BLM is an affirmation & embrace of the resistance & resilience of Black people. Bowers, whose firm received the lion's share of money spent on consultants in the last fiscal year, hit back at the allegations that the foundation has a conflict of interest and said the last BLM board approved the contract with his firm when he was not a board member. Its extremely important to have transparency and good governance at any organization with this level of global fame, said Mr. Hansford, who is also executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center. The women were recording a YouTube video to mark the first anniversary of George Floyds murder, and they discussed their racial-justice work and the difficulties they had faced over the year. is wishing that we could have paused for one to two years, to just not do any work and just focus on the infrastructure, she said in the interview. WASHINGTON (SBG) - The Black Lives Matter organization revealed it took in over $90 million in 2020, a year marked by nationwide protests ignited by the killing of George Floyd and other black. He said that investigations by state and federal agencies could be warranted. ", BLACK LIVES MATTER PAID NEARLY $4M TO BOARD SECRETARY, CO-FOUNDER'S BROTHER, AND FATHER OF HER CHILD, Melina Abdullah, the director of BLMGR and a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter, said at a recent press conference that "the assets that we built, the financial resources, the social media platforms and the name Black Lives Matter have been taken from us and are under the control of consultants. The group informally released a batch of financial information. While tax-exempt non-profits like the BLMGNF are not prohibited from some lobbying, IRS rules prohibit them from devoting a 'substantial' part of their activities to influencing legislation. On March 30, I asked the organization questions about the house, which is known internally as Campus. Afterward, leaders circulated an internal strategy memo with possible responses, ranging from Can we kill the story? to Our angle needs to be to deflate ownership of the property. The memo includes bullet points explaining that Campus is part of cultural arm of the org potentially as an influencer house, where abolition+ based content is produced by artists & creatives. Another bullet is headed Accounting/990 modifications and reads in part: need to first make sure its legally okay to use as we plan to use it. The memo also describes the property as a safehouse for leaders whose safety has been threatened. The Studio City property, which includes a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming pool, a soundstage and office space, was intended as a campus for a black artists fellowship and is currently used for that purpose, the board member said. Newly released tax filings reveal that BLM paid a company owned by Damon Turner (left), the father of co-founder Patrisse Cullors' (right) child, nearly $970,000 to help 'produce live events' and provide other 'creative services.' Theyre trying to be transparent. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Young White Core Americans must make 220 by 2040 a well advertised and well known environmental goal for the population of the USA. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images). 'Transparency and accountability is so important to us, but so is trust,' said Gay, the BLM foundation chair. If there are problems with the groups tax filings, there could be civil and criminal liabilities for the people and organizations involved. Two mothers who lost their sons to police violence demanded the organization stop using their names to raise funds. Real-estate purchases have been a problem for the BLMGNF outside of the U.S. as well. Black Lives Matter of Greater New York chair Hawk Newsome questions how much Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors has contributed to charity. Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. This password will be used to sign into all, Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty, Black Lives Matter: The Story of the First 10 Years, Black Lives Matter Secretly Bought a $6 Million House. 'When resources came in, when opportunities came in, (the foundation) alone would be the ones to decide who was going to take advantage of them, without having to take any consideration of the other organizers whose work was giving them the access to these resources and opportunities in the first place,' said Ndgo, who organized a group of chapters that confronted the foundation over issues of transparency and accountability. . REVEALED: BLM founder Patrisse Cullors paid her baby father Transcript: Patrisse Cullors on Making Mistakes. Cullors has used the mansion twice for personal reasons - once for a Biden inauguration party, and another time for her son's birthday. The memo notes: Holes in security story: Use in public YT videos.. She denies taking money from BLM for personal matters and says all purchases - including a lavish $6mm LA home - were legitimate. The credibility of the entire movement is at stake based on these choices, for better or worse., But he added, They deserve a little grace here. The house was to be used, among other things, as an artist retreat, the filing said, but identifying information is not being released here due to safety and security concerns and threats to B.L.M.G.N.F.s leadership, staff and creators, the form said. . By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. Much of the outside critical attention on the group focused on her involvement. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images), BLM facing scrutiny after tax documents allege donations were given to family members, investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. Walmart orders workers not to share company secrets or customer information with AI like ChatGPT - just one month after Amazon and Microsoft issued similar warnings, 'Tragic human error' caused Greece's worst ever rail crash that killed scores of people when two trains hit head on, destroying carriages in 1,300C blaze, You know, contrary to what, you know, has been reported, much of the funding that came in was from individual donors. I was the victim of a heinous crime in my own home - and it gave me more than a 'flush' of anger! He was acquitted in a Senate trial. The foundation started by organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement spent more than $1.2 million lobbying members of Congress last year, including a push to impeach Donald Trump a second time, new tax filings show. