Prominent Attorney Tina M. Patterson Advocates for Diverse Consumers to Leverage Spending Power Against DEI Rollbacks

DETROIT, MI, UNITED STATES, January 27, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- With the recent Executive Order terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs signed by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term in office, major corporations, Target being the latest, began taking immediate action by announcing the elimination of their own DEI initiatives.

However, according to Attorney Tina M. Patterson, President of The PuLSE Institute, diverse consumers have an equally available power to exercise in expressing their dissatisfaction with these changes.

Patterson’s message is simple. “The Power of the dollar is in your hand. Withdraw it if it refuses to serve you.”

For African Americans, that power is worth nearly $910 billion in consumption in 2019, which is set to increase to nearly $1.7 trillion (in nominal dollars) in 2030.

Additionally, beyond consumption, when it comes to corporate leadership, companies with diverse leadership teams continue to be associated with higher financial returns.

However, the power of the dollar reaches beyond spending. Attorney Patterson notes that its power can lead to the direct overturning of laws that uphold discrimination.

“The economic power of the Montgomery Bus Boycott ushered in the Civil Rights Era. Not only did it cripple the economy, but it led to direct dismantling of unconstitutional laws. The times may have changed, but the principle remains the same, and we would be unwise to ignore this effective and evergreen strategy.”

Patterson, a veteran legal practitioner and former United States Federal Government Attorney, has taken on consumer racial discrimination cases and successfully won in litigation challenging unjust government practices as Principal Attorney of her own law firm, Patterson Justice Counsel, PLLC, based in Detroit, Michigan.

Attorney Patterson's work has established her as a prominent woman in executive leadership, which has been recognized in the official United States Congressional record. Attorney Patterson is also one of the handful of Black women leading major national think tanks and among the rare 2% of Black women lawyers in the United States.

A frequent analyst and sought after speaker on law, public policy, and leadership, Attorney Patterson regularly serves as a panelist and keynote speaker advocating for equitable policies and diversity in government and business leadership, including The PuLSE Institute’s Global Women’s History Month program with keynote by UN Under-Secretary General, Dr. Natalia Kanem.

As President of The PuLSE Institute, Patterson has hosted leading voices on racial and economic justice, including Keith Ellison, Attorney General of the State of Minnesota and Top Prosecutor in the George Floyd Murder Trial. In addition, Patterson’s prolific writings on racial and economic justice for The PuLSE Institute are preserved in the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, a first-class archival depository that houses the papers of every governor of the State of Michigan.

In September 2024, Patterson delivered the closing speech at The PuLSE Institute’s Annual National Conference on Equity and the Economy, where the theme was “Economic Security and Justice for All: An Inclusive Mandate for Closing America’s Racial Wealth Gap.” Patterson spoke on Demanding Economic Accountability in Corporate and Government Institutions, citing a need to uphold ethical standards of the economy, including guardrails and procedures to ensure that economic freedoms and rights are respected, of which DEI is a significant piece. She explained, “This is particularly true when overseeing historic practices that negatively impacted or downright prevented and targeted ‘minority’ groups in this country from gaining significant financial gain, business equity, and wealth.”

With the current political climate prepped to roll back hard-fought gains and unimaginable sacrifices when it comes to civil rights, Patterson urges that we are living in a moment to take bold and courageous action.

“History does not serve to merely learn facts about what happened in the past,” Patterson said, “but to connect it to the present moment, appreciate the bold risks taken that shaped our present reality, and improve by strategically applying practices that will design a better future.”

She added, “When thinking of a time period that tested the conscience of the nation, like the Civil War or Civil Rights eras, you don’t need to place yourself in that moment of time. You are living it now. If you’ve ever wondered what you would have done back then, now is the time to take that action.”

Tina Patterson
The PuLSE Institute
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