The leader of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) has been accused of stealing more than $10 million in charitable contributions.
Current Events :
According to NBC News, the BLM Grassroots organization (a nonprofit group representing local Black Lives Matter chapters nationwide) is suing BLMGNF leader Shalomyah Bowers for using his Bowers Consulting Firm to “siphon” millions of dollars from the group and use the funds as his own “personal piggy bank.”
“Mr. Bowers decided he could not let go of his personal piggy bank,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, he continued to betray the public trust by self-dealing and breaching his fiduciary duties. Instead of using the donations for its intended purposes, Mr. Bowers diverted 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.”
The lawsuit, which was filed last week in Los Angeles, also describes Bowers as a “rogue administrator.”
“This is the case of a rogue administrator, a middleman, turned usurper, who was hired to collect donations and account for expenditures of the Black Lives Matter movement,” the lawsuit reads.
“While BLM leaders and movement workers were on the street risking their lives, Mr. Bowers remained in his cushy offices devising a scheme of fraud and misrepresentation to break the implied-in-fact contract between donors and BLM,” the complaint continued.
Additionally, the suit alleges that Bowers’ actions while being entrusted to lead BLMGNF triggered investigations by state and federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, which has since caused “a path of irreparable harm to BLM in less than 18 months.” The suit also asserts that Bowers, who was hired by BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, did not follow the transition plan that Cullors designed.
However, the BLMGNF board of directors is actively denying the accusations via a statement posted on their website.
“Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF) is here to give light and fight for Black liberation,” the statement reads. “Make no mistake, the allegations of Melina Abdullah and BLM Grassroots (BLMGR) are false. They are slanderous and devoid of reality.”
Bowers also made his own personal statement, claiming that the lawsuit is nothing more than a “power move by someone hellbent on achieving power and control” of the BLM movement.
OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
BLMGNF Leader accused of embezzlement.
Thanks DJ for covering this story! I read about it the other day and my initial thought then was as it is now – which is – IF the accusations are proven to be True, I won’t be surprised!
While I will refrain (mostly) from going in on those charlatans, in particular Shalomyah Bowers and Melina Abdullah, until we see what happens with the lawsuit, I will say this…..
Regular readers may recall that I never bought into the original #BlackLivesMatter organization (now known as BLMGNF)) which was founded in 2013 by 3 “radical Black organizers” – Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi – in response to the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2012.