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (TND) California's Department of Justice is reportedly warning a Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization it will hold leaders accountable if they fail to provide financial . This story has been shared 129,654 times. Its part of campaign to smoke out and then attack unpopular Republican cuts. Ted Cruz accuses AG Merrick Garland of ignoring threats to Supreme Court justices and crisis pregnancy centers in VERY heated Senate exchange, Psychologist reveals the most common phrases that NARCISSISTS use to manipulate you during EVERY stage of a relationship, New York City man, 43, is arrested after hijacking American Airlines BUS from JFK Airport then taking it on a 17-mile joyride through Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan before being caught, Rolling with the punches! The median home price has cooled off to $790,000, a notable drop from last year's price of $925,000, Redfin data showed." 'People who work for organizations, black-led organizations, they deserve to be paid. The leader of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been accused by former colleagues of stealing more than $10 million in donations from the organization for personal use, according to a lawsuit filed in court this week. The organization offered the first official accounting of its finances recently, disclosing a filing to the I.R.S. This is going to be like my volunteer work. Black Lives Matter has come under fiscal scrutiny since 2020, when the group received $90 million in donations amid protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. After accounting for expenses and grant disbursements, the organization said, it had $60 million on hand. DeSantis Promises Florida Will Control Disney Content. Thanks to everyone for your support. Its not a critique that says what youre doing is illegal or even unethical; it might just be unstrategic. Its far from a box, with more than 6,500 square feet, more than half a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, several fireplaces, a soundstage, a pool and bungalow, and parking for more than 20 cars, according to real-estate listings. Cullors, 37, has reportedly purchased four high-end homes for $3.2 million in the U.S. alone, per New York Post, including property in a Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles County for $1.4 million. Cullors founded the Black Lives Matter movement with Garza and Tometi in 2013. The former BLM leader did admit previously that her sister, mother, and brother were employed with the organization. BLM reportedly brought in $90 million in donations last year, and questions have emerged about if or how Cullors is paid by the organization and how much she has contributed to charity, per Daily Mail. Sirhan's lawyer, Angela Berry, says: Berry has said the 78-year-old man, who has spent more than 54 years in prison, is not a danger to society and should be released. I'm going to be here for a year or two, and then I'm going to bounce. Also raising eyebrows was the fact that during the last fiscal year, Cullors was the foundation board's sole voting director and held no board meetings, according to the filing. The state has a near-total abortion ban, and now activists and GOP officials are fighting an exemption for physician-defined medical emergencies. She explains the press to the president, preaches Twitter-is-not-real-life, and keeps the West Wing from leaking. The U.S. Is Choosing Child Labor Over More Immigration. She did not discuss the purchase of the Toronto property during her MSNBC interview, but say 'having real estate is very valuable for an institution. 60 million was unaccounted for. Hundreds of people violently detained during a protest in the Bronx could receive $21,500 each. We never actually started in the position, so we never received any detailed information, Themba told the Examiner. Prince Harry is doing a livestream Q&A for anyone who missed his two Oprah interviews, his six-hour Netflix documentary, and his book, The Surprisingly Contrarian Case Against Lying About Science. The donations exploded following the May 2020 death of George Floyd, whose death under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer sparked protests across the US and around the world, the foundation said. RNC Loyalty Test Only Punishes Honest Candidates, Not Trump. Theyre all indicators that the money may not be going where its supposed to be going, he says. BLMGNF is incorporated in the state of Delaware, and was granted nonprofit status in December 2020, according to public records. 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The organizations executive director stepped down just months after the nonprofit declared it had raised over $90 million, and in the year since, theres been no one at the helm, according to a Washington Examiner investigation. The foundation told AP that it committed $21.7 million in grant funding to official and unofficial BLM chapters, as well as 30 Black-led local organizations. The foundation had an operating budget of about $4 million, according to a board member. "Make no mistake, the allegations of Melina Abdullah and BLM Grassroots (BLMGR) are false. He worked previously in New York City as the Brooklyn courts reporter for the New York Daily News, covering major criminal trials as well as working on enterprise stories. 2024 Polls Show DeSantis Cant Easily Knock Out Trump. We were told that concerns about financial transparency and community accountability were rumours, not a big deal, and whispers from so-called counter-organizers., Tory Russell, a prominent activist in Ferguson, Missouri, said that he felt depressed whenhe learnedabout about the California property. We've received your submission. We have seen this tactic of terror time and again, but our movement will not be silenced., In addition to the Topanga Canyon estate, Cullors and her wife, Janaya Khan, also own a custom ranch on 3.2 acres in Conyers, Georgia that boasts an airplane hangar. With $8.4 million in expenses and $21.7 million committed to local chapters, the group ended 2020 with an approximate balance of $60 million, it stated in an impact statement. He is pictured alongside his brother Monte. Why young migrant workers are illegally filling a void in the job market. That was matched by online interest, with the BLMGNF website getting a record 1.9 million visitors on June 2 an almost 5,000 percent increase over the most trafficked day in March, the report said. Black Lives Matter spent $1.2M lobbying Congress: Pushed for Trump's IMPEACHMENT over Jan. 6, tried to abolish the DEA and end life sentences, bombshell tax filings show. But BLMGNF has not submitted those forms for 2020 or 2021. theGRIOs DeMicia Inman contributed to this report. While BLM leaders and movement workers were on the street risking their lives, Mr. Bowers remained in his cushy offices devising a scheme of fraud and misrepresentation to break the implied-in-fact contract between donors and BLM.. "Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) is here to give light and fight for Black