It’s been barely a year since George Floyd’s killing re-invigorated the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, but for its co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, a lot has changed for the better. While millions of Americans remain unemployed due to months of COVID shutdowns, Cullors—a self-described trained “Marxist”—reportedly just dropped $1.4m on a fourth house.
It’s no secret that the Black Lives Matter movement and its co-founder Patrisse Cullors accuse American capitalism of fundamental, systemic racism, and of “wiping out entire communities“; these assertions are core tenets of multiple official BLM organizations.
She describes herself as a trained Marxist:
Still, since last May, Cullors has seamlessly parlayed her position as BLM frontrunner into a number of apparently lucrative, decidedly capitalist enterprises—including a “multi-year and wide-ranging” contract with Warner Brothers.
We reported on Cullors’ partnership with the media conglomerate—and the adverse reactions from many BLM supporters—in our October 2020 post, “Trained Marxist” and BLM Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors Signs Warner Bros. TV Deal.
Still, Cullors has retained her vaunted reputation among social justice activists and eagerly ‘woke’ corporations alike. She’s set to publish a new book in October (an expansion of an article she wrote in 2019 for the Harvard Law Review), launched a project partnership with the UGG apparel company and the Los Angeles-based Hammer Museum, and has been nominated alongside BLM for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. And, as the Associated Press revealed last month, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation—seen as the central “steward” for the BLM movement and led by Cullors herself, took in an astonishing $90m in donations in 2020 alone.
But questions and skepticism among some BLM acolytes have arisen yet again since the AP‘s report; many wonder how BLM’s tremendous windfall is being distributed (if at all). Others have demanded more transparency from the Foundation about its financial practices, with multiple BLM chapters claiming they haven’t seen a dime of the money.
On March 2, Michael Brown’s father appeared in a video posted on Twitter in which a Ferguson, Missouri activist complained of being “forgotten” by the movement. Asserting that local organizers and “political prisoners” in dire need of assistance have been “left behind”, he demanded some $20m from BLM’s coffers to “continue the work” his and other groups have been doing in the area.
In response to the anger, Cullors took to Instagram on March 6 to complain about being “lied on by my own community”, which, she accused, “lifted up right wing propaganda” instead of supporting BLM unconditionally.
Now, news of Cullors’ newest property acquisition—with its beautiful setting, affluent neighborhood, and gorgeous amenities—has once again landed Cullors in the hot seat.
On April 10, the New York Post reported that, according to property records, Cullors now owns “four high-end homes” worth “$3.2 million”. The Post also noted:
Patrisse Khan-Cullors, 37, also eyed property in the Bahamas at an ultra-exclusive resort where Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods both have homes, The Post has learned. Luxury apartments and townhouses at the beachfront Albany resort outside Nassau are priced between $5 million and $20 million, according to a local agent.The self-described Marxist last month purchased a $1.4 million home on a secluded road a short drive from Malibu in Los Angeles, according to a report. The 2,370 square-foot property features “soaring ceilings, skylights and plenty of windows” with canyon views. The Topanga Canyon homestead, which includes two houses on a quarter acre, is just one of three homes Khan-Cullors owns in the Los Angeles area, public records show.
The Daily Mail added,
In her new zip code, 88 per cent of residents are white and 1.8 per cent black, according to the census.
The house is only 20 miles from her childhood home in Van Nuys, but is a world away.
Indeed, the New York Post pointed out,
In her memoir, Khan-Cullors describes growing up in a housing project less than a mile from the affluent and largely white neighborhood of Sherman Oaks, a community of wide lawns and pools where “there is nothing that does not appear beautiful and well kept.” The four kids were mostly raised by her single mother who worked 16 hours a day to support the family, she writes.Growing up, Khan-Cullors lived in “a two-story, tan-colored building where the paint is peeling and where there is a gate that does not close properly and an intercom system that never works,” she writes. “The only place in my hood to buy groceries is a 7-Eleven.”Khan-Cullors embraced activism and Marxism at a young age. “It started the year I turned twelve,” she writes. “That was the year that I learned that being black and poor defined me more than being bright and hopeful and ready.”
Incensed, activists have vented their frustration with Cullors—and her reaction to the scrutiny—on Twitter.
Cullors appears to have deactivated her Twitter account since the home-buying report was published.
As I wrote in October, Black Lives Matter has made a name for itself by equating American capitalism with racism, police brutality, and injustice of all stripes; as a movement, BLM has long sought to discredit the traditional “up-by-your bootstraps” ideals of the American dream—ideals which, if Cullors’ memoir is to be believed, she herself has exemplified. A Black child who grew up in an underprivileged, single-parent home, Cullors has overcome those circumstances and leveraged her activism into a wildly successful brand and career—with lots of personal property to show for it.
No wonder her less famous, less wealthy compatriots are angry with her: in her quest to incite Marxist revolution, she’s gone and proven that it’s not even necessary. Oops.
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Samantha Mandeles is Senior Researcher and Outreach Director at the Legal Insurrection Foundation. You can contact her on Twitter at @SRMandeles.
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