Black Lives Matter of Greater New York chair Hawk Newsome questions how much Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors has contributed to charity.
The head of New York City’s Black Lives Matter chapter is calling for an investigation into BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors over a series of million-dollar real estate purchases she’s made.
Cullors, 37, has reportedly purchased four high-end homes for $3.2 million in the U.S. alone, per New York Post, including property in a mostly white area of Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles County for $1.4 million.
Patrisse Cullors attends last February’s Frieze Project Artist Patrisse Cullors x Summit x Cultured Magazine Dinner at The West Hollywood EDITION. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for The West Hollywood EDITION)
BLM reportedly brought in $90 million in donations last year, and now inquiring minds want to know if or how Cullors is paid by the organization and how much she has contributed to charity, per Daily Mail. Hawk Newsome, the head of Black Lives Matter Greater New York City, is calling for a probe into Cullors’ finances.
Read More: Mike Brown’s father, Ferguson organizers request $20M from BLM
“If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes,” he told the Post.
Cullors did not immediately respond to theGrio‘s request for comment.
“It’s really sad because it makes people doubt the validity of the movement and overlook the fact that it’s the people that carry this movement,” he continued.
In addition to the Topanga Canyon estate, Cullors and her wife, Janaya Khan, also own a “custom ranch” on 3.2 acres in Conyers, Georgia that boasts an airplane hangar. They purchased the property last year for $415,000, according to the report, two years after the publication of Cullors’ best-selling book, “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.”
Additionally, the Post claims that in recent years, Cullors, a self-described Marxist, paid $510,000 for a three-bedroom home in Inglewood, California. In 2018, she dropped $590,000 for a four-bedroom home in South L.A.
Last October, Cullors agreed to “a multi-platform” deal with Warner Bros. Television Group, she said in a statement, to help produce content for “black voices who have been historically marginalized.”
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The Post report sparked debate on social media, with BLM supporters and critics noting that Cullors’ high-end lifestyle doesn’t vibe with her social justice activism.
“She had a lot of options on where to live. She chose one of the whitest places in California,” sports journalist Jason Whitlock tweeted. “She’ll have her pick of white cops and white people to complain about. That’s a choice, bro.”
Read More: Devale Ellis pens children’s book on #BLM: ‘It’s my life’s journey’
Cullors founded the Black Lives Matter movement with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi in 2013. Last month, the organization came under fire after it was revealed that BLM received over $90M in response to the uprisings launched after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others, theGRIO reported.
Black Lives Matter activists are now demanding $20 million from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, including Michael Brown Sr., whose son Michael Brown Jr., was killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.
Michael Brown Sr. stands as an honor guard enters during the dedication of a new community empowerment center Wednesday, July 26, 2017, in Ferguson, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Read More: Tensions erupt near Minneapolis after police kill 20-year-old Duante Wright
Brown Sr. said he and his advocacy group have been short-changed by the larger BLM organization.
“Why hasn’t my family’s foundation received any assistance from the movement?” he asked in a statement last month.
“On behalf of many activists in the St. Louis area, I’m joined by Mike Brown Sr., the father of Mike Brown Jr. Today, we hold Black Lives Matter accountable,” said local community organizer Tony Russell.
theGRIO’s DeMicia Inman contributed to this report.

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