Ex-BLM leader says he quit after learning the ‘ugly truth’

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A former Black Lives Matter leader in Minnesota who quit after 18 months says he learned the ‘ugly truth’ about the organization’s stance on family and education after working on the inside.

Rashad Turner, who founded the local BLM chapter in St. Paul in 2015, released a video last week titled ‘The Truth Revealed about BLM’.

In the video, the 35-year-old said he eventually came to the realization that BLM had ‘little concern for rebuilding black families’.

Speaking about becoming the founder of the local BLM chapter, Turner said: ‘I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies – black lives do matter. 

‘However, after a year on the inside, I learned they had little concern for rebuilding black families and they cared even less about improving the quality of education for students in Minneapolis.’

Turner, who now campaigns heavily for education, said his stance on BLM became clear when the organization called for a freeze on the growth of charter schools and further investment in public schools in 2016.

‘I was an insider in Black Lives Matter and I learned the ugly truth… 

‘The moratorium on charter schools does not support rebuilding the black family but it does create barriers to a better education for black children. 

‘I resigned from Black Lives Matter after a year and a half but I didn’t quit working to improve black lives and access to a great education.’  

His video also highlighted how BLM’s website once stated that it wanted to ‘disrupt the nuclear family structure’. 

That phrase was removed from the national website last year.  

The video was published online by an organization called TakeCharge Minnesota.  

It serves as a promotion for Turner’s new role as with the Minnesota Parent Union, which he says is dedicated to helping black parents find successful schools for their children. 

He said that in his new role he was ‘up against forces that don’t want us to succeed’ but didn’t not elaborate further. 

Turner, who ran as a Democrat for the state legislature back in 2016, was born and raised in St. Paul.  

Turner’s comments about the BLM organization come less than a week after its national co-founder Patrisse Cullors revealed she was stepping down.

Cullors, who has been at the helm of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation for nearly six years, had faced criticism in recent weeks after it emerged she had amassed a $3 million property portfolio despite describing herself as a ‘trained Marxist’. 

The 37-year-old activist told The Associated Press that she is leaving to focus on other projects, including the upcoming release of her second book and a multi-year TV development deal with Warner Bros. 

‘I’ve created the infrastructure and the support, and the necessary bones and foundation, so that I can leave,’ Cullors stated. ‘It feels like the time is right.’  

Cullors faced fierce backlash over revelations about her personal spending – including the recent purchase of a $1.4 million home in a ritzy L.A. neighborhood. 

It prompted many to question what percentage of BLM donations were actually going towards social justice programs. 

She insisted, however, that her resignation was in the works for more than a year and had nothing to do with the personal attacks she has faced. 

‘Those were right-wing attacks that tried to discredit my character, and I don’t operate off of what the right thinks about me,’ Cullors told the Associated Press. 

Last month, she described the criticism as ‘racist and sexist’ smears deliberately put out by the ‘right-wing media’. 

But it wasn’t just conservatives who pressed Cullors over her finances. 

The head of New York City’s BLM chapter called for an independent investigation into the organization’s finances after revelations about the property portfolio surfaced.  

‘If you go around calling yourself a socialist, you have to ask how much of her own personal money is going to charitable causes,’ BLM organizer Hawk Newsome told the New York Post. 

‘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.’  

Meanwhile, it was also revealed that a jail reform activist group founded by Cullors  spent $26,000 for meetings and ‘appearances’ at a luxury Malibu resort.

Reform LA Jails paid $10,179 for ‘meetings and appearances’ at the Calamigos Guest Ranch and Beach Club, and a further $15,593 at the Malibu Conference Center, which is owned by the resort, between July and September 2019.  

A single night in a two-bedroom ‘cozy ranch chic’ suite in July costs $1,200, and guests at the 200-acre resort have access to a private five acre beach on the Malibu coast.

After the spending was revealed by the Daily Caller, former Fox host Megyn Kelly Tweeted: ‘BLM must stand for… Babes Lounging in Malibu? Big Loads of Money? Blatant Lies about Marxism?’  

The BLM foundation revealed in February that it took in just over $90 million last year, following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, a black man whose death had the hands of a white police officer inspired global protests. 

The foundation said it ended 2020 with a balance of more than $60 million, after spending nearly a quarter of its assets on operating expenses, grants to black-led organizations and other charitable giving.

Critics of the foundation contend more of that money should have gone to the families of black victims of police brutality who have been unable to access the resources needed to deal with their trauma and loss.

Cullors and the foundation have said they do support families without making public announcements or disclosing dollar amounts.