HELL NO: BLM Org Asks ‘White Folks’ For Juneteenth Reparations As Finances Fizzle

A nonprofit affiliated with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is asking “white folks” for monetary reparations as its finances have dwindled in recent years.

Black Lives Matter Grassroots made a series of demands for assistance to “our people” and to hold white Americans “accountable” in a Thursday press release honoring Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the liberation of slaves in the U.S. The group laid out demands for specific ethnic groups, reiterating its brand of leftist identity politics that has lost significant amounts of public support, according to May polling from Pew Research Center.

“Commit yourselves to real reparations policies that hold accountable the government, white-supremacist capitalism, and white people — who continue to benefit from our generations of stolen labor,” the press release states. “Slide your Black friend some benjamins. Make a check out to Black liberation organizations, like BLM Grassroots.”

“We need you to confront and smash the anti-Blackness in your own communities and economies, at your own dinner tables, in your own hearts,” reads another section addressed to “non-black people of color.” Black Lives Matter Grassroots did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The organization has a history of questionable finances, failing to account on paper for millions of dollars that seemingly disappeared, The Washington Free Beacon reported in May 2024. Black Lives Matter Grassroots sued the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation over $10 million in disputed funds in 2022, accusing the foundation of being “thieves,” but a judge later dismissed the case and ordered Black Lives Matter Grassroots to pay legal fees.

Black Lives Matter Grassroots Director Melina Abdullah has also been accused of spending some of the nonprofit’s cash to pay for a personal vacation to Jamaica, according to The Washington Free Beacon. The organization “had total holdings of roughly $24 million” in January 2022, according to a letter from an attorney tasked by BLM leaders with investigating the various financial issues.

The group began reporting its finances publicly for the 2023 tax year, showing it started the year with nearly $4 million in assets. However, that figure fell to nearly $2,600,000, tax records show, and Black Lives Matter Grassroots raked in just $77,084 in revenue against $1,449,018 in expenses in 2023.

A May poll from Pew Research Center showed most American adults thought an “increased focus on race” driven by the BLM movement brought no meaningful benefits for black people in the time since George Floyd’s death in 2020. Moreover, Washington, D.C. demolition crews tore down “Black Lives Matter Plaza” in April despite the district’s mayor previously calling the display a “permanent” symbol.

“Make our struggles your own,” Black Lives Matter Grassroots demanded. “Work to defeat our common enemy — white-supremacist capitalism.”