{"id":42846,"date":"2016-07-11T13:24:14","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T17:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=42846"},"modified":"2016-07-11T13:24:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T17:24:48","slug":"42846","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=42846","title":{"rendered":"Just who is funding Black Lives Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"<header>\n<h1 class=\" \">Major donors consider funding Black Lives Matter<\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"subhead\">Activists for the protest movement are meeting in secret with liberal funder club.<\/h3>\n<\/header>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<footer class=\"meta\">\n<p class=\"byline\">By <span class=\"vcard\">Kenneth P. Vogel<\/span> and <span class=\"vcard\">Sarah Wheaton<br \/>\nPOLITICO<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_42847\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/static2.politico.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-42847\" class=\"wp-image-42847 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/static2.politico-1024x555.jpg\" alt=\"Neal Blair wears a hoodie that reads &quot;Black Lives Matter&quot; as he stands on the lawn of the Capitol during a rally to mark the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March on Oct. 10, 2015, in Washington. | AP Photo | AP Photo Read more: http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/11\/major-donors-consider-funding-black-lives-matter-215814#ixzz4E7cFBiMO Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/static2.politico-1024x555.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/static2.politico-300x163.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/static2.politico-768x416.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/static2.politico.jpg 1160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-42847\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Neal Blair wears a hoodie that reads &#8220;Black Lives Matter&#8221; as he stands on the lawn of the Capitol during a rally to mark the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March on Oct. 10, 2015, in Washington. | AP Photo | AP Photo<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p>Some of the biggest donors on the left plan to meet behind closed doors next week in Washington with leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement and their allies to discuss funding the burgeoning protest movement, POLITICO has learned.<\/p>\n<p>The meetings are taking place at the annual winter gathering of the Democracy Alliance major liberal donor club, which runs from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning and is expected to draw Democratic financial heavyweights, including Tom Steyer and Paul Egerman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-continued\">Story Continued Below<\/p>\n<div class=\"story-interrupt format-s pos-alpha predetermined fixed-story-third-paragraph\"><\/div>\n<p>The DA, as the club is known in Democratic circles, is recommending its donors step up check writing to a handful of endorsed groups that have supported the Black Lives Matter movement. And the club and some of its members also are considering ways to funnel support directly to scrappier local groups that have utilized confrontational tactics to inject their grievances into the political debate.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a potential partnership that could elevate the Black Lives Matter movement and heighten its impact. But it\u2019s also fraught with tension on both sides, sources tell POLITICO.<\/p>\n<p>The various outfits that comprise the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2015\/08\/15\/who-really-runs-blacklivesmatter.html\" target=\"_blank\">diffuse Black Lives Matter movement<\/a> prize their independence. Some make a point of not asking for donations. They bristle at any suggestion that they\u2019re susceptible to being co-opted by a deep-pocketed national group \u2015 let alone one with such close ties to the Democratic Party establishment like the Democracy Alliance.<\/p>\n<p>And some major liberal donors are leery about funding a movement known for aggressive tactics \u2015 particularly one that has shown a willingness to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/10\/hillary-clinton-black-lives-matter-protest-215396\" target=\"_blank\">train its fire on Democrats,<\/a> including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/08\/bernie-sanders-2016-black-lives-matter-problem-121236\" target=\"_blank\">Bernie Sanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMajor donors are usually not as radical or confrontational as activists most in touch with the pain of oppression,\u201d said Steve Phillips, a Democracy Alliance member and significant contributor to Democratic candidates and causes. He donated to a St. Louis nonprofit group called the Organization for Black Struggle that helped organize 2014 Black Lives Matter-related protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police killing of a black teenager named Michael Brown. And Phillips and his wife, Democracy Alliance board member Susan Sandler, are in discussions about funding other groups involved in the movement.<\/p>\n<p>The movement needs cash to build a self-sustaining infrastructure, Phillips said, arguing \u201cthe progressive donor world should be adding zeroes to their contributions that support this transformative movement.\u201d But he also acknowledged there\u2019s a risk for recipient groups. \u201cTactics such as shutting down freeways and disrupting rallies can alienate major donors, and if that&#8217;s your primary source of support, then you&#8217;re at risk of being blocked from doing what you need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Democracy Alliance was created in 2005 by a handful of major donors, including billionaire financier George Soros and Taco Bell heir Rob McKay to build a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2014\/06\/inside-the-vast-liberal-conspiracy-108171\" target=\"_blank\">permanent infrastructure<\/a> to advance liberal ideas and causes. Donors are <a href=\"http:\/\/images.politico.com\/global\/2014\/06\/21\/da_membershipoptions_04-2014.