This study investigates corporate decisions to engage in corporate socio-political activism (CSA) and retail investor response to such engagements, using manually collected evidence of companies’ support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign. Our results show that racial and gender diversity of the board of directors is positively related to the likelihood of CSA engagement. We find that speaking up in support of the BLM campaign attracts retail investor attention. However, it influences their investment decision only if speaking up is backed up by a monetary donation to BLM-related causes on the same day. This effect is observed for companies that have black directors on board, larger companies, and companies headquartered in Democrat states. There is no corresponding increase in firm value. Our results suggest that retail investor preference for companies that engage in CSA is likely guided by moral sentiment.