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What will Black Lives Matter do Next?
Black Lives Matter raised $90,000,000.00 last year. But, where did the money go? The Daily Mail produced the article, “BLM group raked in $90MILLION in donations last year: Leaders disclose finances for the first time – but angry local chapters say they are not being given any of the money” and it is very interesting, to say the least, here are the bullet points.
- Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is now building infrastructure to catch up to the speed of its funding
- BLM plans to use its endowment to become known for more than protests
- BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors said the foundation is focused on a ‘need to reinvest into black communities’
- The foundation said it committed $21.7 million in grant funding to official and unofficial BLM chapters, as well as 30 black-led local organizations
- It ended 2020 with a balance of more than $60 million, after spending nearly a quarter of its assets on the grant funds and other charitable giving
A few more quotes from the same article:
This marks the first time in the movement´s nearly eight-year history that BLM leaders have revealed a detailed look at their finances.
In its report, the BLM foundation said individual donations via its main fundraising platform averaged $30.76. More than 10% of the donations were recurring. The report does not state who gave the money in 2020, and leaders declined to name prominent donors.
In a letter released Nov. 30, the #BLM10 claimed most chapters have received little to no financial resources from the BLM movement since its launch in 2013. That has had adverse consequences for the scope of their organizing work, local chapter leaders told the AP.
My impression is that since BLM has been under constant pressure by its local groups, endured earlier scrutiny over its finances, was snubbed by political allies and mired in controversy (to say the least) it is seeking greater legitimacy in the eyes of the public, to include their detractors. I think they are playing the long game as evident by their alignment with the public school systems. Although some see said alignment as an unwanted intrusion set to further divide America, a survey of teachers prove that it will be more welcomed than not. Such is only the beginning of BLM’s ambitions as I suspect they are striving to become a bonafide political party.
According to a Feb 15, 2021 Daily Mail article, an unofficial BLM group has already tried to establish itself as an official political entity in the UK. Here’s a quote:
The Electoral Commission has rejected a controversial application to set up a Black Lives Matter (BLM) political party in Britain because its name would be ‘likely to mislead voters’.
The independent election watchdog argued that a ‘reasonable voter could assume that the party represents, or is in some way associated with’ the grassroots BLM movement and its official UK affiliate.
A spokesperson told MailOnline that the party’s proposed constitution and financial scheme were ‘incomplete’ and also rejected, as the manifesto did not determine the structure and organisation of the party.
The application was submitted to the election watchdog by applicants whose identities remain unknown just five months after the killing of black man George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis.
Further down in the article it reads…
Tory backbenchers claimed the application to set up the party proved that BLM was a partisan political project with Left-wing objectives, including ‘deconstructing the concept of “family” and defunding the police’.
However, at the time the bid was lodged the main Black Lives Matter UK (BLM UK) group insisted it had no affiliation with the applicants.
While unsuccessful in the UK, some are lobbying for BLM to form a political party here in the USA. So far, BLM has created its own Super PAC and (as far as I know) has not yet applied to officially become a political party. That being said, I do not think that BLM is able to create a long-lasting alternative to the Democrat party. Why? Since 1968 no Republican presidential candidate has received more than 13% of the African American vote and surveys of African Americans regularly show that upwards of 80% of African Americans self-identify as Democrats. However, President Trump has somehow managed to successfully chip away a significant amount of that loyalty. This quote from RedState:
According to the poll, the number of blue-collar workers who call themselves Republicans has gone up by 12 percent in the last decade. Meanwhile, blue-collar workers who identify as Democrats have dropped by eight points. The number of black and Hispanic blue-collar workerswho identify as Republican has also gone up, with Hispanics up 13 percent and with black blue-collar workers up 7 percent over that same period of time. Meanwhile, the white-collar worker numbers have stayed about the same, with the GOP losing just one percent and Democrats picking that up.
A lot of that growth and change is people who came to the party under President Donald Trump because they saw the positives and changes that were happening to help the American worker.
If Democrats are losing their influence on Black and Hispanic voters then they do not want to lose their leverage to anyone because it reduces their political power; something they will not release without a fight. (And neither would Republicans, if they were in power.) Such being the case, I would expect Democrats to block any meaningful steps of BLM becoming a viable 3rd party.
If by some means BLM managed to pull it off, I imagine they would likely meet strong resistance from the Democratic Party even as BLM vilified Republicans. At the end of the day, I think BLM will be forced to remember how the Democrat leadership supported them when it was politically expedient yet, separated themselves once the political winds changed. At best, I think BLM will continue to be an influence within the Democratic party because they are too useful as a galvanizer of outrage and thereby, votes. I think BLM is smart enough to realize that and will use that fact to get what they can get; as long as they do not dare threaten the Democratic power base.
As I write this, I cannot help but think about history repeating and the obvious parallels between BLM and the Black Panther Party during the Civil Rights Era. Check out this quote from History.com:
Newton and Seale drew on Marxist ideology for the party platform. They outlined the organization’s philosophical views and political objectives in a Ten-Point Program.
The Ten-Point Program called for an immediate end to police brutality; employment for African Americans; and land, housing and justice for all.
The Black Panthers were part of the larger Black Power movement, which emphasized Black pride, community control and unification for civil rights.
While the Black Panthers were often portrayed as a gang, their leadership saw the organization as a political party whose goal was getting more African Americans elected to political office. They were unsuccessful on this front. By the early 1970s, FBI counterintelligence efforts, criminal activities and an internal rift between group members weakened the party as a political force.
The Black Panthers did, however, start a number of popular community social programs, including free breakfast programs for school children and free health clinics in 13 African American communities across the United States.
If history is indeed going to repeat itself, look for the following from BLM in the near future:
- On the national level, an image makeover continues with BLM toning down the “defund the police” rhetoric and “mostly peaceful protests” so as to distance themselves from 2020. BLM 2021 is a new thing, so forget any previous negativity associated with them.
- BLM launches a series of social programs once the Covid pandemic is over. They will be highly publicized and well-received. They will be the main explanation of how BLM spends their donation money.
- BLM will stealthily support a new school of African American politicians. They will be moderate centrists on the outside and far left radical on the inside. The potency of the opposition research against them will decide the winner of their election races; barring any election day shenanigans. (Until the BLM makeover is complete, BLM support of candidates will be understated.)
- The Democratic Party will make more promises to BLM as election season draws near (US House of Representatives and Presidential 2024) and as a result, BLM will either 1) use the occasion to get substantial rewards as payback for earlier snubs and/or 2) be taken advantage of again, which will result in infighting within BLM, causing it to implode under the pressure.
Of course, I could be wrong. I will make a note to review this in a couple of years and see how good my prediction was.
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