*A Black Lives Matter Philly group has banned white people from its April 15 meeting, but says they can still make a financial donation to the cause.
Black Lives Matter Philly, one of two BLM groups in Philadelphia, has regularly advertised its meetings on Twitter and Facebook and has called it “a black only space.” The next meeting was to be held at Mastery Charter Schools’ Shoemaker Campus in West Philadelphia, but has been changed for security reasons.
Several conservative websites such as Breitbart have called out the Black Lives Matter Philly group for holding meetings that refuse to let whites occupy. Despite the criticism, the BLM Philly group is not backing down, as their next meeting is “black centered.”
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When reminded that Martin Luther King Jr. worked with whites, the organizer who runs the Twitter page noted that “Malcolm X didn’t,” and that MLK: “Made that choice and we have made ours. White people can support us but they cannot attend our meetings.”
BLM Philly released a statement on the matter Wednesday morning, which read in part:
“During the last 36 hours, Black Lives Matter Philly (BLM Philly) has been attacked online and the subject of several right-wing media articles about our April open meeting invitation that states it is a Black only space. … We are unapologetically Black and believe having Black only spaces — where Black people can come together to strategize, organize, heal and fellowship without the threat of violence and co-optation — is an important part of Black liberation.”
The two-page statement added: “Not being able to attend a BLM Philly meeting does not preclude anyone from supporting BLM Philly or the Movement for Black Lives. … we invite people from all races and backgrounds to join in the Movement for Black Lives.”
The group also noted that “BLM Philly isn’t the first or the only membership organization to restrict access to certain spaces based on a variety of criteria.”
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