The Resistance Will Not Be Televised

The #GrabMyWallet boycott against Ivanka Trump's
fashion product line is gaining traction in the U.S. 

Donald Trump's efforts to populate his top cabinet positions with men who mirror his own narrow-minded views on bigotry, xenophobia and extreme religious intolerance are genuinely frightening.

But social media is offering a variety of innovative ways for the millions of Americans who might not be able to join marches or protests against the Trump to express their opposition for what he stands for.




The backlash to Chili's Grill & Bar in the wake of manager Wesley Patrick's treatment of African-American veteran Ernest Walker last Friday is an example of the growing grassroots movement to show solidarity against Trump's horrifying vision for America by financially boycotting the Trump brand, and speaking in the one language he does seem to grasp - money.

It's been interesting to see how technology, social media and grassroots activism can directly (and quickly) influence the behavior, choices and profitability of large and small companies - and impact the larger American landscape.

For example the stock price of Chili's parent company Brinker International is down 1.04% over the past five days, so I think it's interesting to observe investor's response to the negative global publicity generated by Wesley Patrick's personal bias and poor management skills.  

Logic would suggest that if customers do begin boycotting Chili's as a direct consequence of the incident in Cedar Hills, Texas, the impact on the company's profit margin will be very real - which in turn could effect the decision of some investors to sell the stock to cut their losses.

Or, some investors motivated by displeasure over Ernest Walker's treatment may simply decide to sell the stock on principle.

Remember when news emerged last year that Exxon-Mobil's own internal research showed that the burning of fossil fuels was a major contributor to global warming, and that the company had known this for decades even as it contributed to bogus "research" that backed climate change denial?

I was one of many people and large institutional investors (like the Rockefeller Family Fund) around the globe who decided to sell my Exxon-Mobil stock.  


In many ways the movement to divest from fossil fuel production is an extension of the global anti-apartheid movement to encourage nations to divest from the nation of South Africa over it's government-mandated policy of racial segregation in the 70's and 80's.

That same kind of widespread grassroots energy is not only coalescing around the growing anti-Trump movement taking shape in this country, the accessibility of technology combined with the power of social media platforms are now targeting the companies that either do business with Trump, support him, or are associated with his family.

As an article by Sam Reed in the style section of The Hollywood Reporter noted back on October 24th, influential digital brand strategist Shannon Coulter's #GrabYourWallet social media movement to encourage consumers to contact large retailers and demand they stop carrying Trump products is gaining steam - her list below makes it easy for consumers to take action:

Fed up? Call these retailers and tell them to stop peddling Trump products!

Lists like this one created by Coulter translate a message that retailers and investors understand; one that people from all walks of life are speaking with their purchasing decisions, computers and cell phones.

One that can have a concrete impact as the critical holiday spending season nears.

Other online grassroots movements like The Donald J. Trump Resistance have cropped up to give people information on the CEO's or owners of large retailers who have supported Trump, so that consumers who don't want their hard-earned dollars lining the pockets of people who are giving tacit endorsement to the kinds of anti-American policies Trump envisions.

Republican State Senator Doug Ericksen

You heard about Republican Washington State Senator Doug Ericksen proposing a bill that will alter existing law to categorize what he calls "illegal protests" as "economic terrorism" and make it a felony?

A felony, like assault or murder.

Can you imagine an America where the right to freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment becomes a felony?



Trump supporters can, is that what they meant by "Making America Great Again?"

As I write these words, the newly-created Facebook page of the Resistance to Donald J Trump already has 27,808 likes and growing and Twitter is rapidly becoming a hub for information and news on the huge number of organizations and individuals who are actively opposing Trump and his policies.

With the evidence now indicating that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by a margin that exceeds the number of votes John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon won by, it's clear that the American people did not give Trump an open mandate roll back gains in civil rights, strip away women's right to make their own reproductive and healthcare choices, end Medicare, or put the names of law-abiding Muslim citizens into some kind of database registry.

This isn't Nazi-era Germany, and the grassroots campaign to make Trump and the politicians and corporate interests that are associated with him understand that is only getting started.

The mainstream television news outlets that gave Trump so much free press and live coverage of his rallies and speeches during the election might not devote as much coverage to the growing opposition to the president-elect, but it's happening.

The resistance is real.

Who'd have imagined that we'd need one in 21st century America?

Chili's Cold Reception To a Black Vet

U.S. Army veteran Ernest Walker

The latest example of overt bigotry based on an individual's race or ethnicity linked to Donald Trump is a Texas-sized doozy.

African-American Army vet Ernest Walker goes to a local Chili's in Cedar Hill, Texas with his registered service dog last Friday for the free meal the restaurant chain offers to military vets on Veterans Day.

