The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been facing intense scrutiny over its finances for more than a year. A new appointee to its board of directors is not doing much to inspire confidence in that regard.
In April, BLM announced three new additions to its board of directors. The foundation said it was “honored and thrilled” to have them join the team.
We are honored and thrilled to announce that Cicley Gay, Shalomyah Bowers, and D’Zhane Parker will be joining the BLM Global Network Foundation Board of Directors. Welcome to the team! pic.twitter.com/hsoDaEVsT1
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) April 27, 2022
Cicley Gay was named chair of the board of directors, and she told The New York Times she was brought on to help sure up the foundation’s finances.
“No one expected the foundation to grow at this pace and to this scale,” Gay said.
“Now, we are taking time to build efficient infrastructure to run the largest Black, abolitionist, philanthropic organization to ever exist in the United States.”
This is the same line of logic used by disgraced BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
According to the New York Post, Cullors resigned from the organization last year after going on a real estate spending spree that included a $6 million mansion in Los Angeles. Yet last month, she attempted to clear her name.
Will this hire improve BLM’s financial woes?
“This was an investment,” Cullors said according to the Post. “It’s not my personal real estate. It’s not Patrisse Cullors’ real estate, it’s the organization’s real estate.
“The minute we shared the information with the public … the right-wing media would do what they always do and they always did. Because the right-wing media doesn’t have any sense or care for people’s security or safety.”
You see, it’s not BLM’s fault for using donated funds to purchase lavish mansions. Instead, it’s conservatives‘ fault for reporting on it.
Since Gay is apparently well trained in the narrative BLM wants to forward, she would seem like the perfect person to serve as chair. That is, except for the fact that she cannot even keep her own personal finances in order.
In a separate article, the New York Post reported it obtained records showing Gay filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy three separate times in 2005, 2013 and 2016.
The most recent filing was in August 2016, and it showed Gay had over $120,000 in outstanding debts. The largest debt was student loans from her time at Liberty University and the University of Kansas, which totaled $55,000.
She also owed $18,000 for leasing a Lincoln MKZ sedan and claimed $7,000 in medical expenses and $8,000 in debt to two Christian schools, the Post reported.
Following the 2016 declaration, a court ordered her to attend courses on managing money. She completed one training course on Dec. 15, 2016.
Gay also allegedly lied to the court after filing for bankruptcy in 2016. When she was asked whether she started a business in the last four years, she responded, “No,” despite the fact that Georgia records indicate she started a public relations firm called The Amplifiers in 2015, the Post reported.
In 2017, Gay successfully got most of her debts “discharged,” but the Post was unable to determine what the terms were for this agreement.
Given these numerous financial woes, Gay may not be the most qualified person to fix BLM.
Then again, if history is any indication, she may just fit right in.
