By TERRY TANG, Associated Press

Organizers of a Target boycott that began in January are pointing to their tactics as a hopeful sign that actions against corporate retailers can still make a deep impact.

When Target announced its current chief executive officer will be stepping down in February 2026 and an insider was taking the helm, those organizers saw it as a move in the right direction and stress more than ever that boycotts will continue as long as previous promises made to the public go unfulfilled.

“It’s been now nearly 200 days and what all the statistics and economics are showing that since that boycott was announced on that Monday — every single week since then — Target foot traffic in nearly 2,000 stores has declined sharply and continues to decline,” said organizer Jaylani Hussein, at a news conference of the National Target Boycott movement outside Target’s Minneapolis headquarters late last week.

Boycott organizers in Minnesota were among some of the first to galvanize when Target opted in January to follow other companies like Amazon and Walmart and forego diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. High-profile civil rights activists like the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jamal Bryant also made similar calls for what they deemed a betrayal of previous DEI promises.

FILE – A Target sign is shown on a store in Upper Saint Clair, Pa., on July 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, file)

Social justice advocates say this shows boycotting is a key tactic not to be taken for granted.

Retail analysts say it’s difficult to gauge the exact impact of the boycott, since Target has faced a slump the last few years and a leadership change was in the cards. Still, groups like Washington-based DC Boycott Target Coalition insist falling foot traffic is “due in no small part” to a boycott that spans coast to coast.

“The leadership change doesn’t mean anything without a culture change,” the group said in a statement, vowing to continue pressuring Target until the corporation sees its diversity goals as “more important than bowing to an administration that is filled with racism, failure and hatred.”

Opponents began the national boycott in February, during Black History Month. Their strategy left some Black-owned brands with merchandise on Target shelves conflicted or scrambling.

By April, Sharpton actually met with Target’s CEO Brian Cornell, who had been at the helm for 11 years. But, nothing concrete came of it.

Target CEO change was long planned

Cornell’s departure from the role had been in the works for several years.

FILE – Brian Cornell, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Target, speaks at a financial community meeting, March 5, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)

In September 2022, the board extended Cornell’s contract for three more years and eliminated a policy requiring its chief executives to retire at age 65. When Target’s chief operating officer Michael Fiddelke takes over, Cornell will transition to be executive chair of the board.

In a call with reporters, Fiddelke attributed the sales malaise to many issues like focusing too much on basics and not enough trendy items, particularly in home goods.

Data shows Target sales were already sliding

Stacey Widlitz, president of investment research firm SW Retail Advisors, said she believes that Target’s sales malaise has more to do with its operational issues — messy stores and poorly stocked shelves — not from its pullback from DEI initiatives.

Unraveling them did not affect Target “exponentially compared to somebody else,” she said. “The consumer has a very short memory. If you have great, compelling product at value prices, they’ll forgive you.”

The number of Americans who say they regularly shop at Target has gone down 19% since 2021, according to Consumer Edge. The number of Americans who say they do not shop at Target has risen 17%.

The same analysis also looked at trends along party lines. Since last year, the number of regular Target shoppers who identify as Democrat has declined 13%. Inversely, the number of Republican customers has risen 13%. It’s not clear if that is due to Target’s $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration or some other factors.

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Organizers are sticking to boycott strategy

The strategy of racial justice boycotts stretches back over 160 years, from Reconstruction era “Buy Black” campaigns stressing the Black American economic influence to the Montgomery Bus Boycott of the Civil Rights Movement. There have been more modern campaigns like the NAACP’s 15-year economic boycott of the state of South Carolina over its display of the confederate battle flag widely regarded as a symbol of hatred and slavery. The civil rights group ended its boycott in 2015 after the state removed the flag from its statehouse grounds, following the massacre of nine Black parishioners at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston.

Some Black creators on the social media platform TikTok rejoiced on the platform at the CEO leaving and credited the boycotts. Others cautioned that Cornell was essentially promoted but that the boycott is still needed.

Black Americans’ buying power has climbed over the last 25 years and is now an estimated $2.1 trillion annually, according to Nielsen research.

Part of the reason organizers say they have zeroed in on Target is because the company had heavily touted a commitment to DEI back in 2020 after protests erupted across the nation over the murder of George Floyd. That year, Target announced it would increase representation of Black staff by 20% over three years and invest $10 million in social justice organizations. In 2021, the company pledged to dedicate more than $2 billion toward Black-owned businesses before the end of 2025.

In January, however, Target said it would conclude the hiring and advancement goals it had set.

