… like racism that has a severe impact on Black health. African-Americans remain … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News
New Menopause Narratives Being Created At Event In Stratford, London
In the aftermath of the recent Davina McCall documentary on menopause, it is time to really explore the truth about this empowering time in a woman's life. LONDON, ENGLAND, August 3, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — One of the most culturally … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News
Art Seen: ‘First Light’ in Brunswick
‘At First Light” at Bowdoin College Museum of Art was originally conceived as an exhibition to celebrate Maine’s bicentennial in 2020, but the Covid pandemic placed the show on hold.
That delay partly explains why it took me a while to figure it out.
My confusion was largely a function of “At First Light” essentially being a collection of three, perhaps four exhibitions in one.
First, there is the main exhibition, “At First Light: Two Centuries of Artists in Maine,” featuring some 100 works by artists who constitute the Maine canon, among them Winslow Homer, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Rockwell Kent, N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, Marguerite and William Zorach, Alex Katz and Neil Welliver.
Then there is the companion exhibition “At First Light: Photographs of Artist Studios and Homes by Walter Smalling,” a Washington, D.C., architectural photographer who summers in Maine.
In the exhibition’s heavy, handsome book, Smalling’s photographs are integrated with works of art by the 26 artists whose spaces he documents. In the exhibition, the photographs are displayed in a separate gallery. If you just saw the book, you might think there were only 26 artists in the show, but that’s because the book isn’t the exhibition catalog.
“The exhibition features the work of over 70 artists, whereas the publication features profiles of 26 artists whose homes and studios still stand today,” explained Frank Goodyear, the Bowdoin museum co-director. “The two projects are related and were developed simultaneously. That said, with the publication we decided to include Walter Smalling’s photography of these homes and studios alongside examples of the artists’ work. The publication was released in March 2020 on the occasion of the bicentennial of Maine statehood.”
Goodyear curated the exhibition with his wife, and museum co-director, Anne Collins Goodyear. Former Farnsworth Art Museum curator Michael Komanecky contributed to the Smalling book.
Finally, there is an exhibition of work by Maine tribal basket artists. Barry Dana, Molly Neptune Parker, and Ambroise St. Aubin are included in the “At First Light” show. Parker, Geo Neptune, Clara Neptune Keezer, Fred Tomah, and several anonymous basket makers are showcased in “Innovation and Resilience Across Three Generations of Wabanaki Basket-Making.” Like like most museums these days, Bowdoin makes a commendable effort to be inclusive, so Native American basketry is often exhibited along with contemporary fine art.
“At First Light” is a historical survey of 200 years of Maine-related art that makes the point that art has been central to the Maine experience and identity, while also seeking to correct past inequities by placing not only Native American artisans but also women artists and African-American artists in the context of an art history once biased towards white male artists.
Among the women artists featured are Berenice Abbott, Lois Dodd, Yvonne Jacquette, the recently rediscovered Lynne Mapp Drexler (Phoenix, May 18, 2022) and Katherine Bradford (Phoenix, June 3, 2022).
The African-American artists in “At First Light” include Ashley Bryan, David Driskell, and Daniel Minter. Minter’s “A Distant Holla from the Mouth of the New Meadows River,” a reverential piece inspired by the Malaga Island mixed-race community extirpated by Maine officials, is one of the stars of the show.
When I wrote “three, perhaps four exhibitions in one,” I had in mind the Bowdoin faculty show that occupies an adjacent gallery. James Mullen’s “First Light, Acadia,” a mountaintop diptych panorama, definitely aspires to be part of the “At First Light” exhibit.
“At First Light” is a conceptually complex project curatorially complicated by COVID-19. I’m sorry to dwell on my confusion, but it’s well worth figuring out the multiple layers of art, exhibition, and publication.
Edgar Allen Beem has been writing about art in Maine since 1978. He also writes The Universal Notebook opinion column.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
Peoria Public Schools cuts the ribbon on three new school names
… after individuals with ties to racism and abuse. Tuesday afternoon, a … Jo Gordon was the first African-American employee of the Peoria Journal … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News
From Rolling Loud Miami: The ‘Free YSL’ Movement on the Festival Grounds
When Rolling Loud first released the lineup for its Miami festival dates, Gunna, Atlanta-native rapper and member of Young Thug’s YSL Records, was set to take to the stage on the second night of the festival. As was the case with most of this year’s festival, things did not go entirely to plan.
