A black-run nonprofit this week is standing up to “woke” companies like Papa John’s, Coca-Cola and others who have pledged their support to Black Lives Matter (BLM).
“Officials with Concerned Communities for America (CCA) today delivered a pledge for signing by Papa John’s CEO Robert Lynch and Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey to signal support of the women and men who serve their communities as police officers,” according to a Wednesday CCA press release. “This pledge is in response to Papa John’s’ and Coca-Cola’s blind support, vocally and/or financially, of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation [BLMGNF] and its affiliates.”
CCA, headed by DaQuawn Bruce, is a group “dedicated to improving and uplifting Black and Brown communities across our country and works to unify America by informing and educating corporate leaders on the challenging and contentious issues of the day,” and says there is a “difference in supporting Black lives and conversely supporting terror and anarchy on our streets by BLMGNF, which seeks to corrupt the larger Black Lives Matter movement.”
According to the press release, it will deliver the same petition to Peloton and Comcast/NBC officials in New York City on Thursday.
In a live-streamed press conference held at the Marriott Hotel in Atlanta, Bruce and others spoke.
“Since the rise of the Civil Rights movement under the unifying leadership of Rev. Martin Luther King, there has been an attempt to exploit his movement’s effort to improve the lives and treatment of Black and Brown Americans,” he said.
“We are concerned about Papa John’s’, Coca Cola’s, Peloton’s and Comcast/NBC’s financial and/or vocal support of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation (BLMGNF). BLMGNF and its affiliates have called for ‘defunding’ the women and men who serve our communities as police officers,” he continued. “They also have frequently demeaned active-duty police, and sadly those who have fallen protecting our communities. They have created an atmosphere where police officers fear for their lives while doing their jobs.”
A pastor called Marc Little also spoke during the Wednesday press conference.
“What I am exposing is the Four Ds: Defund, Demean, and cause our police to Die, Doing their job protecting and serving all of us,” he said. “Many of the BLM founders and leaders continue, to this day, to preach this, even calling this very week for more, quote, peaceful protests. And sadly, these supposedly ‘woke’ corporations we are talking about today have and continue to aid and abet these BLM leaders with their vocal and financial support, helping BLM leaders amass a reported treasure trove of hate mongering, blood money totaling 100 million dollars.”
BLM has been embroiled in scandal over how it has spent its donor money.
Most recently, the group’s leaders were exposed for purchasing a $6 million home in Los Angeles with funds donated to the group.
Donations for the group have exploded in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is now serving a life sentence in prison.
But BLM has been collecting money from individuals and corporations since its founding in 2013, and CCA does not agree with the characterization of police that the group has used to solicit those donations.
“It is time to wake up,” said Atlanta businessman Bruce Levell during the press conference. “Waking up means caring for your family, your friends, your colleagues, and yes, the women and men who wake up, put on a badge and strap their firearm in their holster with a singular mission every minute of the day to protect you, your family and your neighbors.
“The Black Lives Matter Foundation leaders claim that ‘black lives matter,’ but their movement to defund and dismantle the police has contributed to a surge in crime which has cost many black and brown lives. They also have demeaned, demoralized and stereotyped all police as racist murderers.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Concerned Communities for America Press Conference” by Concerned Communities for America.
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