Al Sharpton meets with PepsiCo after scaling back DEI commitments

Reverend Al Sharpton is putting pressure on one of America's biggest brands after PepsiCo announced the shift in its five-year diversity strategy

The civil rights leader sent the company a letter at the beginning of April giving them three weeks to respond or prepare for a boycott

Sharpton says he met Tuesday with top executives, including the CEO of the food and beverage giant

to address concerns that the company is backing away from its previous commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

As the founder and president of the National Action Network, Sharpton and other members discuss the company's half a billion dollar DEI investment that now appears to be at risk

In a memo sent to employees back in February, PepsiCo said it will no longer set specific goals to strengthen minority representation and leadership

Instead, it plans to focus on a new strategy called inclusion for growth with an emphasis on overall business impact

Their website says their new push falls under three pillars business people and community which continues their legacy of fostering the best talent employee growth and innovative products PepsiCo website still highlights its history of inclusion

pointing to efforts dating back to the 1940s and 50s, which brought African-American and women

employees to the workforce. Sharpton plans to meet with the company again to decide whether

he'll launch a nationwide boycott or what he calls a boycott, a call to support brands that

keep their DEI promises. Sharpton says economic pressure is a powerful tool to seek change

Following President Donald Trump's return to office and removal of DEI programs at the federal level

Sharpton released this partial statement. As Donald Trump returned to office on King Day

vowing to attack the very things that Dr. King fought for, NAN made a promise across Washington

to use our buying power to fight back. Major companies like Target, Walmart, Google and Goldman Sachs have also pulled back on

their diversity programs. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. Find more unbiased, fact-based coverage by downloading the Straight Arrow News mobile app