A Black Lives Matter activist described part of the organization’s culture as “tyrannical” in an interview with BuzzFeed published Wednesday.
The Black Lives Matter organization spends a lot of time trying to put on a show of unity for the public at large, BuzzFeed reported.
“You do what you’re told,” the BLM activist explained. “There’s a tyrannical element.” The activist, speaking anonymously, said the group tries to tamp down on any internal disagreements to avoid public accusations of divisiveness.
The BuzzFeed piece also addressed two larger problems also hurting the Black Lives Matter movement: a lack of funding and support from leadership. On top of activists feeling forced to promote unity, local Black Lives Matter chapters don’t feel properly supported by the overall organization.
“Does the talent to meet those challenges exist in the Black Lives Matter organization? Absolutely it does. Problems that arise are an opportunity to get things right,” said Florida activist Donna Davis to BuzzFeed. “But we can’t pretend that we’re not plagued by some of the issues and concerns that have taken down the movements in the past. We’re not immune to it.”
Activists in the state chapters were struggling to balance how to feed themselves when their full-time job was working as unpaid activists. Other Black Lives Matter chapters have expressed concern about a lack of clear direction from those at the very top of the organization.
“A lot of us were looking for support, cues or direction, and we weren’t getting it. If emergencies came up, there would be conflicting messages. [We watched as] some chapters were given more attention than others,” BLM Austin founder Margaret Haule said to BuzzFeed, noting that higher ups were trying to help them.
Some have said that a major reason why Black Lives Matter is not as prominent today as it was previously is due to to the group’s recent focus on policy over protests. Alicia Garza, one of the founders of Black Lives Matter, said the group wanted to gain voting power. (RELATED:Black Lives Matter Switches Resistance Tactics In Trump Era)
“What people are seeing is that there are less demonstrations,” Garza explained to WaPo. “A lot of that is that people are channeling their energy into organizing locally, recognizing that in Trump’s America, our communities are under direct attack.”
Send tips to amber@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.