(Washington Examiner) Three months have passed since the national Black Lives Matter group announced the launch of an art fellowship program used to justify its secret purchase of a $6 million Los Angeles mansion, but the charity hasn’t even begun to accept applications for the program.
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation announced the fellowship program just days before New York magazine revealed in early April the charity had secretly purchased the property with donor cash in October 2020. BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors filmed videos at the property for her personal YouTube channel, held private events at the compound, and stayed at the mansion for days at a time during the 19-month period BLM concealed its purchase of the property from the public and its donors.
Cullors said in a now-deleted Instagram post in April that BLM didn’t disclose the property purchase because it “needed repairs and renovation.”
BLM said in an Instagram post in April that “application details will be announced in the near future” for the fellowship program. But the charity has since made no apparent effort to bring the program to fruition.
BLM also tweeted in April that it purchased the mansion, which it calls the “Creator’s House,” to “provide a space for Black folks to share their gifts with the world and hone their craft as they see fit, under the conditions that work best for them and outside systems of oppression in creative industries.”
BLM indicated on its website in May that it was nowhere close to launching the fellowship program.
“We will have more concrete plans for the Creator’s House once we have further built out internal infrastructure and staff, but the plan remains to use the space for recipients of the Black Joy Creators Fellowship to share their gifts with the world and hone their craft as they see fit,” BLM disclosed on a section of its website dubbed the “Transparency Center.”
BLM said in a May blog post on its website that criticism of its “smart, diversified investment” decision to purchase the $6 million Los Angeles mansion was a “double standard” derived from “embedded racism.”
It’s not clear how BLM is currently utilizing its Los Angeles mansion, when the charity plans to begin accepting applications for its art fellowship program, or how many fellows are budgeted to participate in the program. BLM told the Washington Examiner on Friday that “updates” on the fellowship program are forthcoming.
“There will be updates on the fellowship in the coming weeks ahead,” an unnamed BLM spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in an email.
BLM filed an IRS Form 990 tax return in May showing the charity doled out lucrative contracts and payments to close friends and family of Cullors after it received a windfall of cash amid nationwide protests during the summer of 2020.
The filing also showed that BLM granted $8 million to BLM Canada to help the group purchase a mansion in Toronto that cost $6.3 million.
Cullors, who resigned as BLM’s executive director in May 2021, said in April it was “triggering” to her whenever she hears about federal charity transparency laws.
