People in Rochester, and across the country, marked Tuesday as #BlackoutDay2020, a day of financial boycott to effect social change and promote equality.

Organizers say if you must spend money, spend it at a Black-owned business.

McKenzie Duncan of Gates said, "The only way to make people listen is to stop buying from them, to hurt their money, and that's what they really care about is the money and not the people."

Duncan believes the Blackout protest is important for the current movements to drive social and systematic change in the country.

"If I'm going to pour [money] into any type of economy, then I’d rather put it back into people that I can trust and that care about me and I can care about them," Duncan says as she enjoyed food at ROC City Ramen Tuesday evening.

It's no coincidence that Blackout Day fell as Rochester celebrated it's first ever Black Restaurant Week.

Veronica Dasher, Vice President of Rochester Black Young Professionals, says, "We were intentional in that we made this Black Restaurant Week, the first one in Rochester with a purpose."

Duncan adds, "It works well because say you still need to go somewhere, you still need to buy some food, you know where to buy that food now, you know where you should be going."

Organizers of Black Restaurant Week say it was also created to provide additional support and funds during the pandemic.

Taren Greenidge, President of Rochester Black Young Professionals, adds, "We know that 40 percent of Black-owned businesses are not expected to survive the coronavirus and COVID pandemic."

The hope is that this week will help change that.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought us to a place all collectively, where we need to focus on what we do as individuals and as a community," says Jerome Underwood, co-owner of Caribbean Heritage Restaurant.

"So I hope that it lasts for more than a week or two so that they really, really can see what we can do," Duncan adds.

Rochester's Black Restaurant Week runs through July 12.