Black Lives Matter's co-founder says she is resigning from its foundation, but not because of what she called right-wing attempts to discredit her. Patrisse Cullors said Friday would be her last day at the foundation, which she has led for nearly six years. The 37-year-old activist's finances came under scrutiny last month after it was reported she owned four homes.
Black Lives Matter started as a hashtag in 2013 and has since become a global movement. Ms Cullors said she would step down from the Black Lives Matter Global Network to focus on her forthcoming second book, An Abolitionist's Handbook, and a TV development deal with Warner Bros highlighting black stories.
Ms Cullors told the AP news agency her resignation had been planned for more than a year and was not related to claims that she had misused donations to acquire her property portfolio. There is no evidence to suggest that she had done so.
"Those were right-wing attacks that tried to discredit my character, and I don't operate off of what the right thinks about me," she said.
The foundation said it ended 2020 with a balance of more than $60m, after operating expenses, grants to black-led organisations and other expenses.
Last month the New York Post reported that Ms Cullors - a self-described Marxist - had bought a $1.4m luxury home in Topanga Canyon, near Malibu, and owned three other homes, including a custom ranch in Georgia.
Facebook banned users from sharing the story, citing privacy concerns, and a black journalist said he was locked out of his Twitter account after he posted the article.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57277777Conservative critics - but also some black activists - called for an investigation into whether Ms Cullors had used the organisation's funds to enrich herself.
In April the foundation said that Ms Cullors had received $120,000 between 2013 and 2019 for her work.
The Black Lives Matter Foundation said in a statement: "As a registered 501c3 non-profit organization, [the foundation] cannot and did not commit any organizational resources toward the purchase of personal property by any employee or volunteer.
"Any insinuation or assertion to the contrary is categorically false."
The Murdoch owned New York Post ran articles.
As protests broke out across the country in the name of Black Lives Matter, the group’s co-founder went on a real estate buying binge, snagging four high-end homes for $3.2 million in the US alone, according to property records.
Patrisse Khan-Cullors, 37, also eyed property in the Bahamas at an ultra-exclusive resort where Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods both have homes, The Post has learned. Luxury apartments and townhouses at the beachfront Albany resort outside Nassau are priced between $5 million and $20 million, according to a local agent.
The self-described Marxist last month purchased a $1.4 million home on a secluded road a short drive from Malibu in Los Angeles, according to a report. The 2,370-square-foot property features “soaring ceilings, skylights and plenty of windows” with canyon views. The Topanga Canyon homestead, which includes two houses on a quarter-acre, is just one of three homes Khan-Cullors owns in the Los Angeles area, public records show.
Some fellow activists were taken aback by the real estate revelations.
Hawk Newsome, the head of Black Lives Matter Greater New York City, which is not affiliated with Khan-Cullors’ Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, called for “an independent investigation” to find out how the global network spends its money.
Last year, Khan-Cullors and spouse Janaya Khan ventured to Georgia to acquire a fourth home — a “custom ranch” on 3.2 rural acres in Conyers featuring a private airplane hangar with a studio apartment above it, and the use of a 2,500-foot “paved/grass” community runway that can accommodate small airplanes.
The three-bedroom, two-bath house, about 30 minutes from Atlanta, has an indoor swimming pool and a separate “RV shop” that can accommodate the repair of a mobile home or small aircraft, according to the real estate listing.
https://nypost.com/2021/04/10/inside-bl ... ing-binge/Donations and pledges from corporations and individuals poured into the movement at that point. In February, the BLM nonprofit co-founded by Khan-Cullors told the AP that they took in $90 million in 2020, with $21.7 million committed to grant funding and helping 30 black-led groups across the country.
Black Lives Matter leaders would not specify how much money they took in from prominent donors, according to the AP report.
It’s also not clear how much Khan-Cullors makes in salary as one of the leaders of the movement, since its finances are split among both nonprofit and for-profit entities and difficult to trace.