Michael Brown’s father asks BLM leadership for $20 million for ‘community organizing and empowerment’

Michael Brown Sr., whose son Michael Brown Jr. was tragically killed in a confrontation with a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 has asked the Black Lives Matter (BLM) leadership to provide $20 million to him and others in his area who are committed to community organizing and empowerment.

Brown Sr.’s request was made on Tuesday in conjunction with Tony Russell, another local community organizer who co-founded the International Black Freedom Alliance (IBFA). The pair challenged the leadership of Black Lives Matter to assist a foundation constituted in memory of the slain teenager as well as support for his family, community organizers, and organizations in the St. Louis area.

Last week the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation reported that it raised $90 million in 2020. A quarter of this amount was invested into chapters of BLM as well as groups dedicated to a similar cause, leaving a balance of about $60 million.

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Patrice Cullors, one of the founders of the group was quoted saying BLM intends to use “the dollars we were able to raise in 2020 and building out the institution we’ve been trying to build for the last seven and a half years”. But Brown Sr. had more questions in spite of Cullors’ commitment.

Brown Sr. asked in IBFA’s press release: “Where is all that money going? Who are they giving it and what are they doing with it? Why hasn’t my family’s foundation received any assistance from the movement? How could you leave the families who are helping the communities without any funding?”

In other tweets that accompanied the press release, IBFA claimed that only $500 has been received by the family Brown Jr. left behind, from any BLM affiliate. They also mentioned that they have taken notice of how the BLM leadership fundraises off the death of Brown Jr. in 2014.

This is the first time the BLM Group Network Foundation has opened its books to the world. Last year was also the first time Black Lives Matter was noted as a genuinely global organization in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.