I was just talking to someone over on Skype about a recent article that was published by The Daily Beast. The topic of the post? White Boy Shaun King and all the money he has raised off the Black Lives Matter movement. There have been allegations that he embezzled a lot of this loot and the author of this piece seems to be headed to that conclusion herself. But c’mon, guys. We shouldn’t be so tough on poor Shaun. Maybe he needed all that dosh in order to fully connect with his transblackness?
From the article…
To be honest, I have long been aware of the suspicions some harbor about how he manages charitable donations. I have groused privately about the veracity of some of his reporting and whether his body of writing met the publishing standards that so many in this business work under. I heard the whispers, the back room talk from people who did not want to be seen as “racist” or acting like “crabs in the barrel” for criticizing King.
So, you refrained from calling out his shady (although, perhaps that’s not the right term since he’s so pale) ass until now because you didn’t want to be called a racist? The writer, Goldie Taylor, is black. Even she’s afraid of questioning the BLM groupthink that has taken over the black activist corps. That’s how fucking pathetic it’s gotten. I’m not sure if it’s infuriating or just plain sad. Also, you have to wonder if the real questions would have ever come if it weren’t for the masterful reporting from Milo Yiannopoulos. Personally, I don’t think they would have.
Back to the story…
His dogged approach to following the minutiae of any given case has netted him a reputation for being vigilant, even if the early facts—as he spells them out—later fall apart. (RALPH: In other words. He frequently spouts shit early on that is later proven to be false.)
[E]ven though King has not been among the thousands of protesters who organized and participated in public demonstrations across the country or lobbied policymakers in recent years, he is widely regarded by media outlets as a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement. (RALPH: This means he doesn’t do anything except run his mouth on Twitter and show up whenever someone wants to put a camera in front of his face)…
Documentation and actual figures are difficult to pin down, but the husband and father of five claims to have raised nearly $500,000 on behalf of families “affected by police violence or systemic racism.” But an examination of public records, published articles, and public statements by King and others associated with his work leave more questions than answers.
Chief among them are: How much money was definitely raised and how much of it was actually received by its stated and intended beneficiaries? Did King use his growing prominence as a fundraiser for social causes to enrich himself?
Ms. Taylor then goes on to document all the questionable fundraising King has been up to over the course of his public career (and there’s a lot of it, so you should read the whole article to get the full story)…
According to its only Internal Revenue Service filing, the company took in $419,000 in 2013. That same year, the company paid out about $198,000 in grants to some 136 recipients. King’s cash compensation, not including expense reimbursements, was almost as much as the grants: $160,000 or nearly 40 percent of total revenue. Several people who launched campaigns on HopeMob complained that payouts were delayed and that the company failed to respond to repeated inquiries. Losing money, and under an onslaught of criticism from would-be beneficiaries, the digital platform was sold and later shuttered altogether. Using his HopeMob platform, King raised over $11,000 to support a gun control lobbying effort in honor of the Sandy Hook victims. However, King is not a registered lobbyist and I could find little or no evidence that he paid an individual or entity to formally lobby government entities…
Since late 2014, King has raised funds on behalf of, among others, the Eric Garner and Tamir Rice families. He opened a bail fund for Bree Newsome, the young woman who scaled a pole on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse to remove the Confederate flag.
Not all of them appear to have been aware of King’s efforts on their behalf and at least one didn’t know him by name.
This guy is just a flat out crook, isn’t he? Not only has he spent his life faking the deal when it comes to his own race, he’s also been piggybacking off the deaths of real black men in order to line his bloodstained pockets. He’s one of the most detestable humans I’ve ever gotten to write about here on The Ralph Retort, to be honest with you all.
Anyway, let’s finish up with the last excerpt from the piece…
It must be said that no criminal or civil charges have ever been filed against King in connection with any of his fundraising efforts. However, the very nature of the causes in question demands a more rigorous and thorough response than he had offered to date. When a family is fighting for answers surrounding the death of a child at the hands of police, the last thing anyone needs is more questions surrounding donations meant to support them…
What is necessary now is a laying out of the books. King can and must open his records, stretching back to his disaster relief efforts for Atlanta and Haiti, for independent inspection. And, when it’s over, he should publish that report online.
It’s time to clear the record. Unless and until he does, King’s credibility as a social justice leader of any note hangs in the balance.
I would say King is already in the shitter, permanently. Then again, just about all these people are fucking charlatans, so who knows. He might be able to dig his white ass out of the fire before it’s all said and done. I doubt it, but stranger things have happened. If I see Goldie Taylor on his dick this time next year, then we will know that she’s just as big a phony as he is.
