Ferguson: Celebs call for 'Black Friday' boycott after shooting verdict

Los Angeles: US celebrities called for boycotting Black Friday – one of the busiest US shopping days – to protest against a grand jury’s decision not to prosecute a police officer who fatally shot a black teen in Ferguson, Missouri. A number of well-known figures, among them hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, have signed onto the action, under the Twitter hashtags #NotOneDime and #BlackoutBlackFriday. “We have the power to change our nation. Stand up with @UnitedBlackout on #BlackoutBlackFriday,” tweeted one of the supporters, actress Kat Graham, who stars in TV series “The Vampire Diaries.” [caption id=“attachment_1823875” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Black Friday is a day of deep commercial discounts and frenzied shopping which takes place each year after Thanksgiving in US. Reuters/File photo[/caption] Also backing the campaign were TV star Jesse Williams and celebrated journalist Soledad O’Brien, among others. “No Just, No Profit. Corporate/public power only speaks USD. So let’s talk to ’em,” Williams tweeted, along with a link to a video compilation of police brutality. Black Friday is a day of deep commercial discounts and frenzied shopping which takes place each year after the Thursday Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. The planned campaign calls for a one-day moratorium on spending to protest what it calls “staggering” human rights violations in the United States, including police brutality. The boycott was prompted by widespread outrage after a grand jury on Monday failed to indict a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri who shot and killed black 18-year-old Michael Brown in August. Protests erupted across the US after the decision.America’s 43 million black citizens will hold about $1.1 trillion in purchasing power by 2015, a Nielsen study said. AFP