Hold companies accountable

In the few weeks that President Donald Trump has taken office, he has enacted numerous policies that have aggravated the public writing a ban that targets Muslim countries, choosing controversial cabinet members and taking steps to get rid of Planned Parenthood.

A simple way for people, especially students, to actively dissent from Trump’s actions is to not support companies that work with, or have leaders who back Trump. It is an easy task that goes a long way.

The easiest and most immediate ways to enact change are often done through social media or protests.

However, it is easy for those steps to not be engaging enough or hard to implement all the time.

A number of boycotts and bans including #GrabYourWallet campaign and The Donald Trump Resistance (DTJR) have recently spiked in impressions online as a result of the immigration order to limit refugees.

Both campaigns shed light on which companies to boycott that support or  have supported Trump.

Uber has gotten some backlash for its supposed support of Trump’s presidency last month.

Its CEO, Travis Kalanick, addressed his concerns about its relationship with Trump by saying that the company had to work with him to “fulfill Uber’s mission of improving global transportation,” vowing Iber will work with the Trump administration.

That same weekend, #deleteuber trended in the U.S. on Twitter, and many vowed to switch to Lyft, which donated money to the ACLU, as a result of the travel ban.

Because of the backlash, Kalanick stepped down from Trump’s business advisory council which was made up from the country’s biggest business leaders to provide the president guidance from different private sectors.

Other companies that have outwardly supported Trump include The Home Depot, with its cofounder supporting the presidency, L.L. Bean which donated thousands of dollars to Trump’s Super PA.

New Balance’s CEO actively raised funds for Trump’s presidency.

However, not all companies are untrustworthy. A number of companies have gone out of their way to actively distance themselves from Trump, rather many companies have gone of their way to go against Trump’s policies.

Because of the travel ban, Starbucks wrote a message on its website condemning the actions of the ban, and announced its initiative to hire 10,000 refugees around the world in 75 countries by 2018.

Over 127 companies from startups to tech giants, including Apple, Netflix and Spotify, have come together to legally fight against Trump in court against the travel ban.

There are many alternatives to the major companies that have supported Trump. Taking those actions to take away their support, forces companies to reevaluate their support.

As seen with companies like Uber and Shoes.com, it is possible to condemn and take away Trump’s support.