Are you willing to skip online shopping, dinner with friends, getting your hair done (or is it getting your hair did?), drinks at the bar/lounge/club, going to the movies, taking a cab, etc. tomorrow? What if it's for a good cause?

A group of radio DJs, led by Atlanta attorney/morning show host Warren Ballentine, are calling on black people nationwide to keep their wallets closed on Friday. In the wake of, among other things, all the noose hangings, wrongful incarcerations, and the mortgage crisis, Ballentine wants to teach the government a lesson about our worth.

"I'm a lawyer and I'm seeing a lot of people across the board suffer from the mortgage crisis," he said. "I'm asking all Americans to participate, not just blacks. I'm asking people — if you can — don't spend any money."

With an estimated purchasing power approaching $1 trillion, black consumers are a formidable U.S. economic force. There are about 36.4 million blacks in the United States.

But Ballentine quickly adds, the boycott is more a symbolic than economic stab at the nation's problems.

"It's showing togetherness and unity and it's one thing we haven't shown the federal government in a long time," Ballentine said.

Is the government really receptive to lessons? I'm not so sure about that, nor am I very faithful in black peoples' ability to hold off on conspicuously consuming, even for a day. Also, there are plenty of black-owned businesses and Mom and Pops that would suffer if no one used their services for a whole day. Nevertheless, a blackout definitely has the ability to shake things up if it works.