This past May, Young Thug, Gunna, and various other members of YSL were arrested and indicted by a grand-jury on RICO charges — an abbreviation for the Racketeer Influenced Corruption Act which raises an umbrella over gang-related activities ranging from gambling and bribery to murder and extortion.
The indictment characterizes YSL, also known as “Young Stoner Life,” or “Young Slime Life,” as a “criminal street gang,” with ties to the more well-known LA-based street-gang, the Bloods. 56 counts long, the indictment implicates various YSL artists in connection to the 2015 murder of “rival gang-leader” Donavan Thomas Jr. and the attempted murder of rapper YFN Lucci, who was stabbed in jail earlier this year.
Rappers getting arrested on criminal charges is not a new phenomenon: Illegal activity and street culture has been layered into the sediment (and perception) of hip-hop since the very beginning. From Biggie and Tupac’s deadly coastal war, to the codification of drugs, alcohol, misogyny, and violence, hip-hop shines a light on the realities of coming to age in unjust systems which seek to oppress Black and Brown bodies. As rap came of age in 1970s New York block parties, when attendees would spit bars over beats spun by favorite neighborhood MCs, it grew as an art form and space for reflection.
Unfortunately, attempts to use rap lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings is not novel either — 6ix9ine, Bobby Shmurda, and Drakeo The Ruler have each had their bars cited in trial. Recently, high profile musicians such as Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Meek Mill, and Kelly Rowland have openly criticized this approach in their 2022 push for New York legislators to pass a “reform bill limiting prosecutors’ use of rap lyrics in criminal trials.” This reform bill advocates that rap be protected as a form of expression, in the same way as other, less criminalized, genres of music are.
To YSL’s demise, this reform has yet to gain widespread acceptance. According to Vulture, prosecutors on the YSL case “have cited multiple songs as evidence of gang affiliation and racketeering.”
But Young Thug and Gunna are not without their supporters — any Rolling Loud festival attendee entering Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium walked through rows of people holding green and black “FREE YSL” and “Protect Black Art” signs over their heads. Within the festival, other performers were quick to vocalize their support. From Future’s performance of “pushin P,” a collaboration with Young Thug, to Lil Baby’s “Drip Too Hard,” which co-features Gunna, the voices of YSL artists were heard throughout the massive venue as fellow artists called for their release.
Whether or not the members of YSL are acquitted of charges, the traction behind the “FREE YSL” movement is sure to encourage a culture of questioning: How do we decriminalize an industry which is often perceived as being rooted in criminality? Does celebrity status absolve agents of wrongdoing? And why do we anticipate veracity in art only when the words come from Black mouths?
—Staff writer Anya L. Henry can be reached at anya.henry@thecrimson.com.
RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News – Arts & Entertainment
From Lizzo to Beyoncé, why does harmful language for disability persist?
Disability pride month is over. You probably didn’t even know it happened. You didn’t go to any parades (there were no parades). You didn’t buy any merch or notice any ads with brand sponsorship (there were no brand tie-ins, no companies proud to align themselves with the struggle for disability justice or pretend to for profit). And at the very end of the month came the disappointing news that yet another beloved musician had dropped a song with an ableist slur.
This time, it was Beyoncé.
On July 29, Beyoncé released the album “Renaissance.” Intended as the first part of a trilogy, it’s also her first studio release since the groundbreaking “Lemonade” in 2016. While the internet and critics went wild, not all the responses were positive. The song “Heated,” co-written by Beyoncé and Drake, among others, included a lyric with the word “spaz,” an outdated word many find harmful.
The word originates from spastic diplegia, a type of cerebral palsy: a group of disorders that impact a person’s movement, posture and balance. But it’s often used as a slur or taunt. It’s also the exact same word Lizzo included in the original lyrics of her single “Grrrls,” released just months ago. In both cases, the word was used as shorthand for a loss of control.
