Trump has moved onto his next target in his push to erase Black history. Days ago, the White House released a report attacking the leadership of the Smithsonian Institution as "radical activists", signaling that it may be preparing to install a Trump ally instead. 

It is all part of Trump’s push to force cultural institutions to present a version of American history stripped of the truth about slavery, segregation, and the generations of Black people whose labor, resistance, and leadership built this country. First Trump intimidated the Smithsonian museums into exhibiting only the parts of American history that align with its views. Now he’s coming for its leadership, including Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, the first Black person to lead the institution.

Meanwhile, the country's biggest corporations have remained silent. These are the same companies who sponsored Black history exhibits, funded programs at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and released statements promising to stand for racial justice. 

If corporations can proudly attach their names to Black history when it strengthens their brands, they must defend it when it comes under attack. That’s why we're launching a campaign demanding Walmart, Target, American Express, General Electric, Boeing, UnitedHealth Group, Microsoft, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and JPMorgan Chase publicly oppose efforts to censor, rewrite, or whitewash Black history. 

These companies each made public and financial commitments to support the National African American History and Culture Museum, so we expect them to speak up. They have the power — and the money — to fight back against the mass censorship of Black history.

Color Of Change has spent two decades holding corporations accountable when they abandon Black communities. We have forced billion-dollar companies to reverse harmful decisions before, and we know public pressure works. But only if enough of us raise our voices together. 

Here is the Petition:

To Walmart, Target, American Express, General Electric, Boeing, UnitedHealth Group, Microsoft, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, and JPMorgan Chase:

We write at a moment when the truth of our nation’s history is being actively contested.

Across generations, Black people have helped build this country while simultaneously fighting for the right to have our stories told honestly without distortion, erasure, or political interference. Institutions like the Smithsonian, and in particular the National Museum of African American History and Culture, exist because this country once acknowledged that truth telling is essential to democracy.

That principle is now under threat.

In March 2025, the Trump administration directed an internal review of Smithsonian museums, explicitly targeting programming and content deemed divisive or race centered, and calling for the removal of narratives that challenge a narrow definition of American exceptionalism. This review, overseen by the Vice President, has placed the National Museum of African American History and Culture and other cultural institutions at the center of a political effort to sanitize history and constrain how Black experiences are interpreted and taught.

This is not a neutral audit. It is a test of whether truth will be defended when it becomes inconvenient.

Your company has publicly positioned itself as a supporter of Black history and cultural preservation, including financial commitments to museums, cultural institutions, and Black communities. These commitments are not symbolic. They are public promises to your employees, your consumers, and the communities whose trust you have sought.

In moments like this, those promises matter more, not less.

Color Of Change is deeply concerned by the growing willingness of political actors to interfere with independent cultural institutions and by the silence of corporate partners whose support has helped sustain them. History shows us that progress is not preserved by good intentions alone, but by institutions willing to defend their values when they are challenged.

Your company holds significant economic power. Just as importantly, your company holds cultural and moral influence. When powerful institutions remain silent in the face of erasure, that silence functions as consent.

Black history is not a marketing campaign. It is not a seasonal slogan. It is the story of this country and we refuse to let anyone rewrite it. We are calling on you to act. 

Today, we ask you to publicly reaffirm and defend your financial and institutional support for the preservation of Black history and culture, including continued support for the Smithsonian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Defending Black history is not a partisan act. It is an affirmation that this country is strong enough to confront its past honestly and that democracy depends on our willingness to do so.

Your leadership in this moment will signal whether corporate commitments to equity are meant to withstand political pressure or whether they retreat when truth becomes contested.

Future generations will remember who stood firm when history itself was under review.