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Unverified Legion of Trill member
A Black Lives Matter co-founder has resigned from her role as executive director after hitting out at a "right-wing smear campaign" that revealed her $3 million housing portfolio.
Patrisse Cullors, an integral figure of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, made the announcement on Thursday and will reprise her role today.
"I've created the infrastructure and the support, and the necessary bones and foundation, so that I can leave," she said. "It feels like the time is right."
Ms Cullors cited the release of her second book and a TV deal as the cause of her departure, but it comes after a heated controversy over the foundation's finances and her personal wealth.
Despite describing herself as a “trained marxist'' Ms Cullors owns numerous multi-million dollar properties, including a recently purchased $1.4 million home in an affluent LA neighborhood.
BLM said she had "received a total of $120,000 since the organisation's inception in 2013, for duties such as serving as spokesperson and engaging in political education work”.
Black Lives Matter supporters and others march across the Brooklyn Bridge to honor George Floyd on the one year anniversary of his death on May 25, 2021 - Spencer Platt /Getty Images North America
The 37-year-old activist decried the widely publicised concern as “right-wing attacks that tried to discredit my character”.
“I don’t operate off of what the right thinks about me,” she added as she denied that finances had any relation to her resignation. She maintains her decision has been in the works for over a year.
BLM amassed $90 million in donations last year, as the movement hit the global spotlight following the murder of black man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.
The foundation spent a third of that sum in 2020 on operating expenses, grants to black-led organisations and other charitable giving.
But concerns have been raised as to how much of the funding was spent on racial justice programmes.
Activists called for more transparency and said more should be given to the black communities directly impacted by police brutality.
Patrisse Cullors, an integral figure of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, made the announcement on Thursday and will reprise her role today.
"I've created the infrastructure and the support, and the necessary bones and foundation, so that I can leave," she said. "It feels like the time is right."
Ms Cullors cited the release of her second book and a TV deal as the cause of her departure, but it comes after a heated controversy over the foundation's finances and her personal wealth.
Despite describing herself as a “trained marxist'' Ms Cullors owns numerous multi-million dollar properties, including a recently purchased $1.4 million home in an affluent LA neighborhood.
BLM said she had "received a total of $120,000 since the organisation's inception in 2013, for duties such as serving as spokesperson and engaging in political education work”.
Black Lives Matter supporters and others march across the Brooklyn Bridge to honor George Floyd on the one year anniversary of his death on May 25, 2021 - Spencer Platt /Getty Images North America
The 37-year-old activist decried the widely publicised concern as “right-wing attacks that tried to discredit my character”.
“I don’t operate off of what the right thinks about me,” she added as she denied that finances had any relation to her resignation. She maintains her decision has been in the works for over a year.
BLM amassed $90 million in donations last year, as the movement hit the global spotlight following the murder of black man George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.
The foundation spent a third of that sum in 2020 on operating expenses, grants to black-led organisations and other charitable giving.
But concerns have been raised as to how much of the funding was spent on racial justice programmes.
Activists called for more transparency and said more should be given to the black communities directly impacted by police brutality.
