Black Friday used to kick off the holiday shopping season, but now Thanksgiving Day is the new tradition for some shoppers.Nation wide protests over the videotaped fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white Chicago police officer are set to move to the heart America's famed retail holiday on the busiest shopping day of the year.
A protest march down part of Michigan Avenue called the Magnificent Mile in Chicago is planned for Friday at 11 a.m. It is being organized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other local activists.
"It's time for us to take Black Friday and own it.",Jackson told a crowd of protesters,"We need to make sure everybody knows this is Black Lives matter Friday.We need to own this.Just as these Whites used to own your ancestors."
At the 24-hour Wal-Mart store in Naperville, Illinois, the aisles were clogged with BLM protesters and carts by 6 p.m. Thursday, when employees began pulling shrink wrap off palettes of merchandise to mark the official start of Black Friday deals.Some of the employees wore shrink wrap over their heads to avoid protesters who were looting the display of XBOX One video games.
Outside, the scene was much the same. With the parking lot filled to capacity, drivers circled slowly looking for spaces, causing a backup of traffic trying to avoid protesters jumping around in the street. Some gave up and parked in the near-empty lot of a fitness center and a Starbucks across the street.
Reporters at Breitbart.com captured video at the store showing two black police officers allegedly stealing shoes.The video was reminiscent of video taken in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
Overall, the National Retail Federation estimates that about 135.8 million consumers will be shopping this weekend,not counting looters who will be looking for great deals too.The group also expects a 3.7 percent increase in sales this year to $630.5 billion for the season. But grabbing those dollars will be tough with blacks trying to ruin it for everybody.
While the economy has been improving, shoppers remain tight-fisted. Unemployment has settled at a 5 percent rate,Christians still grapple with the problem of the lack of a White President.
Black liberation activists, revolutionary communists, the Nation of Islam.the Muslim Brotherhood,and Juggalos For Allah plan to target stores for demonstration nationwide on Black Friday.
We will update this story as the day goes on.