For boycott organizers, a reversal of those decisions is the only way to rectify the situation.

“We’re expecting that Target is making good on the promises that it made. Otherwise there’s no point of discussion regarding calling off this boycott,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and past president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP. “We’re asking people to join us, get involved and hold Target accountable for its actions.”

AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.

It’s a return to tradition this fall for St. Paul Public School football programs, as all five will make up the Skyway TC Red subdistrict, a de facto City Conference that will allow the teams to battle it out for St. Paul bragging rights — just like the old days.

Here’s a look at all five public-school programs heading into the season:

Central

2024 record: 3-6 (lost in Class 5A, Section 4 quarterfinals)

Returning starters: 6 on offense, 5 on defense

Impact returnees: Raheem Ruddick and Willie Harris are mainstays back on the Minutemen offensive and defensive fronts.

Shoutout to a lineman: Central coach Scott Howell said Ruddick and Harris are “both dominant” on both sides of the ball.

Schedule: vs. Kasson-Mantorville, at Cretin-Derham Hall, vs. St. Paul Johnson, at Minneapolis Southwest, at Harding/Humboldt, vs. Como Park, at Highland Park.

The skinny: Central is flush with youth this fall, but Howell hopes to see his team grow and improve with each passing week.

Central has to replace some all-important skill positions from a year ago, but look for Charlie Doerr at quarterback and Issac Leggs at running back to find some success behind their stalwarts on the offensive line.

Como Park

2024 record: 2-6 (lost in Class 5A, Section 4 quarterfinals)

Returning starters: Unknown

Impact returnees: Junior safety Tate Prinsen is a ball-hawking free safety who logged three interceptions in a game last year against Richfield.

Shoutout to a lineman: Everett Lake-Higgins was a sophomore lineman for the Cougars in 2024 who could play a role again this season.

Schedule: at Concordia Academy, at North St. Paul, vs. Minneapolis Camden, at Harding/Humboldt, at Highland Park, at Central, vs. Johnson, vs. Minneapolis North.

The skinny: While rosters can fluctuate, if the Cougars do return the likes of Prinsen, running back Jeremiah Ranson and the sea of underclassmen linemen, they could make a leap in wins from a year ago.

Harding/Humboldt

2024 record: 0-9 (lost in Class 5A, Section 4 quarterfinals)

Returning starters: “Several” on offense and “a handful” on defense, per coach Tim Daniels

Impact returnees: Senior standout Khapriece Venzant is expected to be a playmaker this fall. He won the St. Paul City Conference long jump title in the spring. “He always plays as fast as anyone on the field, or faster,” Daniels said.

Shoutout to a lineman: Daniels describes senior captain and two-way starter Nasir “Naz” Yeah as “a natural born leader” who “has excelled as the heartbeat of the football team. Nas is a player that every coach would dream to have on their team and is a perfect example of what a student-athlete should look like and be like.”

Schedule: vs. Breck, at Tartan, at Highland Park, vs. Como Park, vs. Central, at Johnson, at Minneapolis Roosevelt.

The skinny: Harding/Humboldt is coming off consecutive winless campaigns, but Daniels — the program’s first-year coach — said he and “a dynamic group of coaches from the community are primed to win now, on the field and off the field.”

Daniels noted players have established a bond while displaying talent and versatility.

“We hope to continue to improve as student-athletes as well as young men and look forward to stacking some wins this season with the ultimate goal of hosting a playoff game and more,” Daniels said.

Highland Park

2024 record: 5-5 (lost in Class 5A, Section 4 semifinals)

Returning starters: 6 on offense, 5 on defense

Impact returnees: Eric Reed will be a dual-threat quarterback for the Scots this fall after playing running back and defensive back last season. Junior standout Brandon Jackson will play running back and linebacker after also going both ways as a sophomore.

Shoutout to a lineman: Teddy Dickie is a three-year starter up front, while junior guard and defensive tackle Marcus Tupy is described by coach Dave Zeitchick as “the strongest player on the team.”

Schedule: at Richfield, at Mahtomedi, vs. Harding/Humboldt, at Johnson, at Como Park, vs. Minneapolis Washburn, vs. Central.

The skinny: Highland Park returns experience up front and has college-level talent with the likes of Jackson, middle linebacker Joaquin Lechuga and tight end and corner Will Walter. But Reed may be the most intriguing, having won an open quarterback competition after the presumed starter was lost to injury in the spring.

It’s a roster flush with juniors (nine will start on offense, while seven will be on defense) that have taken ownership of the program and are ready to win now.

