king suggested boycotting things sold by white businesses as a nonviolent way of protesting and getting people's attention. he explains that one black person might be poor, but all together, they spent a lot of money. this gave them power. if they stopped buying things from businesses owned by white people, then those businesses would lose a lot of money. then they would have to pay attention, or else they could go out of business. meanwhile, black people could use their money to buy things from businesses owned by other blacks. king says: