Another response to “Dick” who has posted a very lengthy screed about the perils of Black Lives Matter, and refers us to their website, which he claims to quote verbatim. Well, “Dick,” please tell us where you found this on their site:
“Within the body of their objectives, Black Lives Matter has made it clear that, as an organization, it exists to overthrow the existing order within the United States, stating on its website about its plan to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement” and to ‘foster a queer‐affirming network.’”
Because when I looked, this is what I found as the stated objectives of Black Lives Matter, as posted online:
“#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
We are expansive. We are a collective of liberators who believe in an inclusive and spacious movement. We also believe that in order to win and bring as many people with us along the way, we must move beyond the narrow nationalism that is all too prevalent in Black communities. We must ensure we are building a movement that brings all of us to the front.
We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.
We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted for demise.
We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression.
The call for Black lives to matter is a rallying cry for ALL Black lives striving for liberation.”
Sure doesn’t seem like a dreadful set of objectives to me! Then again, I admit, I’m not triggered by suggestions of inclusivity that involve “queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records…” etc.
And about your claim that contributions to ActBlue are tax deductible… very misleading, but donations for any political activity are most certainly NOT tax deductible, and ActBlue states that quite clearly. Only contributions to registered 50a(c)(3) charitable organizations through ActBlue ARE tax deductible, and yes, Black Lives Matter FOUNDATION is a federally-registered 501(c)(3) organization based in California. But that is NOT the same as the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, which is a political organization, for which contributions are NOT tax-deductible under federal and state tax laws. You wrote that “Contributions made to the Black Lives Matter movement through that organization (ActBlue) are deductible as well.” THAT IS A LIE. Again, your screed is deliberately misleading, or else reflects willful ignorance of the facts. Contributions made to the “movement” are political, not charitable, and are NOT tax deductible, and it is clearly stated on the ActBlue website.
As to your lengthy screed about Susan Rosenberg… her violent history led to her imprisonment (served 16 years), and rightly so. But she was released from prison twenty years ago, so it’s old history. She does serve on the Board of Thousand Currents… but in spite of your attempt to make that organization sound sinister, one has to wonder what is sinister about their charitable work in support of social justice, climate justice and food security for those in need in this country. Yes, they support the CHARITABLE FOUNDATION known as Black Lives Matter FOUNDATION… but again, try as you might, that’s NOT the political organization, but, rather, a federally-chartered charitable organization. I know you like to use words to label people and organizations in ways that make them seem oh, so frightening… but that’s a disingenuous attempt on your part to mislead your readers, and you do it constantly.
I’m not going further into your screed, because it has become quite apparent that you like to cherry-pick your facts and then use them to mislead your readers into drawing conclusions that are either factually inaccurate or woefully unfair. Not a surprise. When have people like you cared about honesty, integrity, truth or fairness? Never, when there’s a good lie to be spread around, “Dick.” Keep spreading.