Johnson

2024 record: 3-5 (lost in Class 4A, Section 3 quarterfinals)

Returning starters: 9 total

Impact returnees: Quarterback Ali Farfan and receiver Justice Moody serve as one of the more dangerous passing combinations in the metro. Moody had eight touchdowns in seven games last fall.

Shoutout to a lineman: Senior lineman Eli Matthews is described by Johnson coach Richard Magembe as “a physical guard that gets after opposing defensive linemen. Plays with an edge and is a great leader on the team.”

Schedule: at St. Agnes, vs. St. Croix Lutheran, at Central, vs. Highland Park, at Minneapolis North, vs. Harding/Humboldt, at Como Park.

The skinny: Johnson has the athletes to win a lot of games.

Even beyond Farfan and Moody, Magembe notes Dae’majeon Henderson-Moore is “the real deal” at cornerback. “Teams do not throw his way, and when they do he usually makes them pay. He is tall and sticks to receivers like glue,” Magembe said.

Numerous Governors players had opportunities to play elsewhere this fall but chose to stay home. The question for Johnson remains: Can their best players — who play both ways — stay healthy throughout the fall so the Governors can consistently put their best foot forward?

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In August 2023, promising young quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis took the reins of the Gophers’ offense.

In 2022, the redshirt freshman made five starts in place of injured Tanner Morgan, including a starring role in a rivalry win over Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. With Morgan exhausting his eligibility that next year, it was time for the 6-foot-4 signal caller with a big right arm to become the no-doubt QB1 at Minnesota.

That new era became a cautionary tale.

At the end of 2023, Kaliakmanis capped an underwhelming year with a rivalry loss to the Badgers and entered the NCAA transfer portal after head coach P.J. Fleck said competition coming by way of the NCAA transfer portal.

Last fall, New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer completed the most passes in a single season in program history with 2023 signee Drake Lindsey as his understudy. With Brosmer now on the Vikings’ roster, it’s time for Lindsay, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman with a big right arm, to become the no-doubt QB1 at the U.

This new era is a blank slate.

While there are similar touchstones between Kaliakmanis and Lindsey, Lindsey has an opportunity to make his story unparalleled over the next few seasons.

Here are nine things to know about Lindsey going into the season opener against Buffalo at 7 p.m. Thursday at Huntington Bank Stadium:

Got a taste last year

Lindsey played in three total games as a true freshman, keeping his redshirt. He completed 4 of 5 passes for 50 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, with 13 of his 19 total snaps coming late in a 48-0 blowout of FCS-level Rhode Island on Week 2.

Before the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Brosmer campaigned for Lindsey to have a special package in Charlotte and the protege completed one pass for 15 yards in the 24-10 win over Virginia Tech.

Minnesota Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey (3) during the football team’s media day in Minneapolis on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

High school honors

The Fayetteville, Ark., native was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading his team in an undefeated (13-0) run to the Class 7A state championship in 2023. He was MVP of the state title game.

As a senior, he threw for nearly 4,000 yards, completed nearly 70 percent of his passes with 54 touchdowns and three interceptions. Two of his picks came when his arm was hit.

Out of Razorbacks backyard

Lindsey grew up a fan of the Arkansas Razorbacks and in a family of student-athletes who wore the Hogs’ cardinal and white. His grandfather Jim Lindsey was inducted into the school’s hall of fame for his career as a running back in the 1960s.

Drake’s father, John David, played receiver at Arkansas in the 1990s. His sister Loren was on the women’s basketball team a few years ago. Also, one uncle and a cousin played football there, and another cousin was a track and field athlete.

But the Razorbacks’ football program didn’t show interest in Lindsey until he was already committed to the Gophers and signing day was around the corner in December 2023. It was too little, too late.

Drake was “upset a few times” at the snub from his hometown SEC school, and John David acknowledged the lack of interest “was a little bit of a weird thing,” but said he was ultimately “happy with Drake’s decision” to go to Minnesota..

RELATED: How the Gophers got quarterback recruit Drake Lindsey out of the Razorbacks’ backyard

A Vikings fan

Since his grandfather Jim played for the Vikings from 1966-72, Drake became a fan of the Purple.

“It just seemed like destiny almost, with my grandfather playing in the NFL here,” Drake said in July. “It felt like something was calling me here, to be honest.”

That has only grown with Brosmer making the Vikings’ 53-man roster as an un-drafted free agent this week.

More on Drake’s plate

During spring practices, Fleck said Lindsey was “playing at a really high level …probably higher than any younger player I’ve ever had at that position.”

