Last month, Marxist Patrisse Cullors, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in the United States, was widely questioned and criticized for owning several luxury homes. Recently, experts have found that Cullors is suspected of self-dealing and has “massive ethical problems”.
A press release obtained by The Daily Caller, a conservative website, revealed that Carlos, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been confirmed as co-chair of Trap Heals Arts, which receives business from the three groups she co-founded and leads.
“As previously reported by The Daily Wire, the Trap Heals art company was founded and is run by Damon Turner, the father of Carlos’ only child.
Doug White, a longtime ethics expert on philanthropy, told the Daily Wire, “Personally, I think there are a lot of issues here from an ethical standpoint.”
White, the former director of Columbia University’s master’s program in operations research/management science, further explained, “Self-dealing is when someone is in a position to manage money and use it in his or her own name. That’s basically what it boils down to, and this fits that definition to a large extent.”
Paul Kamenar, a consultant for the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative watchdog group, said that according to the group’s charter, which was provided to the New Mexico Attorney General’s office in March, the BLM Global Network Foundation is in partnership with the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC). The BLM Global Network Foundation’s deal with Trap Heals raises questions about its one-person board of directors.
Kamnar said there are questions not only about the contract signed between Trap Heals and the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation in 2018, but also about the personal and business relationship between Carlos and Turner. There is also the issue that the BLM’s bylaws show that Carlos is the sole director, while most nonprofits have at least three directors, and many large nonprofits even have more than three directors so that there is accountability and oversight.
Neither Carlos nor Turner responded to multiple requests for comment and additional details. White said it is notable that Carlos and Turner did not object to the press release.
White said, “They didn’t deny it. If someone called me and said, ‘This press release says you are co-chair of this group that is employed by this organization that you founded and two other organizations that you started. Is that true?’ If that wasn’t true, I would get on the phone in ten seconds and say, ‘No, it’s not true.'”
“In an archived version of its website, Trap Heals says it served as the “lead developer of arts and culture work” for the BLM Global Network Foundation in 2018. According to the existing archive, Trap Heals removed these narratives from its website sometime after November 24, 2020.
According to financial records previously reported by the Daily Wire, Trap Heals also received $238,000 from two other groups co-founded and led by Carlos between 2018 and 2020.
A group of 10 BLM chapters accused the BLM Global Network Foundation last November of providing little to no support to local groups. They also said the agency has not provided financial transparency in its fundraising since its inception in 2013.
A statement from the local chapters said Carlos was the “sole board member” of the BLM Global Network Foundation and became the organization’s executive director in July 2020, without their knowledge and against the wishes of the majority of the chapters.
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