Just yesterday the New York Post reported that Black Lives Matter leader, Shalomyah Bowers, purportedly siphoned more than $10 million of donors' money.
A
lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court claims
Bowers treated BLM foundation funds as his “personal piggy bank” and acted as a
“rogue administrator” and a “middle man turned usurper.”
Bowers, who became head of the Black Lives Matter Global Network
Foundation in April, is accused of paying millions to his own Bowers Consulting
Firm and diverting resources from a new group called Black Lives Matter
Grassroots, Inc.
BLM Grassroots was founded in California in May by Walter Mosley,
the lawyer who also drafted
the lawsuit against Bowers.
BLM Global Network Foundation paid the Bowers Consulting Firm
$2,167,894 in 2021, per federal tax filings.
The lawsuit also claims that while BLM activists were on the
street risking their lives, Bowers was in his cushy offices devising schemes of
fraud and misrepresentation which broke the implied-in-fact contract between
donors and BLM.
While Bowers is claiming
innocence, it would not be surprising if he did indeed profit from BLM. Despite their
claims, BLM seems to be founded solely for pecuniary gains.
BLM is a perfect instance of how modern liberalism functions as an
extremely lucrative business model. BLM
merely expanded on the extortion business model of veteran race hustler Al
Sharpton, which is ‘give us your money else we’ll brand you racist,’ but did it
on a much larger scale. Al Sharpton must
feel like a worn-out pair of shoes in the bottom drawer of a shoe case.
“Black
Lives Matter” began as a trend on social media, in
2013 following Trayvon Martin's death. Soon it evolved into a slogan used by
‘protestors’ across the US.
In the death of George Floyd in 2020, BLM saw their biggest opportunity to take the
‘movement’ to the next level and become the sole arbiters in matters of race. In parallel, BLM carried out 'protests',
which were actually riots all over America.
Dozens of people were killed and numerous others injured and thousands
of businesses and properties, many
minority-owned, were looted, torched, or otherwise
vandalized.
Axios revealed that the total insured property losses incurred
during the riots are between $1 to $2 billion
dollars. The actual number including losses of uninsured
property must be considerably higher.
That must not have mattered to BLM. For BLM, the riots were a promotional event
that caused their coffers to be overflowing.
BLM was supported by the Democrats and their propagandists in the
media because they could blame the riots on Trump and benefit from it
politically. The Democrats, too, saw this as an opportunity to raise
funds.
The noise created such a frenzy that anybody who was anybody began
donating to BLM
Hollywood
stars such as Angelina Jolie, Steve Carell, Seth
Rogen, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Lopez, Ryan Reynolds, etc. donated to BLM.
Some stars even bailed
out BLM rioters who were taken into custody.
Big tech firms such as Google committed $12 million. Facebook and
Amazon donated $10 million. Apple pledged $100
million, and so did Walmart. Target pledged $10 million while
Home Depot announced $1
million.
BLM didn’t make any verifiable promises; their goal was unstated,
esoteric, and symbolic which ensured they could keep collecting without any
oversight.
Rich donors didn't verify how their donations were spent. Their
sole purpose of donating was to be regarded as among 'the good ones'. It was
also like protection money to prevent BLM thugs from banging at their doors.
In the end, BLM managed to make
$90m in just one year over the death of George Floyd.
Such was their brand recognition that BLM even began to sell merchandise. Those who couldn’t donate millions would parade around in
BLM T-Shirts to prove their virtuousness.
So, what became of the money?
Last April, the NY Post reported that BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, then BLM's
executive director, spent
$3.2 million on various real estate
properties across the US.
There were also reports of transactions where BLM transferred
money to a Canadian nonprofit managed by the wife of Cullors in order to buy a $3 million house.
New York
Magazine reported that in late 2020, BLM spent
$6 million on a 6,500-square-feet
Southern California mansion.
Although the property had originally been bought for $3.1million,
it was transferred to the Delaware company for $5.8million. The reason for
the disparity
between these two figures is perfectly
obvious.
Like most modern left-wingers, BLM claimed its mission is
dismantling capitalism. But again, like most modern leftists, they have no
qualms about enjoying the luxuries of free market capitalism.
Despite claiming to be a Marxist organization, BLM dodged its
taxes. It failed to file taxes for 2020 when it raised millions after George
Floyd’s death. It also didn’t disclose its donations and expenditures,
raising legal and ethical red flags.
The millions raised could have been invested in education,
training, hospitals, gyms, sports complexes, rehabilitation centers or to pay
legal assistance for those in need.
But nothing of the kind occurred because the sole focus of BLM
founders appears to be themselves. BLM, despite its questionable use of donors’ money, will never
face much antipathy from the public. There
are those who are still mortified to call them out publicly for the fear of
being branded, racist. There are some who are truly gullible who think the
intentions of BLM are noble and the allegations are a result of White
Supremacists' fabrications
So, what is BLM's Legacy?
Beyond abusing donated funds and causing destruction worth billions,
the BLM movement has done great damage to the fabric of the nation.
They have diminished the significance of the terms such as
‘racist’. No longer is the allegation taken seriously; the beneficiaries of
this are real racists such as
Joe Biden.
Also, BLM via their propaganda must have convinced a section of
African Americans that their country is systemically racist, hence persecution
is inevitable irrespective of education or talent or hard work. Losses can be
recouped and property can be rebuilt but the destruction of hope is usually
permanent.
It breeds cynicism and pessimism that always has a deleterious
effect on society.
All those who supported BLM perhaps out of fear are also to blame
for this.
In the end, Shalomyah Bowers may well be just another parasite
feeding off the gravy train, there will doubtlessly be more, and worse they are
unlikely to be punished.
Also appears on American Thinker
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