In fall camp, offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh added he was challenging Lindsey “more than I did last year with Max. I probably put more on Drake’s plate than I did (with Max) last year.”

The Gophers shifted its run-heavy offense two years ago to a more balanced scheme with short-and-intermediate passing under Brosmer a year ago. Harbaugh’s system has evolved again, but expect Lindsey to work through similar passing progressions at the line of scrimmage.

Overcoming adversity

As an eighth grader, Lindsey tore a patellar tendon and said he had to rehab for most of the following year.

“It taught me a ton,” Lindsey told the Pioneer Press at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas in July. “Once I had surgery, it made me realize how much I wanted it. When you can’t do something, you kind of realize how much you love it, how much it means to you. … I couldn’t walk for 10 weeks, so it teaches you a lot of different things, mentally, physically and just gratefulness.”

That injury setback was also when Lindsey, who just turned 20, knew he wanted to play college football and “be one of the best.”

Future first rounder?

CBS Sports commentator Josh Pate in June put out a list of the top 10 quarterbacks in the Big Ten this fall; Lindsey was not included. His QB trainer, Quincy Avery, chimed in on X this week.

“I’m willing to bet a good chunk of change that a top 3 QB in Big 10 isn’t on this list right now: Drake Lindsey is so much better than anyone understands,” Avery wrote. “I truly and honestly believe he’s gonna be a Rd1 pick when it’s all said and done.”

A QB with “swagger”

Lindsey’s favorite quarterback is Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. He felt that way in high school in Arkansas and again when watching Burrow in the series “Quarterback” on Netflix this summer.

“That dude is just so awesome, like really cool,” Lindsey said. “Crazy knowledge of the game, but just his presence and what he brings to the team. I said this in high school when I was young, like a freshman: My game, I want to replicate Joe Burrow when he was taking off (at LSU). His swagger, his aura that he brings to the field.”

Fore football

Lindsey loves to play golf and feels like it helps him on the football field.

“There is always ups and downs,” Lindsey said after practice Aug. 5. “It’s going to be challenging. That is a good reason why I love the game of golf. It’s because every (shot) is so independent.”

Lindsey was a standout golfer as a kid, and plays often with Gophers standout safety Koi Perich.

“I haven’t beat him yet this summer — very disappointed in that,” Perich said. “He also went to the World Amateur Golf Championship when he was young and has been playing his whole life. I just joined (in the last 18 months) … So, I’ve still got years to come. But it’s fun to chase a guy who is way better than you.”

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By JEFF AMY, Associated Press

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — Rocking on his front porch overlooking the Mississippi Sound, former Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes questions how anyone wouldn’t want to live there.

“People are always going to gravitate to the water,” he said. “And we have a beautiful waterfront.”

But it was far from certain that people would return after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which killed 238 people in Mississippi and left only concrete slabs in many areas. With beachfront rebuilding crawling along a decade later, Gulfport began offering property tax breaks to those who built near the water. Hewes said the goal was for people to “build back better, quicker, help kick-start the economy.”

Overlooking the Mississippi Sound, former Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes stands in front of his home Aug. 12, 2025, in Gulfport, Miss. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Where to encourage building is a thorny decision for local governments in areas exposed to floods or wildfires. Despite risks including rising sea levels, places need residents and taxpayers. Like other Gulf Coast cities after Katrina, Gulfport required residents to build at higher elevations and enforced a stronger building code. But most residents near the water are in at least a moderate-risk flood zone. Nationwide, many more homes are being built in flood zones than are being removed.

“The local government was not necessarily thinking we need people to build in this flood-prone place,” Miyuki Hino, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who researches flooding, said of such decisions. “They were thinking we have this land that’s underutilized and we can increase our property tax revenue.”

Storm left a ‘postapocalyptic’ wasteland

Allen Baker lived through 1969’s Hurricane Camille in neighboring Long Beach and thought he knew what to expect after Katrina. But the 2005 storm was far worse. His historic beachfront home was blown to bits by what witnesses said was a tornado spun off by the hurricane.

“Coming back, there was no home,” Baker said.

All along the coast, neighborhoods between the beach and a railroad track just to the north were shredded by a battering storm tide and winds. Recovery was slow for years.

“It was kind of spooky down here,” Baker said. “I mean, it looked like one of your postapocalyptic movies.”

FILE – Moe Llaren makes his way through the debris of destroyed homes as he tries to find his own house in Gulfport, Miss., on Aug. 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Denis Paquin, File)

Baker and his wife waited. They didn’t move into a new home until 2016, after Gulfport began waiving city property taxes for seven years when owners invested certain amounts in building south of the railroad tracks. Property owners still had to pay county and school taxes.

