{"id":2209140,"date":"2024-03-29T12:34:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T16:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/black-lives-matter-pours-1m-into-former-black-panther-leaders-low-income-apartment-project\/"},"modified":"2024-03-29T12:34:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-29T16:34:37","slug":"black-lives-matter-pours-1m-into-former-black-panther-leaders-low-income-apartment-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/black-lives-matter-pours-1m-into-former-black-panther-leaders-low-income-apartment-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Lives Matter invests $1M in ex-Black Panther leader&#8217;s affordable housing initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblack-lives-matter-pours-1m-into-former-black-panther-leaders-low-income-apartment-project%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2209140&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Elaine Brown and Black Lives Matter leaders are investing $1 million in the Black Panther building project in Oakland. This initiative aims to provide affordable housing and support Black-owned businesses. The project is led by former Black\u200d Panther leader Elaine Brown to empower the \u2064local community and \u2064challenge capitalism and white supremacy. Elaine Brown\u200c and Black Lives Matter leaders are committing $1 million\u200d to the Oakland Black \u200cPanther building project. The objective is to offer affordable\u2063 housing and back Black-owned businesses. Spearheaded by former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown, the project\u2063 seeks to empower the community and confront issues\u2063 like capitalism and white supremacy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<h2>Elaine Brown hopes Oakland&#8217;s Black Panther building will spur communist revolution<\/h2>\n<figure><figcaption> \t\t\t\t \t\t\t\tElaine Brown, BLM leaders (Black Lives Matter\/Twitter)\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Black Lives Matter is back to doing what it does best: investing in expensive real estate.<\/p>\n<p>Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/blacklivesmatter.com\/black-lives-matter-contributes-1-million-to-the-black-panther-in-oakland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> Wednesday it will pour $1 million into the Black Panther building, a planned $80 million complex in Oakland, Calif., that will house 79 subsidized apartment units as well as a grocery store, community garden, and fitness center, all run by former prison inmates. Former Black Panther party leader Elaine Brown is spearheading the redevelopment of the building, which stands on the plot of land where Black Panther Party cofounder Huey P. Newton <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/top-california-democrat-celebrates-black-panther-accused-of-murder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shot and killed a police officer<\/a> in October 1967.<\/p>\n<p>BLM is no stranger to real estate. The embattled charity quietly embarked on an international real estate buying spree after raising $90 million during the George Floyd riots in 2020. The group snagged a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/09\/blms-patrisse-cullors-admits-using-6m-mansion-for-parties\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$6 million mansion in Los Angeles<\/a> in October 2020 and footed the bill for its Canadian affiliate to purchase another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/352992\/controversial-blm-co-founder-doled-out-8m-of-groups-money-for-canadian-mansion-financial-records-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$6 million mansion in Toronto<\/a> in July 2021. The group&#8217;s cofounder, Patrisse Cullors, got in on the action in March 2021 when she <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/04\/10\/inside-blm-co-founder-patrisse-khan-cullors-real-estate-buying-binge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">purchased<\/a> a $1.4 million home in a secluded, majority-white Malibu neighborhood.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We just presented former Black Panther Chairwoman Elaine Brown with $1 million to fund the Black Panther building in West Oakland and the Black-owned businesses that will make it thrive! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HdHKfhvTCy\">pic.twitter.com\/HdHKfhvTCy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Blklivesmatter\/status\/1773054152802812203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 27, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>  But those purchases, and the excessive contracting fees that Cullors doled out to her friends and family with charitable funds, came at an immense cost for Black Lives Matter. The group bled cash, suffered blistering investment losses, and saw its revenues plummet by 88 percent in its 2022 tax year after the public caught wind of the transactions, the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/black-lives-matter-hemorrhaged-cash-in-2022-tax-documents-show\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s unclear if Black Lives Matter will hold equity in the Black Panther building in return for its contribution, which it calls &#8220;investment&#8221; in fundraising materials. Black Lives Matter said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/blacklivesmatter.com\/black-lives-matter-contributes-1-million-to-the-black-panther-in-oakland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> that the funds would support &#8220;100% affordable housing&#8221; and generate wealth in Oakland&#8217;s black community by supporting the for-profit businesses owned by Brown&#8217;s group that will operate out of the building.