The Complex Funding and Ideology of Black Lives Matter

BLM describes its own founders as “three radical Black organizers” named Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, who “created a Black-centered political will and movement building project… in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman.”

In fact, BLM thinks other black civil rights movements aren’t nearly radical enough, especially when it comes to the gender politics of the hard Left: “Black liberation movements in this country have created room, space, and leadership mostly for Black heterosexual, cisgender men – leaving women, queer and transgender people, and others either out of the movement or in the background to move the work forward with little or no recognition.”

BLM incessantly refers to the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and others as “murder,” ignoring all court decisions to the contrary, and describes police work as “state-sanctioned violence” against oppressed populations. In the course of explaining how it was formed, the group refers to cities like Ferguson, Missouri, as “occupied territory” – with law enforcement cast as a brutal invading force – and insists most other cities should be seen the same way: “We understood Ferguson was not an aberration, but in fact, a clear point of reference for what was happening to Black communities everywhere.”

Corporate and foundation sponsors appear unconcerned that BLM is unclear about who runs the movement today and commands its vast resources. The group itself claims it has no top-level leadership at all: “The project is now a member-led global network of more than 40 chapters. Our members organize and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes.”