Sixty properties received Gulfport’s tax break before the city stopped approving new applicants in 2021, tax records show. The savings weren’t huge, typically $500 to $1,000 a year, depending on property value. But Baker and others said it was a sign to stop hesitating and start building.

“In simple terms, it was a green light,” Baker said.

Overlooking the Mississippi Sound, Allen Baker talks in front of his home, Aug. 12, 2025, in Gulfport, Miss. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

Steel rods and thick foundations

Not every area has recovered equally. In a lower-lying area on the west side of Gulfport, where rotting chicken and giant paper bales washed up from the port, many lots are still vacant. But one block inland on the east side, attractive new houses mix with structures that survived.

Hewes also benefited from the tax break, building a new home on a beachfront site owned by his family since 1904 — the second-most valuable house built under the program, according to tax records. Hewes said he and his wife used their tax savings to build stronger.

“We put a lot more money into actually hardening this home to a much higher standard,” Hewes said.

Baker’s current house also exceeds Gulfport’s building code, with steel rods inside walls that tie into a 3-foot-thick concrete foundation and fasten down the roof. That qualified the home for an insurance industry standard called “fortified,” which provides savings on expensive wind insurance. But only 1,500 homes in Mississippi have fortified status, according to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. That compares with 9,000 in Louisiana and 50,000 in nation-leading Alabama.

Baker, who became a civil engineer after flying airliners, argues beachfront areas need an extra-strict building code.

“Everything about this house is built to be punished,” he said. “If you seriously want to live in this environment, you have to plan for that.”

Some progress, but not enough?

Katherine Egland, a Gulfport resident who chairs the NAACP’s national Environmental and Climate Justice Committee, fears the community may not be prepared for the next big storm.

“I’m not saying we didn’t make some progress,” Egland said. “What I’m saying is we didn’t make nearly the amount of progress that we should have made.”

FILE – A cyclist rides by the remains of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer while ministers conduct religious services on the beach in Gulfport, Miss., on Sept. 11, 2005. (AP Photo/Rob Carr, File)

She still rejects how Mississippi prioritized business recovery and says some development farther inland has worsened rainwater flooding in historically Black neighborhoods. Areas targeted by the tax break are whiter and more affluent than the city overall.

“You’re giving incentives to residents south of the tracks, but at the same time, you are imperiling residents that live north of the tracks,” Egland said.

Most of the first block facing the beach in Gulfport is rated as having a 1% yearly chance of flooding, although what’s called the 100-year flood zone sometimes stretches farther back. The Federal Emergency Management Agency considers almost all of the rest of the area south of the railroad track to have between a 1% and a 0.2% risk of flooding annually. Flood insurance generally isn’t required in that moderate risk area.

Hino said it’s “absolutely true” that elevating a building reduces risk but said risk grows over time with rising sea levels, which could require someone to elevate a house multiple times over decades. And while a 1% yearly risk of flooding sounds low, those odds add up over time.

“Over the course of your 30-year mortgage, you have a 40% chance of flooding,” Hino said.

It’s not unusual that houses were built in a flood zone in Gulfport. From 2001 to 2019, more than 840,000 homes were built in flood plains nationwide, according to a 2024 University of Miami study. That’s in part because the federally subsidized National Flood Insurance Program will repeatedly pay to rebuild, no matter how high the risk

“The incentive for local governments is to build, and in some ways the incentive for people is to stay where they are,” Hino said.

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The buyout that didn’t happen

There was a plan to get more people out of Mississippi flood zones. Federal officials considered buying out 2,000 properties at highest risk of being damaged by hurricane storm tides. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projected that a $408 million buyout, in 2008 dollars, would lower potential yearly storm damage by $22 million to $33 million. But Congress never appropriated the money.

Hino said buyouts can create parkland that serves both as an environmental buffer and an amenity. But Hewes said he thinks Gulfport’s choices “may have done more for our recovery than any sort of federal buyout.” He said it took years for Gulfport to productively reuse land from a pre-Katrina buyout along a flood-prone bayou.

“Do you create an area that is blighted, that is abandoned, that is neglected after the fact?” Hewes asked.

Even without the tax break, construction is continuing in beachfront areas. But it may not be clear how successful recovery has been until those new buildings are tested by the next major hurricane.

“Some people have built out of concrete,” Baker said. “Some people have built out of better materials. Some people have not. And those people are going to be in for a shock.”