liberation," the statement said in part. Privacy Policy and Why arent you spending it on policy or, you know, other strategies that an organization might take to address the core issues around Black Lives Matter?. The suit, filed by Black Lives Matter Grassroots, was light on details of the alleged theft of funds, but delved into the fissures within the network of Black Lives Matter groups, charting changes in leadership and power that left Bowers with tight control of the organization. Although that is permissible under Delaware law, where the foundation is incorporated, that governance structure gives the appearance that Cullors alone decided who to hire and how to spend donations. Other. As a fledgling nonprofit, it had been under the fiscal sponsorship of a well-established charity, and wasnt required to publicly disclose its financials until it became an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit in December 2020. Patrisse Cullors, who co-founded the charity in 2013, said BLM saw an unexpected 'tsunami of funding' - to the tune of $90 million - after Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police in 2020 and argued the charity did not have the infrastructure to support the donations. Who the fuck are you? The filing shows that the group's lobbying spending was devoted in part to 'lobby member[s] of Congress to vote in favor of impeachment.'. BLM co-founders Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Ay Tometi had pledged to build a decentralized organization governed by the consensus of BLM chapters. Shalomyah Bowers was called in the court filing as a rogue administrator, a middle man turned usurper who siphoned contributions to the nonprofit activist group to use as a personal piggy bank, according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. Kara Swisher talks with the Council on Foreign Relations president about Bidens spy-balloon-size missed opportunity. The former executive director claimed BLM kept details about the purchase under wraps because they feared for the safety of the foundation's leaders. BLM took in over $90 million last year: Critics of the foundation contend more of that money should have gone to the families of Black victims of police brutality who have been unable to. According to public records, the property was . The national Black Lives Matter foundation raised more than $90 million dollars in 2020, with an average donation of about $30, the organization announced in a report Tuesday. 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But critics say the BLM Global Network Foundation has increasingly moved away from being a black organizing network and has become a philanthropic and political organization run without democratic input. We've received your submission. The father of Cullors' child,Damon Turner, was paid nearly $970,000to help 'produce live events'. An all-woman crew wasn't always the plan, with a handful of men picked and "very, very excited" for the flyover before they were abruptly told they were being replaced, an aircrew member told Fox News Digital. The release of the tax filing, Internal Revenue Service Form 990 for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, was the first time the group offered an official accounting of its finances. The disclosures had contributed to the idea that there is a disturbing gap between the fortunes of the movements most visible figures and on-the-ground activists across the country, and Cullors resigned as executive director of Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation on May 27, within a few days of the patio chat. It incurred $8.4 million in operating expenses, distributed $21.7 million in grants to more than 30 organizations, and retained some. 'Our firm stepped in when Black Lives Matter had no structure and no staff,' he said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. "They found him suitable for release last time and nothing has changed," Berry said. The statement did not address why, if the house was primarily intended to be a creative space, relatively little content has been produced there over the course of 17 months. With $60 million on hand, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundations coffers are overflowing but its unclear who controls all that money, according to a report. In the fall of 2020, ten city chapters issued a public statement rebuking the global network for its opacity, and the families of some Black victims of police violence have complained that they have seen little of the funds that have flowed to the movements most visible facet. BLM reportedly brought in $90 million in donations last year, and questions have emerged about if or how Cullors is paid by the organization and how much she has contributed to charity, per Daily Mail. And then there was a flurry around where did the money go, She added: 'I think that part of the issue has been and was that there wasn't a clear sense of how do we talk about this money? Thanks for contacting us. All Black activists know the fear these malicious and serious actions are meant to instill: the fear of being silenced, the trauma of being targeted, the torture of feeling ones family is exposed to danger just for speaking out against unjust systems. No one expected the foundation to grow at this pace and to this scale, Cicley Gay, chair of the board of directors, said in a statement on Tuesday. ', Cullorshad said previously that her sister, mother, and brother were employed with BLM, D'Zhane Parker, left, Cicley Gay, center, and Shalomyah Bowers pose for a portrait on Friday, May 13, 2022, in Atlanta. The Black Lives Matter foundation has revealed it received more than $90 million in donations last year despite the movement being splintered by ongoing feuds about the lack of funding. The philosophical debate behind the lab-leak question. Its really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that its the people that carry this movement, he continued. Both told the Washington Examiner that they never took the job. So far neither bill has passed both chambers of Congress. Bowers also said in the statement that BLMGNF had always planned to disclose the house in legal filings this May, that it does not serve as anyones personal residence, and that purchasing property via private LLCs is customary in real estate as a way of protecting assets from litigation and liability. Transcript: Patrisse Cullors on Making Mistakes on hand because they feared for the population of the had! Press to the I.R.S its finances recently, disclosing a filing to the,! Memo also describes the property as a safehouse for leaders whose safety been... Foundation had an operating budget of about $ 4 million, according to a member... - and it gave me more than 30 organizations, and brother were employed the... 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