Like Lizzo, Beyoncé listened and swiftly responded to criticism of the lyric. In Lizzo’s case, mere days after the single’s release, she changed the lyrics, re-recorded the song and launched the new version on her YouTube channel (and also issued a public statement).
Meanwhile, Beyoncé announced through her publicist that her lyric would also be changed, though the new version has yet to surface. “The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” her representative told NPR.
More nuanced aspects of the criticism of of Beyoncé’s and Lizzo’s lyrics include the fact that both artists are Black women, and the conversation should have been led by disabled Black women. Overwhelmingly, it was not. A harsher standard is applied to Black artists than to white artists, and some fear the quick changes that both Lizzo and Beyoncé made won’t be enough to satisfy condemnation. Neither did many critics acknowledge the different history that the word in question may have had in the Black community.
Why does harmful language for disability persist, even among informed people such as Lizzo, an advocate for body positivity? What are ableist words and phrases, and why are they bad?
Why does harmful language for disability persist, even among informed people such as Lizzo, an advocate for body positivity?
It’s just words. Stop being so sensitive. Yet the “just words” of ableism — the discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities — are actively harmful. They link disabilities with negative qualities. Saying someone is “tone-deaf” or that something “falls upon deaf ears” ascribes being inattentive, distracted and willfully ignorant to deaf people. “Turning a blind eye to” implies that blind people pay no attention. How would you feel if the way your body is or works had a constant association with bad things?
Part of the problem with ableist language is that it dehumanizes. If you’ve often used terms that are degrading for disabled people, when you meet those people you’re less likely to view them as human, as anything more than a slur. This is a glaring issue when the rate of violent crimes against people with disabilities is nearly four times higher than the rate of violent crimes against non-disabled people. More than 80% of disabled women have been sexually assaulted.
Across all age groups and education levels, disabled people are much less likely to be employed than non-disabled people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Disabled people live in poverty at more than double the rate of the non-disabled population. It’s “just words,” but how we talk about people contributes to our comfort with their status in society as less-than.
If something is falling upon my (deaf) ears, I’m laser-tuned into it.
Ableist terms aren’t only outdated but also woefully incorrect. As someone who’s partially deaf, I pay more attention, not less. I have to: I read lips in order to communicate, and that isn’t an easy skill nor something you can do without concentration. So, “falling upon deaf ears” means the opposite of what you might think it does. If something is falling upon my (deaf) ears, I’m laser-tuned into it. Many of my non-disabled friends call me the best listener they’ve ever known. As writer Hannah Diviney tweeted at Lizzo, Diviney’s cerebral palsy means “unending painful tightness in my legs . . . ‘Spaz’ doesn’t mean freaked out.”
Ableist words aren’t precise words. Rather than using exact and often better definitions, they fall back upon stereotypes of disability. The first word isn’t always the best word, and “easy” doesn’t necessarily mean “good.” Take the derogatory original lyric of the Black Eyed-Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started,” which was a slur, also in the original title, and which made less sense in the context of a song about partying without cares. In the same way that Beyoncé’s and Lizzo’s first lyrics didn’t actually mean “wild,” the oft-used “crazy” doesn’t mean “carefree.”
(AP/Richard Shotwell)Words matter and how they’re used can not only impact a person’s life but also improve a piece of art by thinking about it more deliberately. As Glamour pointed out, by Lizzo changing the ableist term to the lyric “Hold me back,” which flows naturally in the song, “there’s also a fair argument to be made that the new lyric is better even if the original line wasn’t offensive.” A chance to not be ableist is also a chance to be more conscious and creative, to get it more right.
It’s frustrating that ableist words continue to escape attention at present more than other kinds of harmful words, including sexist and homophobic language. So many disability slurs are still in common usage — in the mouths of celebrities, in papers of record. Discouragingly, slurs for disability are often used in apologies, articles, speeches and tweets about other kinds of prejudice: Bette Midler apologizes for “tone-deaf” transphobic tweet; the New York Times apologizes for “tone-deaf” racist article. “Jimmy Kimmel’s lame apology for blackface” was part of the headline for a Los Angeles Times column published only in 2020.
