Calls to boycott Black Friday in protest of Ferguson spread

A movement to boycott Black Friday may be gaining some traction as a protest in honor of Michael Brown, the unarmed teen killed by a police officer.

Riots broke out in Ferguson, Mo., Monday night after the grand jury decided not to charge officer Darren Wilson in Brown's death. Protests continued Tuesday night with a torching of a police car and scores of arrests.

The ruling has sparked a national conversation about race and justice with the hashtags #BoycottBlackFriday and #BlackoutBlackFriday spreading on Twitter and a Facebook page.

The message of the Facebook page is to Boycott Black Friday "to galvanize economically and influence change in the politics of American Justice pertaining to Law Enforcement vs Citizens."

"The only tool to fight against this is the economic side," Carlos Howard of the Hampton Roads Leadership Council in Norfolk, Va., said.

According to Nielsen data, African Americans have a current buying power of $1 trillion and it is forecast to reach $1.3 trillion by 2017. Black people make an average of 156 shopping trips each year compared with 146 for the total market.

Howard is urging fellow African Americans not to shop on Friday to show the power of their community. He points to similar efforts during the Civil Rights movement, including boycotting buses to end segregation and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., organizing a Memphis sanitation workers strike for better wages.