Ex-BLM Leader Rashad Turner Says He Quit After Learning ‘Ugly Truth’ About Organization And Claims They Have ‘Little Concern For Rebuilding Black Families’; Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors Steps Down After Purchasing $1.4 Million Home

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.  

Source: DailyMail

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Microsoft Is Selling Ugly Windows MS Paint-Themed Holiday Christmas Sweaters, With Proceeds Benefiting Girls Who Code

Microsoft has unveiled a clothing line of Windows “ugly” sweaters ahead of the Christmas holiday season. 

The fashion line features three designs inspired by the nostalgic MS Paint, Windows 95, and Windows XP, with each piece of outerwear being priced at US$69.99. 

“No matter your skill at painting (or MS Paint), you’re sure to be a work of art in this ‘Untitled – Paint’ masterpiece,” Microsoft wrote. 

A portion of the proceeds will head towards Girls Who Code, a nonprofit focused on closing the gender gap in the tech industry. 

Source: DesignTAXI

US Marine Jarrett Morford of Windsor Colorado Investigated After Making Racist Threats to Shoot Chinese People

A Marine who posted a video online in which he uses slurs against Chinese people and threatens to shoot them when he deploys with the fleet is now under investigation, the Marine Corps said Thursday.

Capt. Joseph Butterfield, a Marine Corps spokesman, identified the Marine in the video as Pfc. Jarrett Morford, 20, and said Morford’s command is taking “appropriate action.”

Morford, who is from Windsor, Colo., is now training for a communications job at Twentynine Palms, Calif. He graduated boot camp in August.

“There is no place for racism in the Marine Corps. Those who can’t value the contributions of others, regardless of background, are destructive to our culture and do not represent our core values,” Butterfield said.

“As the honorable Trump said today on Twitter, it was China’s fault,” Morford said in the video. “China is going to pay for what they have done to this country and the world.”

It was not clear Thursday which tweet Morford was referencing. President Donald Trump frequently tweets about China, blaming them for the coronavirus pandemic, which he has called “the China virus.”

It was also unclear Thursday when or where the video originally was posted. But it went viral Thursday on Twitter and Instagram.

The video also included profanity and referenced the caliber of bullet used for the M4 and the M16, the standard rifles issued to Marines.

“I don’t give a f*ck! A chink-headed motherf*cker comes up to me when I’m in the fleet, say 5-5-6 b*tch. That’s all I gotta say,” Morford said. “Say 5-5-f*cking-6!”

Source: Stars And Stripes