this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2023
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BLM is a brand though. The lady who founded it just bought a £1.25M house in LA's exclusive Topanga neighbourhood for all cash.
That doesn't sound like some sort of grass roots, help lift people up, Mother Teresa sort of organisation to me.
Hence yeah, people don't like BLM. Some don't like what it stands for, while others, like me, don't like it because the founders used it as a massive vehicle for grifting and lining their own pockets.
The idea behind Black Lives Matter is not a brand, though. People who support the cause are simply supporting equity and progress. These fundamentals don’t change just because one person affiliated with the marketing of the idea may be questionable.
There are multiple segments to BLM, since the fight for progress takes multiple fronts. And indeed, the head of Black Lives Matter Greater New York City, which is not affiliated with Khan-Cullors’ Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, called for “an independent investigation” to find out how the global network spends its money.
And it turns out that the reason Patrice, the woman buying homes you’re referencing in bad faith, acquired some personal wealth from having a best selling book from back in 2018, and a television deal to produce content with Warner Bros.
I’m sure her earning wealth through program advocacy and people reading stuff won’t change anything about how you feel about them, though.
I agree the larger philosophy behind BLM isn't a brand, but the slogan "BLM" is a brand.
To me personally, BLM is kind of stupid, the correct slogan we should all be wearing is ACAB, because from everything I have seen, US police are just as happy assaulting and killing anyone who gets in their way, regardless of colour. Cops in the US just want to kill people, it's an us versus them mentality, and I'd say it's pretty colour blind, like those 5 Nashville black cops who tortured and killed that black motorist. And I remember seeing the Atlanta BLM protests in 2020, and there were loads of black cops horrifically beating protestors too. It's honestly not a black problem, it's a blue vs everyone else problem.
And then some of the absolute worst police killings I've seen have been white cops killing white people, such as Daniel Shaver, Ryan Whitaker, and Officer Longman of Utah.
Some cops are definitely racially biased, but it's hardly Mississippi Burning anymore, even in the South. What is a problem is a general militarisation of police and complete lack of oversight or consequences for their actions.
But make no mistake, any cop would just love to kill you to make his or her day, whether you're white or black.
It's completely a brand. It's founded on the false assertion that most people think that black people don't matter and they should die. Telling black people they need to be upset and feel bad that everyone everywhere is out to get them, and tells white people they need to make amends for things they're never done.
There's a bunch of different autonomous groups, with no one "founder." This has always been the single talking point that the fox news crowd loves to parrot to sound like a "gotcha" when they want to be racist but are too cowardly to show who they really are. If that's not obvious by now, then idk what to tell you, except that arguing against human rights and for police brutality is not going to endear you to people.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/474143254
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/474143254
No... There's a proper 501-C that exists. So yes, there is a founder. While a lot of the marches are not necessarily associated directly with the organization, a lot of the donations get pooled into the organization. They make plenty of money doing it too.
Edit: There's also orgs like...
As well associated with people like Khan-Cullors (https://nypost.com/2021/04/10/inside-blm-co-founder-patrisse-khan-cullors-real-estate-buying-binge/)