Employees of Apple, Google, and Microsoft have raised millions of dollars for the Black Lives Matter Foundation thinking it's the international racial justice movement seeking to end police brutality. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
When Elena Iliadis searched for “Black Lives Matter” on GoFundMe, the popular online fundraising platform, she didn’t do much research on the first verified foundation that popped up.
“I don't have anything to do with the Black Lives Matter Global Network. I never met them; never spoke to them. I don't know them; I have no relationship with them,” Robert Ray Barnes, the founder of the Black Lives Matter Foundation, told BuzzFeed News in a lengthy interview. “Our whole thing is having unity with the police department.
Further obscuring the situation is the movement’s official name, “Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc” — which wasn’t registered in the state of Delaware until 2017 — while Barnes owns and operates the Black Lives Matter Foundation, a 501 nonprofit registered in California. Because the official movement is not a nonprofit — it raises through
“Today, we think most people would agree, that regardless of race, something must done to heal the riffs between some communities and the police, and with your help we at BLMFoundation have the very ideas to do just that,” reads a Black Lives Matter Foundation “We don’t want to be enemies of the police. We will let the movement do that,” the music producer said. “We want to get to the point where we have programs and that’s where the change will happen. That’s where we come in.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the main law enforcement agency in the foundation’s hometown of Santa Clarita, told BuzzFeed News that it has never heard of Barnes or his organization.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Starbucks Is Changing Its Tune on Black Lives Matter—By Designing a T-ShirtStarbucks has now completely changed its previous stance on not allowing employees to wear any sort of T-shirt, pin, or accessory that mentions BlackLivesMatter.
Read more »
Video of resident confronted by white couple for stenciling Black Lives Matter goes viralA video of a white couple confronting a person of color stenciling Black Lives Matter in chalk outside his San Francisco home has been viewed more than 12 million times.
Read more »
George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests across the US and world: Live updatesAtlanta Mayor KeishaBottoms on Rayshard Brooks’ killing: “People are looking to us to lead. But when these things continue to happen over and over again, we're asking ourselves the same questions, how do we lead during this time?” MayorsWhoMatter
Read more »
In the Black Lives Matter movement, immigrants find themselves in a tough positionImmigrants are being forced to choose between jeopardizing their legal status or sitting out protests over George Floyd's death: 'There is no blueprint for this ... so I'm trying to strike the balance between doing as much as I can and protecting my visa'
Read more »
“All Black Lives Matter” Mural Painted On Hollywood & Highland In Advance Of LGBTQ+/BLM MarchA solidarity march between the LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter communities will be commemorated by a giant mural stating “All Black Lives Matter” painted at the intersection of Hollywood …
Read more »