Michael Brown Sr. Wonders Where the BLM Funds Are Going

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Michael Brown Sr., the father of the teenager who died due to Missouri’s police enforcement actions in 2014, has collaborated with the International Black Freedom Alliance to demand $20 million from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. They revealed that they needed the money to initiate a range of community improvement projects. 

In a joint statement with Tory Russel, the director of the International Black Freedom Alliance (IBFA), Michael Brown Sr. revealed that apart from the 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. who died in 2014, thousands “of other youth activists in their 20s and 30s had been out in the streets protesting for months and months, and years and years. Still forgotten”.

He is wondering where the money and funds are going. There is a lot of walking, marching, and protesting while various people are supporting with funds. Yet, progress and community development are far from present. Where are the results of all these actions of the people?

Reports of Fund Misallocation

This comes only months after individuals associated with BLM had been accused of using the organization’s moneys on their self-interests, prostitutes, and the purchase of firearms.

The demand placed by the duo came only days after the Associated Press had released an exclusive report indicating that the Black Lives Matter Global Network had raised over $90 million in 2020. In its 2020 impact report, BLM also indicated that it had granted over $21 million to multiple BLM chapters and local Black institutions.

The report by Brown Sr. indicated that the money demanded from the BLM organization would be used to build a community center in Ferguson Missouri, in honor of Brown Jr.

A community center would be a concrete result that would provide value to the local community instead of abstract promises and unfocused efforts taking place at the present moment.

BLM States It is Full Interested in Conducting Development Despite a Lack of Genuine Results 

Patrisse Cullors, BLM’s cofounder told the Associate Press that the institution was fully committed to reinvest the money it had collected into Black communities. She revealed that one of BLM’s greatest goals in 2021 was to take the 2020 fundraising proceeds to build “out the institution we’ve been trying to build for the last seven and a half years.”

The key question here is how does the BLM movement and organization differ from long established organizations like the NAACP? How about the institutions that are in and of themselves, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and many other who are perceived to stand for the African American community? How do these long time incumbents and the current BLM movement differ and genuinely make change in the community?

Where is the Money?

Individuals like Tory Russel highlighted that Michael Brown Sr. had only received a minuscule portion of funds from activist groups related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Russel revealed in a video clip posted on his Twitter account that they were “not asking for a handout, but for the funding to keep the movement strong where it began.”

Russel’s remarks came only a few days after the IBFA had released a statement questioning where the exorbitant cash raised by the BLM global movement will go to the right efforts.

There are reports that Brown Sr. and Russel had hoped to use $20 million for the Mike Brown Community Center, the Chosen For Change Foundation, the August 9 annual commemoration of Brown Jr’s death, and other programs and services in the black communities. 

Unfortunately, there are indications that nothing fruitful has come out of these efforts. Many activists reveal that they have never seen a single penny from the Black Lives Matter organization. 

Tory Russel expressed his displeasure in BLM, questioning the kind of institution they were building ” we’re saying ‘Black Lives Matter’ but we’re being left behind?”

It also seems as if the Biden Administration and the BLM are at odds. As the White House seems rather strict on issues that range from marijuana consumption, to other issues that may relate to the larger BLM agenda.