Dr. Isaac Richmond, national director of the Commission on Religion and Racism (CORR), said he plans to boycott the Downtown Shell and Subway at 464 N. Main and Auction streets for 381 days – the same number of days it took organizers of the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 to overturn the city’s racially segregated public transit system.

CORR Founder Isaac Richmond (left), George J. Green and Sandra Hebron wait for potential customers to try to dissuade them from shopping at the downtown Shell Store at Main and Auction. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

Hebron gives brothers Greg Williams Jr. (center) and Alvin Williams boycott information and solicits their support.

Longtime CORR member Maxine Thomas tells Al Grant and Ann Bolton about the history of boycotts.

Richmond and the CORR nucleus – Maxine Thomas, George J. Green and Sandra Hebron – are picketing the store to bring attention to what they call “the economic injustice and disrespect of African-American people.”

Repeated efforts to reach the owner of the business for comment were unsuccessful.

Richmond said Rosa Parks is the inspiration for this boycott. Her decision not to give up her bus seat in segregated Montgomery (Alabama) in the ‘50s changed the laws of an entire nation.

Back then, the law protected segregation. Today, discrimination is unlawful, and a host of agencies have been set up to prosecute complaints of retail racism, bias and intimidation.

The Better Business Bureau, however, said it does not have any complaints on file against the Downtown Shell and Subway. Neither does the Memphis Police Department.

Richmond said he prefers the boycott of newer strategies.

“They don’t have a clue what we have in store for them. We’re going to give them hell. They’re gonna have a new respect for black money,” said Richmond.

The Downtown Shell and Subway is across from the Memphis Area Transit Authority customer service center at 444 N. Main St. Bus riders are frequent customers at the convenient store and eatery.

According to Richmond, who founded CORR over 30 years ago, the boycott is a tool to gain respect for black customers. “Because young black customers have been called the N-word and the B-word and run out of the store with a stick,” he alleges.

CORR leaders said they have received more than 100 complaints about “physical assaults, gross disrespect, demeaning and denigrating behavior toward African Americans.”

In a press release put out by CORR, the civil rights and human rights organization, said, “We have sworn statements of complaints against this business from individuals that we refuse to put in public print. But, if the veracity of any of these complaints are questioned by anyone, the Commission on Religion and Racism stands ready to convene a public hearing that testimony from those who filed these complaints and grievances may be heard in their own words.”

The Shell store is the primary boycott target. When asked to comment, a clerk said, “We’re not allowed to say anything,” and refused to provide the name of the store’s owner.

According to the Shelby County Clerk, the Downtown Shell and Subway is a partnership between Downtown Investments, Inc., which owns Shell, and Memphis Downtown Foods, Inc., the owners of Subway.

State records show Vinay Gupta as the registered agent for Downtown Investments, Inc., and Amin Budhawani as the registered agent for Memphis Downtown Foods, Inc.

Greg Williams Jr., 22, and his 19-year-old brother, Alvin Williams, live in the neighborhood and are regular patrons. On a recent Monday, Hebron tried to dissuade the Williams brothers from doing business in the store.

“I come here for a Subway,” Greg Williams explained to the longtime member of CORR. “I live in this neighborhood. I’ve been coming up here for years.”

Alvin Williams said the clerks have never disrespected him or his brother. “There are two sides to a story,” said Williams, adding, “If there is disrespect because of race, then there should be a protest.”

Several customers ignored CORR’s plea and walked passed the picket into the store. Others such as Adrian Tutton, Gregory Douglas, Al Grant and Ann Bolton noted their intentions to respect the boycott.

Tutton, 24, said she was asked to leave the store for no apparent reason. “I called the police and corporate office to complain. They said they would do something about it.”

Grant said he rarely shops at the store. “I see how they treat people,” the 16-year-old said.

Bolton, also 16, said she feels bad when she’s in the store. “I’m not going in there any more. . .I don’t feel like I should be in there.”