CINCINNATI (FinalCall.com)�The coalition pushing a boycott here is preparing to kick the campaign up a notch by calling on international consumers not to buy products from Cincinnati-based powerhouses such as Procter & Gamble Co. and Chiquita Brands International, Inc.

The Rev. Stephen Scott, vice chairman of the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, said his group soon would announce plans for a "selective buying campaign," an effort designed to get the attention of Cincinnati�s affluent and powerful business community. He predicted that if consumers put a dent in the coffers of these businesses, which he said "run" Cincinnati, he thinks city leaders will begin to take the boycotters� demands more seriously.

Other companies that may be boycotted, he said, include Kroger Co. and Fifth Third Bank. The companies will be notified of the campaign before it is announced, the Rev. Scott said.

A group of Black activists, the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati, called the boycott of Cincinnati by conventions and entertainers, saying the city hasn�t done enough to address the racial problems that erupted in riots last April after a White police officer shot and killed a fleeing, unarmed, young Black man.

The announcement of the campaign�s next phase comes as the boycott is increasingly gaining credibility and momentum, showing city leaders that there is far-reaching support for the boycott.

Jazz great Wynton Marsalis became the latest person to cancel a planned appearance in Cincinnati, citing lingering racial tension in the city, where Blacks account for 43 percent of the population.

The world-famous jazz musician�s cancellation came a day after word that the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, the largest union of state employees, abandoned plans to hold its convention here in 2005 because of the boycott.

Entertainer Bill Cosby and singer Smokey Robinson, as well as the Temptations and the O�Jays, also have announced plans to honor the boycott.

As a result of the recent cancellations, the Cincinnati Arts Association is considering a lawsuit against boycotters. A lawsuit would seek to recover more than $76,000 in damages from cancellations at CAA venues.

"We decided that the coalition through their actions are interfering with our ability to do business," Steve Loftin, president and executive director of CAA, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "We cannot simply accept this blatant action against our efforts or sit idly by and allow such action to take place without pursuing every reasonable attempt to stop it."

At a Feb. 21 meeting dubbed the "Cincinnati Sanctions Summit," boycott leaders clarified what they are seeking from city officials: amnesty for those arrested during the riots, improved police-community relations and more economic opportunity for Blacks, among other demands.

"Without pressure, there�s no change," the Rev. Damon Lynch III said from the pulpit of his New Prospect Baptist Church. "We are in the process of turning the heat up."

But Bernadette Watson, chief of staff for Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken, said entertainers who have canceled performances have not given city officials an opportunity to discuss progress made since the riots. She said she recently presented the Keys to the City to the Whispers, and Alicia Keys recently performed in town.

"So the people who have canceled have only heard that one side," said Ms. Watson, who is Black. "They have not given the mayor or any of the city officials an opportunity to talk about the collaborative and some of the systemic changes that we�re making, about Valerie Lemmie, the first African American woman getting ready to be our city manager in April.��

The collaborative Ms. Watson referred to is a mediation process that resulted from a lawsuit that Black activists and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a year ago accusing Cincinnati police of 30 years of harassing Blacks. A decision is due by April 5, according to U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott, who is mediating the talks. The lawsuit will be tried in court if a settlement is rejected.

Ms. Watson said it is unfair for boycotters to think effective change can come instantaneously.

"It can�t happen overnight," she said. "But I think the things that we are doing, there will be some real solid changes that will be made by the time of the anniversary of the unrest. When you talk about (the boycott) picking up steam, you�re stopping progress."

But members of the Black United Front, one of the groups backing the boycott, have said the potential long-term changes the boycott will bring about far outweigh the short-term consequences.