Who is in control of the $66 million that BLM rose through donations to purchase the Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism?

BY PAUL JUNOR

Fanfare greeted the news that Black Lives Matter (BLM) Toronto had purchased a building in the heart of downtown Toronto in July 2021.The building located at 24 Cecil Street was expected to be a central location of community activism and artistic endeavours.

Media attention focused on the fact that it cost $6.3 million, and it was reported that the funds were raised through different sources. However, in an article in the New York Post on January 29^th, 2022, questions have been raised about the lack of transparency involved in the purchase of the building.  According to the article there was the involvement of a Toronto-based non-profit organization, M4BJ, which was the recipient of millions of dollars from the BLM located in the U.S. Janaya Khan, one of the founders of BLM Toronto, founded M4BJ. She is the spouse of Patrisse Khan-Cullors, one of the founders of Black Lives Matter Global Foundation Network (BMMGFN).

There have been questions raised about the finances of the U.S based organization. The New York Post revealed in a 2021 article that Khan-Cullors bought personal properties worth $3 million in California. There was media attention raised with respect to whether funds that were donated to the BLM were used in the purchase. Khan-Cullors denied that she used any of the BLM funds and it was her own money that she earned independently. After Khan-Cullors resigned from BLM in May 2022 it was expected that two individuals would take over the financial management of the BLMGFN, but it never occurred as reported by the Washington Examiner.

There are a lot of questions about who is in control of the $66 million that BLM raised through donations. The Associated Press reported at the start of 2021 that BLM received approximately $90 million from financial contributions after the death of George Floyd in May 2021. No one is sure where all the funds have gone, as there seems to be a lack of financial accountability, transparency and clarity about this matter.

It appears that questions about the BLM Canada’s purchase of the Wildseed Centre has led to the resignation of two members. Sahra Saudi and Sarah James’s tweet at @SarahJama on January 19^th, 2022 stated, “After over a year of struggling internally with BLM-TO to improve internal processes and to continue the work that has been started, we finally left the group when, like many other people, we found out about Black Lives Matter Canada’s 8 million dollar purchase of the Wildseed Art and Activism Centre. We have written this because our many attempts to bring concerns were met with denial, gas lighting, and a refusal to acknowledge requests for accountability. We simply wish to share the truth of our experiences.”

The statement identifies original BLM-TO members: Rodney Diverlus, Syrus Marcus Ware, Sandy Hudson and Ravy Wngz as being part of BLM-Canada. The statement notes, “For BLM Canada to take money from BLM Global Network for a building without consulting the community was unethical. For BLM Canada to refuse to answer questions from young Black organizers goes against the spirit of movement-building.”