The hatred and violence that has confronted Black Americans throughout American history is systemic and rests on a foundation of injustice and inequality that is codified into the nation’s legal and political infrastructure. As Black lives are taken, proclaiming that our thoughts and prayers are with their families is becoming an empty cliche, often used by professional politicians who avoid taking any real measures to deconstruct the institutionalized racism that continues to plague our society.

In 2013, the annual American Community Survey found that New York City has the largest gap of income inequality in the United states. While Mayor Bill de Blasio joined with other New York politicians in sending thoughts, prayers and emotional support to the city of Charleston, S.C., widening inequality intensified on every level in New York City. And the mayor and his colleagues have done little to remove the obstacles to justice, or to repair the damage that institutionalized racism inflicts on Black New Yorkers on a daily basis.

As we are challenged to move beyond symbolic gestures, such as launching a national discussion about race with a music concert or moving the Confederate flag from one location to another, we are reminded that one of the most effective ways to demand justice is to turn our consumer spending into political power by controlling our spending. It’s a strategy that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called for some 50 years ago, on his last night in Memphis, Tenn., when he said, “Now the other thing we have to do is this. Always anchor our direct action with the power of economic withdrawal.”

Currently, Blacks outspend all other ethnic groups in all consumer categories, and we are spending with corporations that show a shameful disregard for Black life—corporations that do not reinvest in Black communities as they do in white communities, corporations that refuse to identify with or support any of our very legitimate struggles for justice in this society. The economic withdrawal movement begins in New York City, and the Clergy & Community Coalition sets as the first target the fast-food industry.

Research indicates that Black youths are targeted by the fast-food chains for the consumption of high-salt, high-sodium, high-fat and high-sugar junk foods. This marketing is alarming because Black kids are experiencing diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes at higher rates than all other ethnic groups. African-Americans eat more fast food than any other race, placing African-Americans at greater risk for heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.

It is often assumed that Black communities have a high density of fast-food stores because they are low income and fast-food companies target low-income customers. But research consistently shows that income is not the primary factor. In some studies, race is just as important as income. In others, race is the only factor.

When looking at communities across the five boroughs of New York City, the research indicates that fast-food locations in New York City are about race, not income. As a result, there are six times as many fast-food restaurants in Black communities as there are in white communities. The fast-food industry is a major recipient of Black consumer spending, while reinvesting very little into the real needs and growth of the communities that, at this point, may well be their most important and significant source of income in the United States.

Time has come to teach corporate and political policy makers that Black lives really do matter. The Clergy & Community Alliance, along with the NYC Economic Withdrawal Committee, is calling on Black New Yorkers to join the economic withdrawal movement and to stop eating fast food for 90 days. In addition, we are organizing a voter mobilization campaign that includes new voter registration to replace elected officials, from congressional districts to City Hall, who have abandoned the critical needs of Black New Yorkers, particularly the poor and working class.

New York’s corporate and political policy makers have ignored “No Justice, No Peace!” Perhaps they will hear “No Justice, No Profit!”