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
The rest of that headline references what it “reveals about the comedy world,” but what ableist slurs reveal about us is that we still don’t care enough about disabled people to talk about them like people. With their swift corrective actions, Beyoncé and Lizzo are the outliers. It took the Black Eyed Peas a year to remove the slur from their song title and lyrics, which they have never talked about publicly. And then they won a Grammy Award for it.
A first move away from ableism doesn’t take much: educating yourself, thinking about what your words mean. Beyoncé and Lizzo are taking it. When will everyone else?
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Lawmakers push back on ballot initiative challenging flavored tobacco ban
(The Center Square) – Some California lawmakers voiced resistance to the tobacco industry’s multi-million dollar referendum to upend the state’s flavored tobacco ban Tuesday, which voters will see on the ballot come November.
California voters will be tasked with either upholding or repealing California’s ban on certain flavored tobacco products. The measure, Proposition 31, comes as a referendum to Senate Bill 793, a California law signed in 2020 that prohibits tobacco retailers from selling flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.
The law was meant to take effect in 2021 but was held up due to the referendum qualifying for the November 2022 ballot. The tobacco industry has garnered more than $20 million in support of a “no” vote on Proposition 31, according to Ballotpedia.
If voters do decide to uphold the state’s ban on flavored tobacco products, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates it could result in a reduction of tens of millions to up to $100 million a year in state tobacco tax revenues, which would in turn, reduce funding for health care programs and early childhood programs.
Former State Senator Jerry Hill, author of SB 793, labeled the referendum as an attempt by the tobacco industry to “buy for themselves the right to market highly addictive nicotine products to our kids.”
“It is an affront to our democratic process that industries like this think that they can go around the people of California to rewrite the law the way they want,” Hill told lawmakers Tuesday. “This is what California is up against this November: a deep pocketed industry that deals in deception.”
Hill and other supporters are part of the campaign urging Californians to vote “yes” on Proposition 31, arguing that the flavored tobacco ban will stop the tobacco industry from using candy and fruit flavors to hook teens on nicotine.
Supporters of the effort to uphold the ban also noted Tuesday the impact the tobacco industry has had on Black Americans. Dr. Valerie Yerger, a naturopathic doctor and Associate Professor in Health Policy at the University of California San Francisco, told lawmakers Tuesday that in the 1950s, only 5% of Black smokers used menthol cigarettes, but today, that number has swelled to 85%.
“Not only is big tobacco’s attempt at overturning SB 793 an extension of their racist attacks on Black neighborhoods, it is an insult to the work so many Black organizations have done to protect our kids from big tobacco,” Yerger said.
Proponents who support the tobacco industry’s efforts to repeal the ban, however, argued Tuesday that the ban would have a greater impact on adults as opposed to children and teens.
“It’s already illegal for anyone under 21 to use any tobacco product flavored or not. Prop 31 is not a ban on flavored tobacco for children – that’s already illegal,” Joe Lang, managing partner at Lang, Hansen Giroux & Kidane, told lawmakers Tuesday. “It’s a ban on legal regulated sales to adult consumers.”
Several lawmakers who were part of Tuesday’s hearing were co-authors on SB 793, including Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, who voiced disappointment that the bill is being challenged on the ballot after it was passed by the Legislature.
“It saddens me that we did this here in the Legislature, it was fully vetted, and now the proposition process is going to try to eliminate SB 793,” Leyva said Tuesday. “And it’s just about money. It’s just about corporations making money and there is no shame, there is no care to our young people’s health.”
Long Beach’s proposed budget invests in homeless, infrastructure, safety initiatives
Long Beach, with a final round of pandemic-era funding, would avoid a budget deficit for the 2023 fiscal year with a proposed $3.2 billion budget — while also increasing investments in city infrastructure, homelessness and public safety.
The city’s projected $20.2 million budget deficit for the 2023 fiscal year — which starts Oct. 1 — will be covered by one last disbursement of COVID-19 relief funding through the Long Beach Recovery Act, along with one-time payments from several other sources, city officials said.
Long Beach on Tuesday, Aug. 2, unveiled its proposed budget for next fiscal year, which needs City Council approval.
“We previously thought last year this would be a really tough year for us, where we’re making a number of reductions.” City Manager Tom Modica said during a budget presentation in the Civic Chambers on Tuesday. “We’re able to maintain services this year. And in fact we’re able to go beyond.”
