Black Lives Matter's financial transparency matters | Washington Examiner
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
To say that people "celebrated" Tax Day this week would be a bit misleading. Between the fact that taxes in general are simply too high and that the tax system remains too complicated even after the salutary 2017 tax reform, taxes are a subject that some people might even call "triggering."
But should you really be triggered by the fact that there are tax laws everybody has to follow or that government has a legitimate claim to part of what you earn each year?
This appears to be the case with the Black Lives Matter organization, a tax-privileged 501(c)(3) corporation. Last week, its former leader, Patrisse Cullors, complained about the need for financial accountability in the nonprofit sector, speaking as if it is some kind of racist conspiracy that all 501(c)(3) organizations are required to file Form 990 to show where their donations went. She even claimed that the financial transparency that the IRS requires of tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations is "unsafe" for her and other activists.
"This doesn't seem safe for us, this 990 structure — this nonprofit system structure," Cullors said at a recent event. "This is, like, deeply unsafe. This is being literally weaponized against us, against the people we work with."
The plot thickens still further because of Cullors's own conduct. She resigned from the BLM organization in May 2021 under scrutiny for her personal real estate purchases. Just this month, it emerged that there was another major purchase. BLM bought a $6 million mansion in Los Angeles in October 2020, which it concealed from its donors for the next 19 months. The transaction appears to violate federal tax law, according to a complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center.
Cullors has since attempted to explain the situation with what appears to be a false claim. Speaking to a group of black journalists, she said the organization was already insolvent before it purchased the $6 million mansion in October 2020. But the organization had been given $90 million in the five months leading up to the purchase, $66.5 million of which was transferred directly into BLM's care the very month of the real estate purchase, as the organization that had been handling its finances until that point conveyed the funds.
Communist activist Angela Davis joined Cullors by throwing up more distractions and asserting that the entire push for nonprofit transparency, something with which all other organizations must comply, is akin to the FBI's COINTELPRO domestic spying program from the 1960s.
A full investigation seems to be warranted into BLM's finances, and this is not just something conservatives should want. Indeed, those who should be most upset about BLM's apparent misappropriation of funds are those who believe the cause is worthy and those who were duped into giving money to this organization. Then again, many of them opened their wallets and corporate coffers just hoping to find some kind of public redemptive wokeness when they gave millions to a group that did very little charity work. Their white guilt may have gotten in the way of asking the obvious questions about where the money was going.
When you filed your tax return this week, you probably had a bittersweet feeling — yes, it's expensive and wasteful, but at least you complied with the law and filed the required forms for yet another year. Unfortunately for Cullors and BLM, the law applies to every person and every nonprofit corporation. All taxpayers should look forward to a thorough investigation of what this organization did with the windfall it received.
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Nothing like a little demand for transparency to bring out the race cards!
To people like Cullors and BLM in general, everything is a racist conspiracy!
I think America is tired of it. In 7 moths we should know.
This poor, poor woman is deranged.
Not really, she's just playing the race card as laid out in the progressive handbook.
That’s the bottom line here.
Along with intensely greedy and bigoted.
Everyone knows catching a brother or sister, with their hand in the cookie jar, is racist.
Duh!
Sounds like the Burn Loot Murder Charity may have misspent some money and are on the verge of being caught. But to claim it's racist is really not surprising with this group. It is the go to excuse for the weak minded.
I think this was inevitable, they were a small-time fringe organization that stumbled onto national recognition and 100's of millions in windfall donations. They weren't ready for it and didn't have the expertise to manage it or even a clue what to do with all that money. Most charitable organizations grow slowly over decades and make their mistakes early when they're small so the mistakes are small, they learn to hire the right people to do the job and avoid further mistakes. Unfortunately the racist nature of BLM means they likely hire according to skin color not expertise and while I'm sure there are many very good and qualified black people out there they aren't likely to leave steady jobs with reputable Organizations for an Organization that's likely a flash in the pan. Not to mention BLM has some strong personalities in it's leadership and nobody wants to work for a Know-It-All who really doesn't (we've all been there at some point).
Where are the lefties to defend the “great” former leader of BLM?
I am rather surprised the usual suspects haven't jumped to her defense, claiming, as usual, white supremacy and racism is the reason BLM is unable and unwilling to file their proper tax forms and have hidden major expenditures and lied about them.
Some things are impossible even for progressive liberals.
Other things in that category:
Liberals explaining why the fantastic Biden economy doesn't allow people to pay their legal student loan debt.
A border plan for immigration from our esteemed Border Czar.