Black Lives Matter Faces Criticism from Grassroots Chapters Over Fundraising Troubles
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A recent report by the Washington Free Beacon has revealed that Black Lives Matter is on the brink of financial insolvency, causing a coalition of 26 local chapters to distance themselves from the national group. The coalition, known as Black Lives Matter Grassroots, has laid the blame for the group’s demise on cofounder Patrisse Cullors, who has been criticized for using charitable funds to enrich her family and friends.
“The plummeting of donations to [Black Lives Matter] is further evidence that donors want to fund the work, not high-priced consultants,” the coalition stated in a recent statement. They added that they are now “engaged in a fight for the soul of Black Lives Matter.”
Financial Mismanagement and Self-Dealing
Tax documents obtained by the Free Beacon show that Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the national arm of the movement, spent more than two-thirds of the $90 million raised following George Floyd’s death in the summer of 2020. The group also suffered a massive drop in donations in its 2022 fiscal year.
Black Lives Matter spent over $10.5 million on high-priced contractors, many of whom share close ties with Cullors. Her brother, Paul Cullors, received $1.6 million for providing “professional security services” for the group, and he also collected a $126,000 salary as “head of security” for the charity. Shalomyah Bowers, Cullors’s chosen successor, brought in $1.7 million to his company, Bowers Consulting, providing management and consulting services to Black Lives Matter.
Bowers’s control of Black Lives Matter proved to be the breaking point between the national group and the local chapters that the group once represented across the country. Black Lives Matter Grassroots filed a lawsuit against Black Lives Matter and Bowers, alleging that Bowers used the charity as his “personal piggy bank” to fraudulently siphon $10 million in “fees” to his company.
A Movement in Crisis
Black Lives Matter Grassroots director Melina Abdullah claimed that she had no idea Black Lives Matter was squandering charitable funds before the two groups broke apart. “We view Black Lives Matter as a movement. So I’ve been less vocal about what’s been happening inside of Black Lives Matter that I frankly have nothing to do with,” Abdullah said on the podcast Roland Martin Unfiltered.
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