Besides the general fund — at $14 million — not having a deficit, officials said, the city also didn’t have to deplete its emergency reserve funds, which tallied $47.8 million. The budget proposal also includes a $2 million reserve for unexpected labor or other critical costs that could occur over the next year.
“This budget continues to maintain full city reserves and they’re back at pre-pandemic levels,” Mayor Robert Garcia said. “One commitment we made early on was to not ever deplete our reserves — and now they’re fully replenished.”
But balancing next year’s budget may prove an even bigger challenge, Modica said, as the city currently projects a $25.6 million shortfall without help from the Recovery Act — though that number could decrease significantly over the next several months.
“We do hope the economic recovery will continue,” Modica said. “You never know what the future is gonna hold.”
The proposed budget will undergo a series of City Council, Budget Oversight Committee, and public meetings for discussion and potential revisions before its final approval in September.
In the meantime, Long Beach’s $3.2 billion budget allocates funds to different needs across the city, with a focus on infrastructure, homelessness, public safety and climate action.
Homelessness
Long Beach is looking to bolster its services for unhoused people throughout the city as that number continues growing — with this year’s point-in-time homelessness survey finding a 62% spike in the homeless population over the last two years.
The city counted 3,296 people who were homeless this year, up from 2,034 in 2020. Of those, 69% were unsheltered, according to the city’s July 1 published report on the survey.
The budget proposes a third addition to Long Beach’s Restorative Engagement to Achieve Collective Health teams — also known as REACH — which provide folks in need with a direct line to resources for temporary or permanent housing, mental and physical health services, and other forms of help.
There are already two REACH teams at work, each composed of one public health nurse, one mental health clinician and two homeless services outreach workers who use the city’s REACH vans to respond to emergency calls that require their expertise.
Mayor Robert Garcia called for the REACH expansion earlier this year, arguing that a staffing increase would allow the team to operate on the weekend. It’s estimated to cost around $500,000 to add the third team.
The city is also looking to add two counselor’s to Long Beach’s call center, which connects unhoused people with city resources.
Long Beach’s budget also proposes a $2.1 million allocation of Measure A — a 1% voter approved sales-tax measure — to a clean–up initiative along the city’s riverbeds.
Another $350,000 has been earmarked to fund rapid-response homeless encampment clean ups, outreach and large-scale encampment cleanups in parks and other open spaces.
The city would also add $250,000 to its towing fund, which would be used to waive towing fees for unhoused people who may be living in their vehicles.
“We’re providing some relief,” Modica said.
In total, the budget carved out $77 million for homeless services, according to the city, $50 million of which would go toward filling out the city’s interim and permanent housing opportunities.
Another $20 million would be invested in homeless services, including access to physical and mental health care, Modica said. Another $6 million would fund the Multi-Service Center’s operating budget for the coming year.
“The vast majority of that is really to provide support for people,” Modica said.
Public Safety
Under the proposed budget, the Long Beach Police Department would create a new Collaborative Response and Engagement Bureau — and add 20 new police officers to its ranks.
“There’s a lot of changes with the new (Police) Chief,” Modica said, “who comes with different ideas and different ways to structure.”
Of the new officers, 16 would serve on the LBPD’s bike beat.
The City Council considered and unanimously approved an increase to the LBPD’s bike beat officers in early July. Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, who initially proposed the item, argued that bike beat officers are less threatening and more likely to create strong connections within the communities they serve.
“The important piece of this is that the council has already been discussing adding these types of officers over the last several months,” Garcia said. “This really speaks to that need and success that we have had with our community policing programs.”
Currently, the city pays $1.5 million to fund its bicycle beat cop unit, which consists of four officers and one sergeant, said LBPD officer Paige White in a previous statement. That unit is assigned to the South Patrol Division, from Anaheim Street southward to Harbor Scenic Drive and from the Los Angeles River eastward to Cherry Avenue.
All four LBPD divisions would have four bike officers under the proposed budget, Modica said.
The other four LBPD additions would serve as “Quality-of-Life” officers, Modica said, who would largely be tasked with assisting the city’s overall homeless outreach, response and encampment cleanup efforts.
