Organizers of the Black Lives Matter Grassroots held a press briefing today after the 63-page 990 document filed by the BLM Foundation to the IRS revealed how the latter spent $37 million on real estate, grants, consultants, and other undisclosed expenses. On Monday, in an exclusive report by The Associated Press, the Black Lives Matter Network Foundation was said to have made $90 million in received donations in 2020, with a significant amount of those funds being used for various services, such as $4 million for an operating budget, $970,000 paid to Damon Turner – the father of Patrise Cullors’ child – for producing live events, and $840,000 paid to her brother Paul Cullors, who provided security services. The foundation still had $42 million in net assets.
Given that the Black Lives Matter platform has multiple different entities, BLM Grassroots — the first organization to use the term Black Lives Matter and previously owned the rights to the official BLM Instagram page up until two months ago — is not involved with the foundation. The controversy concerning how the BLM Global Network spent money has nonetheless plagued the smaller establishments with heavy press scrutiny, prompting a clarification on a multitude of things. “We really understand that the world sees Black Lives Matter as a single entity, and we’ve been moving in that way, although we’re actually several different entities,” Melina Abdullah, co-founder of BLM Grassroots, said during the press briefing.
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The academic and civic leader addressed what’s perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions people have been wondering — “Where is the money?”
“We need to be clear that the $90 million that poured into BLM in 2020 and any subsequent donations, ‘cos we know money didn’t just stop coming in in 2020, was poured into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation,” Melina added. “They did provide a sizeable contribution to the Black Lives Matter support fund, which is held by tides, however, the bulk; the overwhelming majority, sits with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is not an entity that we have any decision-making power over or influence in.”
In the report by The Post, a total of $32 million was invested in stocks, according to the tax filing, which is required for a nonprofit organization to keep its tax-exempt status. The investment is to be used as a future endowment in an effort to ensure the BLM foundation continues to succeed with future projects and campaigns, it was claimed.
Last month, it was revealed how the BLM Global Network spent $6 million on a Southern California home, though the property was said to have been purchased for work-related affairs concerning and not for pleasure, as previously reported by a heap of media outlets.