The financial foibles of the Black Lives Matter movement have provided plenty of fodder for conservative publications over the past few years. And for an increasing number of BLM supporters, they’ve probably resulted in a lot of head scratching.
Most recently, the organization has come in for scrutiny due to its purchase of a mansion in California, a purchase which had previously not been disclosed to BLM members or financial contributors. Avowed communist BLM founder Patrisse Cullors appears to have been behind the purchase of the house, which was bought for $6 million cash in October 2020. The house was apparently purchased by an LLC run by Cullors, then transferred to another LLC set up by a law firm.
BLM claims that the house was intended to act as a creator space or safe space for black artists and creators of content. Yet to this day the house has apparently not been used for that purpose. That leads one to believe that the house was likely purchased for the use of Cullors and her inner circle.
This isn’t the first questionable real estate transaction Cullors has engaged in. And every time she’s questioned on her financial dealings and her handling of BLM money, she goes on the offensive, attacking those who would question her forthrightness.
How much longer will financial contributors to BLM keep opening up their wallets before they start demanding to see where their money is going? How many millions will BLM have to spend to enrich its founders and leaders before grass roots activists begin to really demand accountability from the organization?
If there’s a silver lining to all of this, it’s that BLM seems to be handicapping itself with its ineptitude and inability to actually finance what it wants to do. As radical as BLM’s aims may be, if the organization keeps spending money on buying luxury real estate, it won’t have much left over to fund activism or political advocacy. And as bad as BLM’s elites may be at financial management, we would be wise to remember that it’s never a good idea to stop your enemy when he’s making a mistake.