Franklin Pierce
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Anger over BLM's Purchase of $8.1 Million Toronto Mansion Grows as Group's Finances Scrutinized
Canadian Black Lives Matter activists are furious over the group's recent $8.1 million cash purchase of a mansion in downtown Toronto that once served as the headquarters of the Communist Party of Canada .
The U.S. charity that serves as the face of the BLM movement provided the bulk of the funding for the purchase of the 10,000-square-foot property in July. The purchase flew largely under the radar at the time, but anger has now reached a boiling point amid other revelations about BLM's management and its finances.
"For BLM Canada to take money from BLM Global Network [Foundation] for a building without consulting the community was unethical," Canadian BLM activists Sarah Jama and Sahra Soudi said in a recent statement. "For BLM Canada to refuse to answer questions from young Black organizers goes against the spirit of movement-building."
Jama and Soudi said they resigned from the steering committee of BLM's Toronto chapter after the leaders of BLM Canada refused to answer any questions about the purchase and tried to get them to sign exploitative nondisclosure agreements.
"In other words, the NDA was designed as a constant threat of legal action against us, even though we were volunteering our time to a cause we believed in," the activists said.
BLM Canada said the Toronto property, which they dubbed the Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism, would serve as a "vessel that seeks to nurture Black radical creation in Toronto and beyond."
Real estate records obtained by the Washington Examiner show that BLM Canada, which also goes by M4BJ, purchased the property for $8.1 million on July 13, 2021. The purchase came just weeks after the group's co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, resigned amid scrutiny of her own personal real estate purchases across the United States.
BLM Canada co-founder Rodney Diverlus said in July that BLM Canada purchased the property "outright."
Where is BLM's office? It’s a mystery
BLM Canada accessed a "restricted capital grant" from the movement's national arm to purchase the property, Hudson explained during an interview in August with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Anger over BLM's purchase of $8.1 million Toronto mansion grows as group's finances scrutinized
Canadian Black Lives Matter activists are furious over the group's recent $8.1 million cash purchase of a mansion in downtown Toronto that once served as the headquarters of the Communist Party of Canada .
The U.S. charity that serves as the face of the BLM movement provided the bulk of the funding for the purchase of the 10,000-square-foot property in July. The purchase flew largely under the radar at the time, but anger has now reached a boiling point amid other revelations about BLM's management and its finances.
"For BLM Canada to take money from BLM Global Network [Foundation] for a building without consulting the community was unethical," Canadian BLM activists Sarah Jama and Sahra Soudi said in a recent statement. "For BLM Canada to refuse to answer questions from young Black organizers goes against the spirit of movement-building."
Jama and Soudi said they resigned from the steering committee of BLM's Toronto chapter after the leaders of BLM Canada refused to answer any questions about the purchase and tried to get them to sign exploitative nondisclosure agreements.
"In other words, the NDA was designed as a constant threat of legal action against us, even though we were volunteering our time to a cause we believed in," the activists said.
BLM Canada said the Toronto property, which they dubbed the Wildseed Centre for Art and Activism, would serve as a "vessel that seeks to nurture Black radical creation in Toronto and beyond."
Real estate records obtained by the Washington Examiner show that BLM Canada, which also goes by M4BJ, purchased the property for $8.1 million on July 13, 2021. The purchase came just weeks after the group's co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, resigned amid scrutiny of her own personal real estate purchases across the United States.
BLM Canada co-founder Rodney Diverlus said in July that BLM Canada purchased the property "outright."
Where is BLM's office? It’s a mystery
BLM Canada accessed a "restricted capital grant" from the movement's national arm to purchase the property, Hudson explained during an interview in August with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Anger over BLM's purchase of $8.1 million Toronto mansion grows as group's finances scrutinized