<\/p>\n<p>The entire complex, Black Lives Matter says, will help fight &#8220;capitalism and white supremacy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brown&#8217;s charity, Oakland &#038; the World Enterprises, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oaklandandtheworld.org\/business\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aims<\/a> to sell its businesses to its formerly incarcerated staffers after they start turning a profit. But profitability is still a distant dream for the group.<\/p>\n<p>Oakland &#038; the World Enterprises&#8217; first company, West Oakland Farms, reported $164 in sales during its first year of operation in 2015, according to the group&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/organizations\/471049280\/201611009349300616\/full\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tax return<\/a> that year. Farm revenues plummeted even further the following year, but not for\u00a0 lack of trying. The charity disclosed nearly $174,000 in &#8220;urban farm program expenses&#8221; in its <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/organizations\/471049280\/201713149349304131\/full\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016 tax return<\/a> while earning &#8220;farm produce sales&#8221; of just $70\u2014a negative return of 99.96 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Video footage on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oaklandandtheworld.org\/copy-of-oaw-businesses-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">charity&#8217;s website<\/a> shows West Oakland Farms were little more than a series of loose-knit, raised-bed gardens on the plot of land where the Black Panther Building now stands. The farm was dismantled in 2022 when construction on the building began.<\/p>\n<p>Oakland &#038; the World Enterprises said in 2022 the farm would reopen on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oaklandandtheworld.org\/ebx7thandcampbell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">second level<\/a> of the Black Panther building when construction is completed in May. But it is unclear how the group intends to operate a functional farm on the second floor of a five-story apartment building. The apartment complex has no balconies, according to concept photos on the charity&#8217;s website.<\/p>\n<p>Oakland &#038; the World Enterprises did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Brown served as the chairwoman of the Black Panther Party from 1974 through 1977, after Newton fled to Havana to escape prosecution for allegedly murdering a 17-year-old Oakland prostitute. Newton, who did not serve prison time for his 1967 cop-killing, was shot and killed by a member of the Black Guerrilla Family gang in 1989. Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.) <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/top-california-democrat-celebrates-black-panther-accused-of-murder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">honored<\/a> Newton&#8217;s memory during an October 2021 ceremony.<\/p>\n<p>Brown began eyeing the site of the Black Panther building in the early 2010s, when the land was still owned by the City of Oakland. But then-Oakland councilwoman Desley Brooks told the former Black Panther Party leader at a barbecue restaurant in October 2015 that the project was &#8220;of no benefit to black people,&#8221; sparking a physical confrontation between the two.<\/p>\n<p>Brown, who was 72 at the time of the incident, sustained injuries during the confrontation. A jury <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/general-news-11b2d184013e40dabe662a244941f168\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">awarded<\/a> her $4 million in damages in January 2018 after finding she was the victim of elder abuse and battery.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly thereafter, the City of Oakland sold the land to Brown&#8217;s charity in 2018 for $1, the <em>San Francisco Chronicle<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/bayarea\/article\/Ex-Panther-s-group-gets-a-sweet-land-deal-from-12519726.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>. The group has since secured $61 million in public funding from the State of California to build the Black Panther building. Brown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/oct\/30\/elaine-brown-black-panther-party-oakland-housing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> the<em> Guardian<\/em> in October that she hopes the building will inspire her community to bring about the communist revolution as predicted by former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m trying to concretize the idea of owning our own lives and destinies. Black people have got to be self-determining\u2014we cannot continue to beg white people for our livelihoods,&#8221; Brown said of her taxpayer-funded building. &#8220;If you get something that you need, what now, goddammit?&#8221;\t<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I got breakfast, I want lunch; lunch, I want dinner; dinner, I want a place to live; place to live, I want medical care; medical care, I want education,&#8221; Brown added. &#8220;Then, as Lenin said, the moment comes when the oppressor cannot accommodate you. That&#8217;s when the people will be ready for revolution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Black Lives Matter did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elaine Brown aims to ignite a revolution with Oakland&#8217;s Black Panther building. Black Lives Matter leaders are investing $1 million in the project. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is supporting the initiative, signaling its commitment to community development and transformative projects<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":2209141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GJsnVsLWAAAjfei-e1711661882391.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2209140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GJsnVsLWAAAjfei-e1711661882391.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2209141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}