Black Lives Matter co-founder defends ritzy home purchases: I live my life in 'direct support to Black people'
Patrise Cullors is self-described 'trained Marxist'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Self-described "trained Marxist" and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors said her recent home purchasing spree was part of living her life "in direct support to Black people" and decried conservative media coverage as "racist and sexist."
In an interview Thursday with left-wing activist Marc Lamont Hill, Cullors pushed back against criticism that her personal politics contradicted her extravagant living.
"I think that is a critique that is wanting, and I say that because the way that I live my life is in direct support to Black people, including my Black family members, first and foremost," she said. "For so many Black folks who are able to invest in themselves and their community, they choose to invest in their family, and that's what I have chosen to do."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}INSIDE BLM CO-FOUNDER PATRISSE KHAN-CULLORS' MILLION-DOLLAR REAL-ESTATE BUYING BINGE
She said she had several family members she financially assisted, including her brother and mother, in addition to her own child.
"I see my money as not my own. I see it as my family's money as well," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She blasted "right-wing media" by claiming outlets suggested she had enriched herself through her work with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, saying she has not taken a salary. The organization did say she had received $120,000 from her work there for "duties such as serving as spokesperson and engaging in political education work."
Cullors said her money came from her work as a college professor, TV producer, published author, and a YouTube deal.
FACEBOOK CENSORS NEW YORK POST REPORT ON BLM CO-FOUNDER'S PRICEY PROPERTY PURCHASES
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Organizers should get paid for the work that they do," she said. "The fact that the right-wing media is trying to create hysteria around my spending is frankly racist and sexist."
Her purchases received extensive media attention and criticism, but Big Tech appears to be rallying to her defense. Facebook censored a New York Post report on her property purchases on Thursday, even though it didn't reveal her home addresses or other personal information.
Twitter also temporarily locked out sports writer Jason Whitlock for tweeting a link to a celebrity blog story about the purchase of her $1.4-million home in the wealthy Los Angeles enclave of Topanga Canyon, where only 1.4 percent of residents are Black.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BLM CO-FOUNDER'S CONSULTING FIRM PULLED IN OVER $20K A MONTH AS SHE CHAIRED LA JAIL REFORM GROUP
Black Lives Matter issued a forceful statement Tuesday in her defense.
"This right-wing offensive not only puts Patrisse, her child and her loved ones in harm's way, it also continues a tradition of terror by [W]hite supremacists against Black activists," it said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cullors' explanation didn't go over well in right-leaning circles.
"Another perfect illustration of how Wokeism is simply Marxism with class swapped out for race," Free Beacon contributor Noah Pollak tweeted. "As always, the rules the revolutionaries demand you obey don't apply to them, whether they're the Politburo in Moscow or the leaders of BLM in Topanga Canyon."