The Black Lives Matter organizations have been promoted by a section of the American ruling class as part of an effort to promote racial divisions and obscure common class interests of all workers, including in the fight against police violence. The agenda of these organizations has nothing to do with the grievances of workers and youth of any race or ethnicity. Rather, they speak for privileged sections of the middle class seeking to cash in on the promotion of racial politics to advance their own positions within the state and corporate America.
Cashing in on racialist politics: Black Lives Matter foundation raised $90 million in 2020
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) last week released for the first time a report outlining its financial position. The so-called “2020 Impact Report” states that the organization collected over $90 million last year.
The BLMGNF was founded in 2013 by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi in the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin. It has since promoted and capitalized on the slogan “Black Lives Matter,” raising substantial sums of money, including from large corporate donors and private foundations like the Ford Foundation.
According to the report, BLMGNF had approximately $8.4 million in expenses in 2020, which was distributed in the form of “staffing, operating and administrative expenses, civic engagement, programs and field expenses, rapid response, and crisis intervention.” This includes about $2 million spent on a “get out the vote” campaign to support the Democratic Party in the 2020 elections. There is no breakdown on how the other $6.4 million was spent.
The organization also reported that it has committed $21.7 million in funding to its official and unofficial chapters, in addition to 30 local organizations that received six-figure grants. These funds, it states, “will go toward the sustenance of Black communities and Black movement-building.” BLMGNF ended 2020 with more than $60 million in its coffers.
The BLMGNF has benefited from opposition to police violence which erupted in mass protests across the US and internationally following the police murder of George Floyd last summer. On June 2, seven days into the wave of protests, BLMGNF’s website drew 1.9 million visitors, with a total of 24 million visits in the second half of 2020.
BLMGNF’s report does not include any detail about who donated to the organization last year, and its leaders declined to name prominent donors. However, much of BLM’s funding in 2020 can be linked to the swelling of corporate support for racialist movements, when last year’s multi-ethnic and multi-racial protests shook the ruling class. Multiple corporations pledged substantial sums of money, usually over a period of years, to organizations ostensibly fighting for racial equality.
The BLMGNF is part of a broader group of organizations operating under the umbrella of the “Movement for Black Lives.” The latter includes, in addition to BLMGNF, the National Conference of Black Lawyers and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Cullors is also a board member of the Ella Baker Center, which was founded by Democratic Party member and former Obama advisor Van Jones.
Technology companies were some of the largest contributors to the Black Lives Matter movement. Google pledged $12 million to various groups, while Facebook and Amazon each donated $10 million. Apple pledged $100 million for a Racial Equity and Justice Initiative that will “challenge the systemic barriers to opportunity and dignity that exist for communities of color, and particularly for the black community.”
Walmart announced $100 million over five years will be dedicated to creating a new center for racial equality, and Target donated $10 million to a similar cause.
Before 2020, the Ford Foundation pledged $100 million over six years to several organizations associated with the “Movement for Black Lives.”
The swelling financial basis for BLMGNF has led to infighting over access to the resources. Multiple local branches have accused its leadership of lack of financial transparency and accountability. Ten chapters, dubbed #BLM10, claimed that local groups have received little to no financial assistance from their parent organization. Records BLM shared with the Associated Press say that local chapters received multiple rounds of funding ranging between $800 and $69,000 since 2016.
However, #BLM10 complained that the grants are not proportionate to how much the organization has raised over the years. Additionally, they questioned the decision to remain silent about prominent donors. In its early years, BLM disclosed receiving donations from wealthy celebrities such as Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Prince.
The BLMGNF foundation restructured its chapters into a separate entity called BLM Grassroots last summer. The chapters are eligible for $500,000 grants if they sign on to a multi-year agreement, including a series of demands from leadership. Only one BLM group in Denver met the demands and received funding in December.
In response to the allegations, BLMGNF co-founder Cullors, who now plays the leading role in the organization, claimed that there were misunderstandings about the organization’s finances and that it was often “scraping for money” in previous years.
The Black Lives Matter organizations have been promoted by a section of the American ruling class as part of an effort to promote racial divisions and obscure common class interests of all workers, including in the fight against police violence. The agenda of these organizations has nothing to do with the grievances of workers and youth of any race or ethnicity. Rather, they speak for privileged sections of the middle class seeking to cash in on the promotion of racial politics to advance their own positions within the state and corporate America.
REALITY: BLACKS ARE THE MOST VIOLENT AND RACIST SUBCULTURE IN THE WORLD.
VIDEO: Man Throws Hot Liquid into NYC Bus Driver’s Face
A man threw hot liquid into a New York City bus driver’s face during an altercation because he did not pay his fare, according to a video released by the New York Police Department (NYPD) Thursday.
The video showed the suspect, who was only on the bus for one stop, arguing with the 49-year-old driver around 10:50 a.m. February 3, the New York Post reported.
🚨WANTED🚨for an Assault on board a BX6 MTA bus #morrisana #bronx On 2/3/21 @ 10:50 AMὋReward up to $2500👓Seen him? Know who he is?☎️Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!📞Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! #yourcityyourcall pic.twitter.com/lBvsKH238y
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) February 25, 2021
When he got off the bus at a stop in the Bronx, he threw a cup full of unidentified liquid in the man’s face, according to the video.
The unidentified suspect then fled the scene, traveling west along East 163rd Street.
The bus driver refused medical attention.
