A co-founder of Black Lives Matter announced Thursday that she is stepping down as the executive director of the movement’s foundation following recent criticism from Black organizers. Patrisse Cullors has been at the helm of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation for nearly six years.
The BLM foundation revealed to the AP in February that it took in just over $90m last year, following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd. The foundation said it ended 2020 with a balance of more than $60m, after spending nearly a quarter of its assets on operating expenses, grants to Black-led organizations and other charitable giving.
Some critics of the foundation contend more of that money should have gone to the families of Black victims of police brutality who have been unable to access the resources needed to deal with their trauma and loss.
Cullors was targeted by several publications which alleged that she took a large annual salary from the foundation, affording her recent purchase of a southern California home. Following which the foundation had clarified that ‘prior to 2019, had “received a total of $120,000 since the organization’s inception in 2013’
