BLM teeters on the brink of insolvency after an $8.5 million loss in 2022

Financial disclosures reveal that the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF), the global parent for all BLM, ran an $8.5 million deficit while they continued to give out seven-figure salaries and contracts to relatives of the founder Patrisse Cullors. 

According to the organization's 2022 tax returns, one of those family members was Paul Cullors, Patrisse's brother, who was paid a $126,000 salary as the head of security. The bodyguard with no previous experience made a total of $1.6M between him and his two security companies.

Patrisse Cullor resigned as the executive director in May 2021, after the public learned she spent $3.2 million for four separate homes on top of other lavish expenses. Prior to her resignation, she was accused of funneling $238,000 to a company that belonged to the father of her child. 

Paul Kamenar, an attorney for the National Legal and Policy Center watchdog group, said: "While Patrisse Cullors was forced to resign due to charges of using BLM's funds for her personal use, it looks like she's still keeping it all in the family."

According to the Free Beacon, a friend of Cullors and BLMGNF board member Shalomyah Howard earned $1.7 million for management and consulting services. He is accused of “diverting these donations to his own coffers and intentionally took calculated steps to prevent those same resources from being used by BLM for on-the-ground movement work,” according to a lawsuit by Black Lives Matter Grassroots. 

The lawsuit, announced in September, accused Howard of stealing $10 million from the group and using the donations as a “personal piggy bank.” 

BLMGNF was founded in 2013 after the death of Trayvon Martin and was thrust into the spotlight after the 2020 death of George Floyd when they organized protests, which ultimately turned into riots across the country.