Michael Brown’s Father and Ferguson Activists Demands $20 Million From BLM

Michael Brown‘s father and other Ferguson, Missouri activists are demanding that the Black Lives Matter organization assist them financially.

Michael Brown’s unjustly murder in August 2014 by a white police officer sparked months of protests in Ferguson. His death further fueled the Black Lives Matter movement. Now, his father, Michael Brown Sr., wants to know where the $90 million that BLM claimed to have raised in 2020 went and why none of the money was allocated to assist the Black community in Ferguson.

“Where is all that money going?” Brown Sr. asked in a press release from The International Black Freedom Alliance on Tuesday. “How could you leave the families who are helping the community without any funding?”

Michael Brown Sr. and Ferguson activist and co-founder of The International Black Freedom Alliance, Tory Russell, are seeking $20 million from the organization to assist those on the frontlines of the movement. According to the press release, activists are seeking part of the funds to go towards a community center in honor of Michael Brown.

“We’re not asking for a handout, but for the funding to keep the movement strong where it began,” Russell said.

Since the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation disclosed its 2020 earnings in an impact report, many people have raised their eyebrows. The organization claims that they had $8.4 million in expenses last year, which included “staffing, operating and administrative expenses, civic engagement, programs, and field expenses, rapid response, and crisis intervention.” About $2 million was spent on a “get out the vote” campaign during the 2020 elections. However, they failed to disclose how the other $6.4 million was spent.

BLMGNF also reported that it committed $21.7 million in funding to its official and unofficial chapters and 30 local organizations, which received six-figure grants. These funds “will go toward the sustenance of Black communities and Black movement-building.”

In September 2020, the organization was called into question when 32-year-old Black Lives Matter activist Sir Maejor Page was arrested in Toledo, Ohio, for allegedly stealing $200,000 in donation money that was raised via a GoFundMe for the Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta chapter.