Long Beach also plans to convert its existing Park Ranger program — which employs five full-time park rangers to monitor just five parks around the city — to a new Park Safety Ambassador program.
Funding from the park ranger fund would be repurposed to hire about 12 unarmed park ambassadors, who would ensure bathrooms at all of Long Beach’s parks are closed in the evening hours to prevent damage to the facilities.
The park ambassadors would also carry out minor park repairs.
Addressing Climate Change
Long Beach would also create a new department: The Office of Climate Action.
The department would be housed within the City Manager’s office and would work jointly with the Office of Sustainability.
“This is a key new office that’s going to be fully staffed and focus on the critical challenge that we face as a community and as a plan in the future,” Garcia said. “And that’s of course climate change.”
The proposed budget includes funding four four-full time jobs within that office.
“We thought it’d be a great way to organize all the efforts into one office and have a key leader direct all these efforts citywide,” Garcia said, noting they’ll also be expected to play a watchdog role for other environmentally focused city initiatives.
The city would add a public affairs assistant in the Energy Resources Department to better communicate the city’s climate change strategies, an additional planner to implement the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan tasks, and an additional building inspector to support oil well inspections.
Long Beach is also considering a $200,000 “oil liability” assessment, which would attempt to determine the city’s financial and legal ties to the oil industry — and how feasible a move away from that industry would be in the future.
It’s unclear at this point when that study is expected to get underway.
Garcia, in a separate proposal, asked that Long Beach’s budget include additional funding to support programming and operations at the Cambodian American Cultural Center, Latino Cultural Center and the African American Cultural Center, as well as Long Beach Heritage Museum preservation.
Garcia is also asking to include $100,000 toward developing an LGBTQ cultural center and museum in the city.
The City Council and Budget Oversight Committee will host several budget-related meeting prior to its final approval in September. Find more information on dates on the city’s website.
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From a murderous affair to an anonymous Black jockey, the true story behind the moving pictures in Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’
… , raced across Europe after encountering racism in America. Courtesy Kentucky Derby … long-standing racist ideas that African Americans were animalistic and "lesser … horse-racing became more lucrative, Black Americans were increasingly shut out, Prodger … RankTribe™ Black Business Directory News
Shaun King claims he needed $40k dog because of his BLM advocacy
Controversial Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King claimed he needed a pricey guard dog for 24/7 security for his family due to the barrage of threats from white supremacists, who he alleges have tried to break into his home and harass his children.
On Tuesday, King wrote in a lengthy Facebook post about what his ‘life has become.’
‘I spend more time each day now thinking about how to keep my family safe than I do doing the actually work I’m called to do,’ he wrote. ‘So know this, when you see reports about the money it costs to keep me and my family safe, it’s nowhere near enough. Not at all. Not even close.’
That’s how he justified allegedly using $40,000 in donor funds to pay for an award-winning guard dog, a mastiff he named Marz. He later returned the dog because he said the pup had a ‘little too much energy.’
On Tuesday, King wrote in a lengthy Facebook post about what his ‘life has become.’ ‘I spend more time each day now thinking about how to keep my family safe than I do doing the actually work I’m called to do,’ he wrote. ‘So know this, when you see reports about the money it costs to keep me and my family safe, it’s nowhere near enough. Not at all. Not even close’
A photo of Shaun King (pictured center) with his family
Days after the second Grassroots donation, King welcomed thoroughbred Marz (pictured) to his family. Marz won best in show at an AKC competition last month
In the last year, his political action committee, Grassroots Law, made two contributions to California-based Potrero Performance Dogs, finance disclosures revealed.
The funds, totaling more than $40,000, were for ‘contractor services.’
But days after Grassroots made its second contribution in February, King welcomed Marz, a Potrero-bred thoroughbred, to his family.
King has battled allegations of fraud for many years, but has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing in connection to Grassroots, which he founded to help get soft-on-crime officials elected to office.
Skepticism surrounding King’s contributions to Potrero come as BLM-backed politicians and organizational leaders face scrutiny over the misuse of charity funds.
