Patrisse Cullors steps down as head of Black Lives Matter foundation

Topanga Canyon, California – Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors is stepping down from her role as the executive director of the movement foundation, she announced on Thursday.

Patrisse Cullors has faced controversy over her personal wealth and financial decisions while serving as head of Black Lives Matter (collage).
Patrisse Cullors has faced controversy over her personal wealth and financial decisions while serving as head of Black Lives Matter (collage).  © Screenshot/Instagram/osopepatrisse

Patrisse Cullors (37) has headed Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation for the last six years. She was one of three co-founders who established the movement in 2013 after the death of Trayvon Martin.

Now, Cullors has decided to leave to focus on other endeavors, including her second book and a big TV deal with Warner Bros., the Associated Press reported.

The BLM exec has been the subject of controversy over her personal wealth and financial decisions.

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The foundation received over $90 million since George Floyd's murder, and they still had $60 million by the end of 2020.

A break-off group of ten chapters calling themselves BLM10 publicly decried the national foundation's lack of financial transparency.

She also came under fire for purchasing four homes in recent years worth a total of $3.2 million, including a $1.4-million property in ritzy Topanga Canyon, The Grio reported.

Cullors has not kept any of the donations for herself, but she has received over $120,000 in speaking fees, the organization explained.

Cullors dismisses criticism as "right-wing attacks"

BLM protesters in Los Angeles gathered this week to march on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder.
BLM protesters in Los Angeles gathered this week to march on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder.  © IMAGO / ZUMA Wire

Cullors has dismissed all criticism leveled against her, telling the Associated Press, "Those were right-wing attacks that tried to discredit my character, and I don’t operate off of what the right thinks about me."

Her first TV project is expected to debut in July, while her next book, titled An Abolitionists Handbook, is slated to hit shelves in October.

Meanwhile, Monifa Bandele, founder of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement in New York, and Makani Themba, chief strategist at Higher Ground Change Strategies in Mississippi, have been brought on board as acting executives following Cullors' departure from the foundation.

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"I think both of them come with not only a wealth of movement experience, but also a wealth of executive experience," their predecessor said.

Contemplating her post-BLM future, Cullors mused, "I think I will probably be less visible, because I won’t be at the helm of one of the largest, most controversial organizations right now in the history of our movement."

"I’m aware that I’m a leader, and I don’t shy away from that. But no movement is one leader," she continued.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/Instagram/osopepatrisse

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