One of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Patrisse Cullors, is stepping down from her position as executive director of the activist organization shortly after reports suggested she was using her position to potentially self-deal funds from the charity.
“Cullors leaves BLMGNF in a strong position to support grassroots, art/culture work, and policy work that invests in the future of Black lives,” the BLM organization said in a statement.
Cullors, who openly claims she is a Marxist, will stay on the board until BLMGNF “finds a new permanent” team but is ultimately leaving to work on her new book and television deal. She said this isn’t the first time that she’s stepped back from the organization and that “it was always supposed to interim.” It is unclear if she will remain in her position as chairwoman of the Black Lives Matter PAC.
“With smart, experienced, and committed people supporting the organization during this transition, I know that BLMGNF is in good hands,” said Cullors. “The foundation’s agenda remains the same — eradicate white supremacy and build life-affirming institutions.”
The decision comes just weeks after the Daily Caller exposed that BLMGNF under Cullors and her two other organizations, Black Lives Matter PAC and Reform LA Jails, funneled money to Trap Heals, which is owned by the father of her only child.
The mysterious organization, founded just days before it entered an official collaboration with BLM, quickly became the activist group’s “lead developer of the art & cultural efforts” and was even paid “a collective $238,000 to produce an election night live stream and for consulting services, campaign finance records show.”
Cullors later condemned the Daily Caller’s reporting and “decried what she called a smear campaign from a far-right group, but said neither that nor recent criticism from other Black organizers influenced her departure.”
The BLM founder recently came under fire for buying four homes, all in predominantly white neighborhoods, for an estimated $3.2 million.