King (pictured in Sept. 2019) has been accused of fraud on various occasions over the last several years, but has not been formally accused of any wrongdoing in connection to Grassroots. He has denied all allegations of wrongdoing
In Tuesday’s post, King wrote about the death threats he has gotten in the mail, and on social media.
‘White supremacists and people who’ve meant my family harm have now shown up to our last three homes. Multiple times,’ he said.
King spoke about how complete strangers have shown up to his home, ‘frightening the hell of out my family.’
‘Before you talk about how I should defend myself with guns, New York City won’t even allow me to have a gun. New Jersey doesn’t have stand your ground laws and hardly allows you to even own guns. News outlets have shown our home and exact location online, which then caused a slew of strangers to show up at our home.’
He also spoke about the ‘fake police reports,’ people have filed against them that have prompted the police to show up at their home.
‘We’ve had people file fake child abuse reports against us. Causing child services to harass us for months,’ he wrote.
He shared his agony of receiving death threats in the mail, in email and across social media. He claimed hundred of threats, including from police, military snipers and white supremacist groups.
He said that even when he did file the cases with the FBI, they’ve ‘done nothing,’ so he said he stopped even filing them.
News of King’s family pet comes just days after failed Democratic congressional candidate Karen Carter Peterson (pictured July 2021) was hit wire fraud charges for inappropriately using campaign and party funds after admitting to a gambling addiction
‘I’ve had complete strangers confront me in public because of total fabrications they heard about me online and even had someone put their hands on me over lies they read online.
He also spoke about how his daughter almost died when she was hit by a car and how he needed extra security because people were coming to the hospital to harass them.
‘A dozen white supremacists and police officers are in prison right now because of my work. Several have recently been released,’ he said.
The BLM movement first emerged in 2013. Co-founders Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi, and Alicia Garza are pictured in November 2016
Grassroots Law paid $10,000 to Potrero in December 2021 and another $30,650 on February 16.
King then obtained Marz a few days later, announcing the addition of the American Kennel Club competitor to his family a since-deleted Facebook post.
He claimed Marz would offer ‘alertness and protection,’ as well as serve as the King family pet, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
However, the dog – who won best in show at an AKC competition last month – was reportedly recently returned to the breeder.
Potrero, also in a since deleted social media post, said Marz had ‘a little too much energy to be a family dog so he came back.’
King’s political action committee, Grassroots Law, donated more than $40K to California-based Potrero Performance Dogs in the last year, finance disclosures revealed
Grassroots Law contributed nearly the same amount of money to Potrero as it did to political candidates in the last year. Campaign finance disclosures revealed the PAC has given $56,000 to politicians and political hopefuls since 2021.
King has also been accused of fraud on various occasions, including by the mother of Tamir Rice – a 12-year-old Ohio boy killed by Cleveland police – who claims he held unauthorized fundraisers in her son’s name.
Last December, the Real Justice PAC, which King cofounded, was ordered to pay the city of Philadelphia $30,000 after having admitted to making omissions in its finance reports while working on District Attorney Larry Krasner’s campaign.
In 2019, King released an audit claiming he received a monthly salary of $4,166 from Real Justice PAC and ‘no compensation at all’ from Grassroots predecessor Action PAC.
He alleged he was ‘literally the only person’ on the PAC’s staff who didn’t receive a salary, saying: ‘I have not received a salary or a stipend of any kind for the entire year. I do it all for free.’
That same year, he was accused by former ally DeRay Mckesson of following a ‘uniform pattern’ of fraud for many years.
In an open letter, Mckesson alleged King acted in ways that ‘compromise others, compromise the collective work, and compromise a shared sense of integrity.’
King has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Peterson was the only candidate for federal office BLM endorsed, spending more than $100,000 on her failed campaign through their political action committee. A BLM protester is pictured in April 2021
The Toronto mansion was purchased with funds that came from an $8M BLMGNF grant
In 2019, King released an audit claiming he received a monthly salary of $4,166 from Real Justice PAC and ‘no compensation at all’ from Grassroots predecessor Action PAC.
He alleged he was ‘literally the only person’ on the PAC’s staff who didn’t receive a salary, saying: ‘I have not received a salary or a stipend of any kind for the entire year. I do it all for free.’