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">required to donate at least $200,000<\/a> a year to recommended groups, and their combined donations to those groups now total more than $500 million. Endorsed beneficiaries include the Center for American Progress think tank, the liberal attack dog Media Matters and the Democratic data firm Catalist, though members also give heavily to Democratic politicians and super PACs that are not part of the DA\u2019s core portfolio. While the Democracy Alliance last year voted to endorse a handful of groups focused on engaging African-Americans in politics \u2015 some of which have helped facilitate the Black Lives movement \u2015 the invitation to movement leaders is a first for the DA, and seems likely to test some members\u2019 comfort zones.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"story-related\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cMovements that are challenging the status quo and that do so to some extent by using direct action or disruptive tactics are meant to make people uncomfortable, so I\u2019m sure we have partners who would be made uncomfortable by it or think that that\u2019s not a good tactic,\u201d said DA President Gara LaMarche. \u201cBut we have a wide range of human beings and different temperaments and approaches in the DA, so it\u2019s quite possible that there are people who are a little concerned, as well as people who are curious or are supportive. This is a chance for them to meet some of the leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement, and understand the movement better, and then we\u2019ll take stock of that and see where it might lead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to a Democracy Alliance draft agenda obtained by POLITICO, movement leaders will be featured guests at a Tuesday dinner with major donors. The dinner, which technically precedes the official conference kickoff, will focus on \u201cwhat kind of support and resources are needed from the allied funders during this critical moment of immediate struggle and long-term movement building.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The groups that will be represented include the Black Youth Project 100, The Center for Popular Democracy and the Black Civic Engagement Fund, according to the organizer, a DA member named Leah Hunt-Hendrix. An heir to a Texas oil fortune, Hunt-Hendrix helps lead a coalition of mostly young donors called Solidaire that focuses on movement building. It\u2019s donated more than $200,000 to the Black Lives Matter movement since Brown\u2019s killing. According to its entry <a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidairenetwork.org\/grantees\/\" target=\"_blank\">on a philanthropy website<\/a>, more than $61,000 went directly to organizers and organizations on the ground in Ferguson and Baltimore, where the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in April sparked a more recent wave of Black Lives-related protests. An additional $115,000 went to groups that have sprung up to support the movement.<\/p>\n<p>She said her goal at the Democracy Alliance is to persuade donors to \u201cuse some of the money that\u2019s going into the presidential races for grass-roots organizing and movement building.\u201d And she brushed aside concerns that the movement could hurt Democratic chances in 2016. \u201cBlack Lives Matter has been pushing Bernie, and Bernie has been pushing Hillary. Politics is a field where you almost have to push your allies hardest and hold them accountable,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s exactly the point of democracy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"story-related\"><\/aside>\n<p>That view dovetails with the one that LaMarche has tried to instill in the Democracy Alliance, which had faced internal criticism in 2012 for growing too close to the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, one group set to participate in Hunt-Hendrix\u2019s dinner \u2015 Black Civic Engagement Fund \u2015 is a Democracy Alliance offshoot. And, according to the DA agenda, two other groups recommended for club funding \u2015 ColorOfChange.org and the Advancement Project \u2015 are set to participate in a Friday panel \u201con how to connect the Movement for Black Lives with current and needed infrastructure for Black organizing and political power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ColorOfChange.org has helped Black Lives Matter protesters organize online, said its Executive Director Rashad Robinson. He dismissed concerns that the movement is compromised in any way by accepting support from major institutional funders. \u201cThroughout our history in this country, there have been allies who have been willing to stand up and support uprisings, and lend their resources to ensure that people have a greater voice in their democracy,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n<p>Nick Rathod, the leader of a DA-endorsed group called the State Innovation Exchange that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2014\/11\/democrats-create-an-alec-killer-112733\" target=\"_blank\">pushes liberal policies in the states<\/a>, said his group is looking for opportunities to help the movement, as well. \u201cWe can play an important role in facilitating dialogue between elected officials and movement leaders in cities and states,\u201d he said. But Rathod cautioned that it would be a mistake for major liberal donors to only give through established national groups to support the movement. \u201cI think for many of the donors, it might feel safer to invest in groups like ours and others to support the work, but frankly, many of those groups are not led by African-Americans and are removed from what\u2019s happening on the ground. The heart and soul of the movement is at the grass roots, it\u2019s where the organizing has occurred, it\u2019s where decisions should be made and it\u2019s where investments should be placed to grow the movement from the bottom up, rather than the top down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/11\/major-donors-consider-funding-black-lives-matter-215814#ixzz4E7c4J2cz\">http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/11\/major-donors-consider-funding-black-lives-matter-215814#ixzz4E7c4J2cz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Major donors consider funding Black Lives Matter Activists for the protest movement are meeting in secret with liberal funder club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}