoping to try on the corporate boycott this Lent, refraining from shopping at Amazon, Walmart, and Target during the Lenten season, and moving towards shopping at local businesses instead. I have a desire to cancel my Prime account, but will use the Lenten season as a time of intentional reflection around what that might entail.

I do also plan to delete social media apps from my phone. Due to my work, I won’t be able to log off of them entirely, but will limit my usage to be from a web browser only, so I am less inclined to scrolling or looking at social media as a mindless thing (in the car, at the table, at night before going to bed, etc).

Finally, not related to boycott, I am hoping to read through Kat Armas’s 40 day devotional during Lent- “Sacred Belonging: A 40 Day Devotional on the Liberating Heart of Scripture.”

How about you?
What do you want to try this Lenten season?
What do you hope to divest from? What do you want to invest in?

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RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING:

• Target Boycott (called on by Pastor Jamal Bryant): https://www.targetfast.org

• Indivisible Ventura- post on Lenten fast: https://indivisibleventura.org/2025/02/18/march-5-april-17-boycott-a-lenten-fast-from-corporations-a-call-to-spiritual-resistance/

• On Economic Boycotts for Justice: https://www.unitedparishbrookline.org/news/economic-boycotts-for-justice/

• Boycotting Empire for Lent: https://substack.com/home/post/p-158123908