That same year, he was accused by former ally DeRay Mckesson of following a ‘uniform pattern’ of fraud for many years.
In an open letter, Mckesson alleged King acted in ways that ‘compromise others, compromise the collective work, and compromise a shared sense of integrity.’
King has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Black Lives Matter spent $6M on a mansion in Studio City, California
News of King’s family pet comes just days after failed Democratic congressional candidate Karen Carter Peterson was hit wire fraud charges for inappropriately using campaign and party funds after admitting to a gambling addiction.
Peterson is a former State Senator from Louisiana and longtime chair of the state’s Democratic Party who came in second place in the Democratic primary to represent the state’s 2nd District in Washington.
She was the only candidate for federal office BLM endorsed in this election cycle, spending more than $100,000 in independent expenditures on her failed campaign through their political action committee, according to Fox News.
Things have spiraled for Peterson since losing the primary. In April, she resigned from her state senate seat and admitted to being a gambling addict. In July, she was charged with wire fraud for using campaign donations on personal expenses.
She signed a plea deal admitting to taking money from campaign and party coffers to four individuals and four companies who would then allegedly cash the check and give Peterson the money, the Louisiana Illuminator reported.
Peterson would then take the money and either gamble or use it for other personal expenses, along the way filing what the Department of Justice called ‘false and misleading’ campaign finance reports.
The Black Lives Matter PAC is a BLM Global Network Foundation-affiliated committee. It’s another example of the national Black Lives Matter organization’s spending coming into question.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in mid-May released a 63-page Form 990, covering the fiscal year from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, at which point the group had $42 million in net assets.
This is BLM foundation’s first public accounting of its finances since incorporating in 2017.
The tax filing shows that nearly $6 million was spent on a Los Angeles-area compound. The Studio City property, which includes a home with six bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming pool, a soundstage and office space, was intended as a campus for a black artists fellowship and is currently used for that purpose, the board member said.
Co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who resigned last year after it was revealed she amassed a $3.2 million property portfolio, has used the property twice for personal reasons – once for a Biden inauguration party, and another time for her son’s birthday. She paid $390 for its use, according to tax filings.
The filings also show that Cullors used charity funds to pay her friends and family large sums for various ‘consulting’ services, as well as charter a private flight.
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is still worth tens of millions of dollars, despite spending more than $37 million on grants, real estate, consultants, and other expenses, according to tax documents filed with the IRS.
That investment is expected to become an endowment to ensure the foundation’s work continues in the future, organizers say.
The BLM movement first emerged in 2013, after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida.
But it was the 2014 death of Michael Brown at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri, that made the slogan ‘Black lives matter’ a rallying cry for progressives and a favorite target of derision for conservatives.
The foundation ended its last fiscal year – from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 – with nearly $42 million in net assets. It had an operating budget of about $4 million, according to a board member.
As a fledgling nonprofit, it had been under the fiscal sponsorship of a well-established charity, and wasn´t required to publicly disclose its financials until it became an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit in December 2020.
The tax filing suggests the organization is still finding its footing: It currently has no executive director or in-house staff.
Nonprofit experts told the AP that the BLM foundation seems to be operating like a scrappy organization with far fewer resources, although some say black-led charities face unfair scrutiny in an overwhelmingly white and wealthy philanthropic landscape.
The tax filings released revealed that BLM paid a company owned by Damon Turner, the father of co-founder Patrisse Cullors’ child, nearly $970,000 to help ‘produce live events’ and provide other ‘creative services.’
The co-founder’s brother, Paul Cullors, received more than $840,000 for providing security services to the foundation.
Leaders have attempted to justify the expense by saying the foundation’s protection could not be entrusted to former police professionals who typically run security firms because the BLM movement is known for vehemently protesting law enforcement organizations.
Last year, when Cullors revealed the windfall of donations, local chapter organizers and families of police brutality victims reacted angrily.
Until then, the foundation had not been transparent with the most devoted BLM organizers, many of whom accused Cullors of shutting them out of decisions about how financial resources would be allocated.
The foundation will launch a ‘transparency and accountability center’ on its website to make its financial documents available for public inspection, Bowers said.
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