Co-founder of Black Lives Matter to relinquish position between criticism | Black Life Essential Issues

Black Lives Matter co-founder announced Thursday that he has resigned as director of the agency’s founding committee. He criticized what he called a campaign from the right wing, but did not say what even some black critics had protested recently.

Patrisse Cullors, who has been leading the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation for nearly six years, says he is leaving to look for other projects, including the release of his second book and a multi-year TV partnership with Warner Bros Her Last Day and Foundation and Friday .

“I’ve done construction and support, with the right bones and foundation, so I can get out,” Cullors told The Associated Press. I feel like the time has come. ”

The departure of the Cullors follows a dramatic increase in support and political influence in the US and around the world thanks to the BLM group, which was formed about eight years ago in response to the unfair treatment of Black Americans. This resignation also comes in the wake of a heated debate over the underlying financial and financial status of the Cullors.

The 37-year-old prosecutor said his resignation had been in effect for more than a year and was not in line with the threats he faced from the West or any conflicts in the party.

“These were experimental right-wing wings that tried to discredit my appearance, and I don’t do what the right ones think of me,” Cullors said.

As he leaves, the foundation is setting up two recent senior superintendents to assist in the near future: Monifa Bandele, long-time BLM organizer and founder of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement in New York City, and Makani Themba, former BLM assistant director and senior specialist at Higher Ground Change Strategies in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I think they all come with a lot of wealth, and a lot of knowledge,” Cullors said.

The BLM foundation revealed to the AP in February that it cost more than $ 90m last year, following the May 2020 assassination attempt. George Floyd, The very Black Man last breath below the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer was encouraged demonstrations all around the world. The foundation said it ended 2020 with more than $ 60m, after spending almost a quarter of its resources on spending, donations to black-led organizations and other charitable donations.

Opponents on the grounds argue that the money should not go to families affected by police brutality who have not been able to access resources needed to address their problem.

“This is the saddest thing,” said Reverend T Sheri Dickerson, President of the Oklahoma City BLM head and representative of the # BLM10, a national organizing group that has openly criticized financial institutions and publicity.

“I know some of [the families] “They feel exploited, they feel their pain, and that’s not what I want to have,” said Dickerson.

Cullors and founders said they support families without publicly announcing or disclosing the amount of money.

In 2020, the foundations of the BLM shook their heads as one group of sisters called BLM Grassroots, in order to expand their potential as a charitable organization. Although most groups use “Black Lives Matter” or “BLM” in their titles, at least a dozen people are considered to be members of this group.

Last month, the Cullors were encouraged by a number of publications claiming to be earning a lot of money a year, which bought a house in Southern California.

In April, the Cullors were voluntary supervisors who, prior to 2019, “received a total of $ 120,000 since the organization began in 2013, for a career as a spokesperson and for political education.”

“As a non-profit 501c3 registration organization, [the foundation] I have not been able and have not done anything to help anyone buy goods by anyone working or volunteering, “says the Foundation.” Any statements or statements contrary to it are false. “

In 2018, the Cullors released, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, which became the New York Times best-seller. He also applied for a number of racist jobs outside BLM, and paid for the job himself.

He and the BLM team have come a long way since it was established as a media hashtag, following 2013 to release of George Zimmerman, a volunteer superintendent who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida.

The Cullors, along with BLM founders Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, have pledged to establish a team led by a coalition. In 2015, theme groups were formed, during which donations and support were poured out. Garza and Tometi soon stopped working with them on a daily basis to focus on their work.

Cullors, who was clearly a public figure for his founders, has been a full-time leader for the past few years due to demand, he said.

“We wanted him,” said Melina Abdullah, who leads BLM Grassroots and affiliates, with Cullors, the first BLM head in Los Angeles.

“George Floyd was killed and the whole world woke up,” Abdullah told AP. “I want it to last forever, but I also know that it is not possible. The real test of any organization can survive from its founders. And I have no doubt that the Black Lives Matter will survive and grow and change, even if our last leader did the important work.”

On October 5, St Martin’s Press will release the latest Cullors’ book, An Abolitionists Handbook, which he said is his guide for activists on how to care for each other and resolve conflicts within the fight to end discrimination. Cullors is also producing and producing original TV shows and TV shows based on Black News, on a multi-year contract with Warner Bros.

His first television career will begin in July, he said.

“I think I’m probably not going to be very visible, because I’m not going to be one of the biggest, most controversial organizations right now in our organization,” Cullors said.

“I know I am a leader, and I do not shy away from this. But no group is a single leader. ”