Patrice Cullors who co founded Black Lives Matter and
later stepped down from the organization Is facing a new round of
backlash because it turns out that she has renovated the backyard
of one of the properties she purchased back in 2021.
This is a property in topanga.
This is a part of Los Angeles County.
That's a little more.
I mean it's known for its hippie culture.
It's a little more secluded.
It looks like a really nice house and
there seems to be this implication that she has continued misusing
funds from Black Lives Matter to do this work in her backyard.
I want to be clear that there's no evidence of that and I think it's actually
pretty damaging to anyone who wants to look into the use of funds for
Black Lives Matter in a good faith way to put out all of these innuendo stories.
Okay, so let me give you the details and
then I'll tell you why her activity gets so much attention.
Okay, so
black lives matter co founder Patrice Cullors has allegedly spent thousands of
dollars on renovating the backyard at her $1.4 million dollar home in Los Angeles
updates include the construction of a plunge pool as well as a backyard sauna.
Okay, that's fine.
So is there is there any evidence that she used or misused BLM funds to do this?
Why is this a story And it would be a story if there was any evidence that, but
I haven't seen it now.
It's worth noting that she bought this home back in 2021
a year after BLM saw a massive spike in donations, just individual donors.
The average donation was about $30 and obviously people wanted to donate to
the cause following the murder of George Floyd.
They collected $90 million
National Chapter had been either
hoarding the money or misusing the money.
There's been all sorts of accusations thrown around and to be honest,
some of it looks really bad.
Okay, now there's an investigation into it.
Let's see how the investigation plays out.
She purchased the property under a corporate entity,
apparently based in Delaware.
And the timing of the home's purchase is a little questionable because
it's in 2021 after they saw this massive cash infusion.
And then you have the local chapters furious that they didn't receive any
grants or any support for what they were doing in their local communities.
The organization had failed to file taxes.
They have since done so.
And so there there are these issues kind of floating around.
But again, in terms of this latest story involving her backyard,
no evidence that she misused BLM funds to do this work in the backyard photos
obtained by the post show that the pool hasn't had water added to it yet.
They also reveal a small shed that contains the sauna,
a swing set and slide can also be seen in the pictures.
Now colors had officially stepped down from her position as
the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's executive director.
She did so in May of last year now last month
though because the issues keep arising.
Shalomyah Bowers, who emerged as the founders new leader in
April was accused of using 10 million in donor money to pay
his privately owned Bowers consulting firm.
And he's currently, bowers is currently facing a lawsuit as a result of that,
the lawsuit has not been adjudicated.
We don't know what the results of that lawsuit will be, but I felt the need to
bring that up because it's not just about this whole backyard thing,
which again no evidence for that.
There are all sorts of other issues at play including the purchase of a $6
million 2021 it was disclosed that the organization had secretly
purchased a $6 million dollar mansion.
And I think there are more issues with that purchase and
what that home was used for than what we're hearing today
about the backyard of this Topanga Canyon home.
Cullors has previously stated the property was never intended for
personal use but instead a respite for artists and
organizers as they worked on movement related work.
But in an associated press interview,
she revealed that she had at least twice used it for personal purposes.
She later claimed that she had paid the organization back after
using the property for personal use.
I am not involved in any of those investigations.
So all I can do is give you the he said, she said, you know,
rundown of what's happening here, New Yorker had put out or
new york magazine I should say had put out a pretty lengthy piece on all of
the other issues involving the use of BLM donation money.
We did a pretty extensive story on that.
You should look into that because that details some of the issues in
a more elaborate way.
But with that said, I give you that story, I think I'm fair noting that there's no
evidence indicated that she must use funds.
I'm stating it again for I don't know how many times I've said it
already when it comes to the backyard of this Topanga home.
But I did also come across something that really bothered me,
something that I don't, it's just so
wrong because keep in mind that people who donated to Black Lives Matter did so
because they wanted to see reforms, they wanted to support the movement.
They wanted to see a change in how we do policing in this country.
And BLM wasn't supported by billionaires.
It was supported by ordinary people.
Average donation was $30 And when Patrice Cullors was specifically asked
about some of the criticism that she's been facing about the use of these funds.
She said something that bothered me a lot.
This was during an interview with a podcast called into America.
So here it is.
Here's what she said.
>> Contrary to what you know has been reported.
Much of the funding that came in was from individual donors.
That was a lot of white guilt money.
A lot of white folks being like, we just got to put the,
that's a lot of good, I'm really happy.
>> She stepped down from Black Lives Matter.
That statement was pretty disgusting to refer to people who
support the movement as individuals dealing with white guilt.
That's a right wing talking point that erases the goodwill of people
who supported her movement and I find that so utterly disgusting.
Just keeping it real.
How do you say that?
How do you insult people who not only personally, but
financially supported your movement with small dollar donations,
average donation being $30, in the middle of a pandemic by the way,
when tens of millions of Americans had been laid off, and were struggling.
she wasn't doing Black lives Matter any favors by saying that it
ain't white guilt money.
These are people who wanted to see a change who wanted to support you,
who wanted to support the movement.
You just insulted them.
It's pretty gross.