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Former Associate of Black Lives Matter’s Shaun King Exposes All in Fiery Twitter Tirade After Disbandment of Activist Group
November 09, 2015
“I no longer believe in [King's] integrity as an Executive Director, and I have little faith that #JusticeTogether will continue.”
Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King faced scrutiny from his own volunteers and supporters over the weekend as his activist group, Justice Together, came under fire for its finances.
King has fended off questions regarding his personal fundraising efforts for black activists and family members of those killed during altercations with police as well as the fundraising for Justice Together — an organization that seeks to end police brutality through policy positions. King is seemingly attempting to salvage his organization and its reputation as he announced a "course correction" for the group.
One such former volunteer, Crystal, voiced her frustrations regarding the lack of leadership of the organization on Twitter. Crystal, author of Crystal Clear Perspective blog, said she volunteered as a state director and criticized King for becoming "defensive" and "passive aggressive" when asked about the group's finances.
"My main concern is that many people donated to #JusticeTogether under the guise that we were pursuing justice in a nationwide coalition," she said in one tweet. "I no longer believe in [King's] integrity as an Executive Director, and I have little faith that #JusticeTogether will continue."
(1) I have nothing to gain for sharing my views about a man I once respected & defended. I can admit when I'm wrong. #ShaunKingLetMeDown
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(2) #JusticeTogether was a coalition founded by @ShaunKing. I used "was" purposefully, and I'll tell you why… walk with me for a few minutes
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(3) #JusticeTogether goal = ending police brutality in the US. While lofty, it was admirable, and thousands signed up to execute the vision.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(4) I volunteered as a JT State Director to hold public servants accountable to their oaths + Constitution and to motivate state volunteers.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(5) A timeline was established to put together a 35-pt assessment for each state and publicly release the results. The dates came and went…
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(6) We received no direction, no assessments, and no call to action for our respective states from the Executive Director, @ShaunKing.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(7) Directors reached out to @ShaunKing for guidance on numerous occasions from August to November. King gave promises, but never delivered.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(8) This past week, we asked for an accounting of the funds raised for #JusticeTogether and how the funds were being spent.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(9) King became defensive by our demand, telling us that we were listening to trolls if we believed he would mismanage / misuse funds.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(10) However, Directors never accused King… we merely asked for an accounting, because many of us had donated a lot of time and money.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(11) Nevertheless, King assured us that he valued our commitment to the coalition and told us to trust the process + wait for the next step.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(12) The very next day (11/6/15), instead of honoring his fiduciary duty, King shut down all communication among the State Directors.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(13) King sent a passive aggressive e-mail of his executive decision to disband us and start fresh in 2016 with a slower rollout “plan.”
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(14) In hindsight, I admit that @ShaunKing is an orator, which made it difficult to decipher between lip service and actionable promises.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(15) My main concern is that many people donated to #JusticeTogether under the guise that we were pursuing justice in a nationwide coalition
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(16) I no longer believe in @ShaunKing's integrity as an Executive Director, and I have little faith that #JusticeTogether will continue.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(17) When do we believe that isolated incidents become a pattern? #JusticeThatsAll? #JusticeForAll? #JusticeTogether? THIS is a pattern.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(18) When people challenge King’s authority or demand accountability, the organization is disbanded and revamped. That’s a pattern.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(19) People can choose to believe us, or they can choose to turn a blind eye. But, we were the people who stepped up to pursue justice.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(20) We may not have had the notoriety that King had, but we had just as much passion and dedication for justice. King failed to honor that.
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(21) The worst part is that @ShaunKing embodied the very system we were fighting: lack of transparency, zero accountability, delay tactics…
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
(22) So I have washed my hands of #JusticeTogether. I wholeheartedly support the movement, but I no longer support King. #ShaunKingLetMeDown
— Crystal (@cjmperspectives) November 7, 2015
DeRay McKesson, a prominent Black Lives Matter activist and Justice Together board member, also addressed the situation on Twitter.
Last Monday, I had a good conversation w/ @ShaunKing as I stepped down from the board of Justice Together, to focus my energy & time.
— deray mckesson (@deray) November 8, 2015
I, too, learned about the end of Justice Together via email. & I'm working to understand more about the decisions and the q's being raised.
— deray mckesson (@deray) November 8, 2015
I'm hopeful that we can all figure out how to work together towards shared goals re: equity & equality as the fight continues.
— deray mckesson (@deray) November 8, 2015
King later addressed the finances of his group in a lengthy Facebook post, during which he also defended himself against allegations that he has profited or stolen money from families of black activists and black people killed by police officers. King said the fundraising efforts done for Justice Together is vastly different from the fundraising efforts done for "police brutality victims," calling the former efforts "damn near embarrassing."
"Listen — it is NO ACCIDENT that I have raised $500,000+ for police brutality victims and far less than $50,000 for Justice Together. All year, I've worked hard to raise funds for people and families who need it," King wrote on his public Facebook page.
"I've done a terrible job managing and communicating with volunteers these past few months. That's actually the complete truth. Outside of my family and my full-time job (I'm all also a full-time grad student) I haven't managed anything that well," King continued. "Every single member of my family has asked me to stop this work altogether. It has put us all at great risk and has made their daily lives more painful and difficult than I ever imagined."
The activist also went on to criticize Darren Wilson, the white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenage during an altercation in 2014, for raising " more money for himself, than I have raised for every single police brutality victim and Justice Together COMBINED."
Tragic and sad to even have to take this conversation here, but sometimes public lies need a public rebuttal.I am the...
Posted by Shaun King on Sunday, November 8, 2015
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