Saturday, June 27, 2020

Black Lives Matter foundation uses fundraising group with convicted terrorist on its board of directors


The Black Lives Matter movement has received increased attention since the George Floyd protests began last month. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is also receiving a more intense spotlight and so are the organizations that BLM has ties to.


Last week, a resurfaced video of one of Black Lives Matter's founders went viral. In the video from 2015, BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors admitted that she and others in the organization were "trained Marxists."
Now, many are asking questions about the finances of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which raised a reported $10 million just on Blackout Tuesday alone, according to the New York Times. On Wednesday, Glenn Beck released an episode on BlazeTV, titled, "Exposing The Hidden Money Trail of Black Lives Matter."
"I'm looking deep into the finance books of Black Lives Matter and showing you exactly where that money is actually going," Beck said of the episode. "It's a dark money trail that leads to a cast of familiar progressive characters I've discussed before."


The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation does not have its own IRS tax-exempt status. Instead, BLM has been using the Thousand Currents organization as a fiscal sponsor since 2016.
"BLM Global Network approached Thousand Currents to create a fiscal sponsorship agreement," the Thousand Currents website states. "Thousand Currents, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, provides the legal and administrative framework to enable BLM to fulfill its mission."
To qualify as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization, the Internal Revenue Service states:
"An organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action organizationi.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates."
Thousand Currents claims it provides "administrative and back office support, including finance, accounting, grants management, insurance, human resources, legal and compliance."
According to a 2018 audit, obtained by Capital Research, Thousand Currents disclosed $2,622,017 in donor-restricted assets for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, but only $1,899,174 was released to BLM. In a 2019 audit, Thousand Currents disclosed $3,354,654 in donor-restricted assets for BLM, but $1,799,165 was reportedly released.
Thousand Currents says it has invested more than $10 million in "1,000 community-led initiatives in the Global South," which includes Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as Latin America.
Besides Black Lives Matter, Thousand Currents also works with the Buen Vivir Fund. "The concept of 'buen vivir' comes from Latin American indigenous movements and implies 'right living' or life in balance with community, natural systems, and future generations," a description says.
Thousand Currents also has a "collaborative initiative" with the CLIMA Fund. The Climate Leaders In Movement Action page says it is a "pathway for funders to directly support Indigenous, women, and youth-led work building climate resilience and mitigating climate chaos."
Thousand Currents' vice-chair of the board of directors is Susan Rosenberg, who is a convicted terrorist. Rosenberg was a member of the May 19th Communist Organization, a radical leftist terrorist group affiliated with the far-left revolutionary Weather Underground.
Rosenberg was sentenced to 58 years after she was caught unloading 740 pounds of dynamite and weapons from a car into a storage locker in New Jersey in 1984. She was wanted on charges related to a deadly Brink's armored truck heist in 1981 that killed a guard and two police officers, but she was never tried on them.
Rosenberg is a suspected accomplice in the prison escape of Joanne Chesimard, a Black Liberation Army member known as Assata Shakur, who was charged with the 1973 first-degree murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout. Shakur is believed to have fled to Cuba, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is still offering $1 million in reward money for information leading to her arrest.
Rosenberg served 16 years in prison before being pardoned by President Bill Clinton in January 2001.
The Thousand Currents website has deleted its board of directors page this week after Capital Research broke the news about Rosenberg, but you can see an archived version here.
Alicia Garza, one of three co-founders of Black Lives Matter, has repeatedly talked about Assata Shakur on Twitter.
In 2014, Garza wrote an article for the "Feminist Wire" and praised the cop killer.
When I use Assata's powerful demand in my organizing work, I always begin by sharing where it comes from, sharing about Assata's significance to the Black Liberation Movement, what it's political purpose and message is, and why it's important in our context.
Last week, the Daily Caller released a report on the financial statements from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. BLM allegedly spent millions of dollars on travel, salaries, and consulting fees, but only 6% of its total spending on local Black Lives Matter chapters.

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