“These senseless attacks cannot be tolerated and have to stop. We appreciate the aggressive efforts of the NYPD and hope to see the alleged perpetrator identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” MTA Bus Company President Craig Cipriano said in a statement Thursday.
The suspect is described as being in his mid-40s, 5’8″ tall, weighing around 170 pounds, with a medium complexion. He was last seen wearing a blue mask, black hat, a dark blue jacket with red and white stripes on the sleeves, black boots, and blue jeans.
Police are asking anyone with information leading to the suspect’s capture to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Report: At Least 17 Shot, Four Killed, Friday into Sunday Across Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago
At least 17 people were shot, four fatally, Friday into Sunday in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the first fatality occurred at 8:45 p.m. Friday, following an argument in an apartment. A 16-year-old boy was allegedly beaten as a result of the dispute, and when he fled the scene he was pursued, shot, and fatally wounded.
A 32-year-old male sitting in a vehicle “at a gas station in the first block of West 111th Street” was shot just before 10 p.m. Friday when someone in another vehicle pulled up beside him and opened fire. A passenger got behind the wheel and drove the 32-year-old to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Hours later, at 3:22 a.m. Saturday, an unresponsive 32-year-old was found “in front of a home in the 9100 block of South Emerald Avenue.” He had been shot and was transported to a hospital, where they pronounced him dead.
Just after midnight Sunday a man “in the first block of West 91st Street” was shot multiple times in the back following an argument. He died at the scene.
Breitbart News reported two people were injured Friday night when a gunman opened fire on Chicago expressway. The wounded individuals, a male driver and a female driver, were shot while on the Eisenhower Expressway.
As of Friday there were 39 Chicago expressway shootings in 2021 alone.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
San Francisco is in the midst of a massive crime wave, with homicides rising 35% in 2020. The city has also become synonymous with petty crime and public nuisances, such as open drug use and defecation on the sidewalks, leading many residents to consider moving elsewhere.
Man Fights Back After Robber Targets His Family's Car in Golden Gate Park in SF
A smash and grab robbery in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park was caught on cell phone video after the victim prevented the suspect from driving off with his belongings by chasing him on foot.
The victim, Jason Andaya, was in Golden Gate Park for 10 minutes with his wife Natalie and son Jasper, 2, when the incident occurred. The family was on a road trip from Seattle, KTVU reported.
"I’m just wondering like what's this guy doing on that side of our vehicle… he's got no business there," Andaya told the station.
The video, taken on Feb. 24 by SF resident Forrest Lanning, shows a man in a blue hoodie snatching a suitcase from the broken window of a parked SUV and dashing off to the other side of the street.
Andaya runs after the man to a getaway car driven by an accomplice and gets into a scuffle before the backpack, which was filled with his son’s clothes and toys, is dropped by the suspect.
Lanning recorded the incident around 1:08 p.m. in the area of Martin Luther King Drive and Kezar Drive and shared the video on Twitter.
“I saw this guy at the car and I thought he was just trying to open it, but then I saw him break the window and then I’m like, he’s doing one of those smash-and-grabs,” Lanning told CBS SF BayArea's Betty Yu (@bett_yu). “And then he was going to run across the street and what I didn’t expect is the owner of that car, chased after him.”
Lanning managed to get the suspects’ Chevy Impala license plate, 5ZZN552.
— Forrest Lanning (@rabidmarmot) February 24, 2021
The San Francisco Police Department said it has no record of the incident. Andaya and his family called 911 but couldn’t stay to file a police report. They will do so once they return home.
"At this time, we've not located a police report matching the incident depicted in the Twitter post. It is possible that the victim did not file a report,” the department said in a statement.
An SFPD spokesperson added that robberies in the Richmond district have increased, but auto burglaries are down.
This is the second smash-and-grab Lanning has witnessed in Golden Gate Park in two years. Both times the victims had checked out of hotels and carried luggage in their vehicles.
San Francisco to Redistribute $120 Million from Police to Black Community
San Francisco Mayor London Breed released a plan Thursday to redistribute $120 million from the city’s law enforcement budget to projects aimed at helping the city’s black minority.
Bay Area public radio station KQED reported:
San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Thursday announced a plan for how the city will spend $120 million over the next two years, pulled from law enforcement budgets, to reinvest in the city’s long-underserved Black communities.
“The Dream Keeper Initiative,” as it’s dubbed, increases investments in workforce development, health campaigns, youth and cultural programs and housing support. The allocations reflect spending priorities conveyed by Black residents during a series of community meetings and public surveys led last year by the city’s Human Rights Commission, Breed said.
…
Black people make up only about 5% of San Francisco’s population — a proportion that has consistently decreased in the last 50 years — but make up nearly 40% of its homeless residents. Black residents have among the city’s highest mortality rates and lowest median household incomes, and are involved in a disproportionately high percentage of police use-of-force incidents.
Breed is the city’s first African-American mayor.
The city’s plan follows similar plans in Los Angeles, where Mayor Eric Garcetti promised last year to cut up to $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department — more than 10% of the total — for investment in “communities of color.”
The move was a response to activists’ demands to “defund the police,” which accompanied the Black Lives Matter protests.
San Francisco is in the midst of a massive crime wave, with homicides rising 35% in 2020. The city has also become synonymous with petty crime and public nuisances, such as open drug use and defecation on the sidewalks, leading many residents to consider moving elsewhere.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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