He orders his meal, eats, then asks the waitress to pack up the rest to go as he has to leave and pick up his wife; he tips her.

Then according to Walker's Facebook page, an older white man wearing a Trump t-shirt walks up, sees Walker sitting there with his service dog, proceeds to question him about his service and then tells the young white manager of the restaurant, Wesley Patrick, that he doesn't think Walker is a real vet.

Patrick comes over to Walker's table and verbally confronts Walker, basically accuses him of lying about his service to get a free meal; Walker politely shows the suspicious manager his government-issued military ID and military discharge papers - but the manager still doesn't believe him.

A verbal exchange ensues until Patrick reaches down and grabs the container with Walker's to-go food in it and takes it away from him; video of the exchange was caught on Walker's cell phone and posted on Youtube where it's now been seen hundreds of thousands of times.

Blowback for this deplorable treatment of a military veteran on Veteran's Day was swift, local protesters were picketing with signs in front of the restaurant by the next day, by Sunday the reaction on social media and news of the incident prompted a response from Chili's which issued a statement with a rather tepid apology for the incident and the behavior of manager Wesley Patrick.

Chili's manager Wesley Patrick

Video of this incident would've sparked outrage even if it had taken place before the election of Trump.

But in light of the sharp increase of overt incidents of hate against members of the Muslim, African-American, LGBTQ and Hispanic communities since last Tuesday, Patrick's treatment of Walker bears more scrutiny.

As do the training practices and management policies of the restaurant chain he works for.


A veteran who served his country honorably was dehumanized and embarrassed (his words) in one of their restaurants because an embittered old man wearing a Trump t-shirt questioned the service record of a total stranger minding his own business.

How have people have reacted?

Take a look at some of the thousands of comments that have been posted on the Facebook page of Chili's Grill & Bar by folks of different racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Wesley Patrick has been removed from his position as manager of the Cedar Hill Chili's, but my sense is that's not going to be enough for Chili's or its parent company Brinker International.

Chili's Pres./CEO Kelli Valade

The Catholic Church scandals have taught us that simply moving the pedophile priest to another parish doesn't solve the deeper institutional problems that allowed him to molest children in the first place; it just gives the priest a chance to molest more children in another parish.

In no way am I equating the molestation of a child with the actions of an incompetent manager in a restaurant, but many people are not going to be satisfied until Patrick is fired and Chili's takes concrete steps to apologize to Walker in a meaningful way.

Late Monday afternoon Kelli Valade, the president and CEO of Chili's did release a public statement, and the company deserves a measure of credit for accepting responsibility for the debacle.

But as someone whose worked as a copywriter and in a corporate communications capacity, the statement struck me as a bit canned and generic.


Like some PR hack in a cubicle in their corporate communications department opened up a "crisis apology" template in Word, polished the text and emailed it to Valade's assistant to run by "legal" for a quick review before sending it out.

Obviously it was meant to demonstrate that the company was aware of the situation and the public reaction to it; but to a degree I think Chili's got schooled in the power of social media in the same way that some police departments have in the face of evidence captured by an individual with a cell phone camera that conflicts with  the account of an officer who knows he or she screwed up but is trying to cover their ass.

Chili's TV commercials are slick, the menus are colorful, and the food is pretty decent as far as franchises go - but the brand was still soiled by what's on that segment of cell phone video.

Someone sets fire to their New Balances

No $500,000 television ad buy during the half-time of the Super Bowl is going to just wash away the impression of how Wesley Patrick treated Ernest Walker on Veterans Day.

And I guarantee you that in the current climate of growing consumer activism against companies that appear to be aligned with the hate and bigotry peddled by Trump, there are a sizable number of people who will consciously choose not to go to Chili's in the coming weeks of the Thanksgiving and holiday season specifically because of this incident.

Just ask Matthew LeBretton, the VP of Public Affairs of New Balance whose klutzy ill-timed pro-Trump comments after the election has sparked people to post video of themselves burning their New Balance shoes on Youtube.

So Kelli Valade is going to have to roll up her sleeves and do some work to assure the public that Chili's customers will not be treated differently because of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, or their ethnicity or religion based on the word of a racist Trump supporter who happens to be in the restaurant - or by some bush league manager with a sketchy political agenda, no customer service skills and a cheesy goatee.

The Website of Chili's parent company Brinker International boasts that it owns over 1,600 restaurants in the U.S. and around the world and that "Our guests know that every time they step into our restaurants, we'll give them a warm welcome...while making people feel special."

Those words ring pretty hollow in the wake of Ernest Walker being interrogated about his military record with his service dog at his feet on Veterans Day.