The "Independent Media Institute" (IMI) appears to be a significant player in the move to impose cultural and historical cleansing across the country. It claims to be an international movement "to remove symbols of, and tangible tributes to, white supremacy."  Who is funding this? Does it include foreign governments or foreign institutions? Is it using possible "dark source" offshore money?

Charity Navigator indicates that the IMI had FY2016 total contributions, gifts and grants of $1,014,053 and program service revenue of $921,739 with no audited financials prepared by an independent accountant and no records retention and destruction policy listed. It lists the IMI Executive Director as Jan Frel and the Board Chair as (South African) Heetan Kalan (of the New World Foundation) but no other board members listed on its website.  Charity Navigator lists the following address:

18 West 21st Street, Suite 901
New York, NY 10010
tel: (212) 627-9585
EIN: 52-1309876

The IMI appears well-staffed and is apparently funded by several private foundations including the Open Society Institute. Its "Make it Right" project claims in its own words that, "the inaugural project is focused on the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, which are tangible eulogies to heroes of a treasonous anti-American campaign and a reflection of U.S. investment in white power and supremacy."

The Make it Right project will be holding its second annual community organizers (read Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals") conference in March. The first was in New Orleans and we all saw where that lead to. In their own words:

"As part of the international movement to remove symbols of, and tangible tributes to, white supremacy, you are officially invited to the Second Annual International Take ’Em Down Organizer’s conference the weekend of March 22-24 in Jacksonville, Florida. Over the last six months, the Make It Right Project has had the honor of working with folks across the country and world who are dedicated to dismantling white supremacy and reckoning with its ongoing legacy in every form, including its most visible manifestation—monuments glorifying systems of racist oppression and their defenders. We hope that all of you can join us in Jacksonville at this critical convening.

This year’s Take ’Em Down Everywhere conference “will be the second of its kind designed to commemorate, celebrate and strategically align Take ’Em Down efforts.” Last year’s conference took place in New Orleans and was an outgrowth of the tremendous work done by Take ’Em Down NOLA, who were key in spearheading this incarnation of the movement. “The conference will be targeted toward organizers from around the country and world who have been engaged in Take ’Em Down movements in their respective communities.” Please also note that Saturday will be open to the public, with a 3:00 p.m. protest action in Confederate Park to promote Take ’Em Down’s effort to remove all symbols to white supremacy."

It is also very active in Texas and is playing a major role in defeating a Monuments Protection Act. In its own words again:

"Right now, there are three bills moving through the Texas General Assembly that are designed to override community consensus, disenfranchise local citizens and rewrite history:

SB226 is a “Heritage Law,” like the Virginia legislation that continues to protect Charlottesville’s Confederate statues even after a rash of racist violence. Sen. Pat Fallon’s (R-30) bill would prohibit colleges from removing monuments or renaming facilities, public school districts from changing their name, and every county and municipality from removing any monument older than a few decades. The bill comes after the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, and the recent renaming of several schools named for Confederates, in Dallas.
HB583: Section 3C of Rep. James White’s (R-19) bill would prevent the removal or alteration of all Confederate monuments and memorials—including street and building names, portraits, statues, etc. Anyone charged with removing a monument would face a fine of up to $1,000 and “confinement in jail for a term of not less than three days and not more than one year.”
SJR2 would amend the Texas state constitution so that the legislature would have to approve all interpretive content at the Alamo and any state-owned history museum. While this isn’t technically a matter of removing Confederate monuments, it’s disturbing and outrageous that Sen. Bob Hall (R-2) is attempting to hand museum curatorial duties to a bunch of politicians, an idea radically incompatible with accuracy about our racial history.
If these proposed laws pass, efforts to remove monuments to the Confederacy and white supremacy will be halted—which, of course, is the entire point. They are intended to take away the power of local voters and jurisdictions to decide for themselves whether they want to pay homage to those who fought to defend black slavery, oppression and servitude. For all those reasons, a similar law in Alabama was recently ruled unconstitutional by a judge.

Please call your legislators and ask them to oppose SB226, HB583 (at least as long as it has section 3C in it) and SJR2.

For more information on these bills, visit the Texas Legislature website, which allows visitors to review all pending state legislation and its exact status in the legislative process. To find your local legislator and relevant contact information, visit fyi.capitol.texas.gov.

AND WHILE WE HAVE YOU HERE…On January 25, the State Preservation Board held a hearing that allowed 90 days of public comment on where the Confederate plaque removed from the Capitol rotunda should go. Please reach out to the board and tell them 1) not to reinstall the plaque, 2) not to install the plaque somewhere else where someone might think that it’s historically accurate and 3) to use this occasion to hold educational events about slavery, secession, and the “Lost Cause” myth. Email webmaster@tspb.texas.gov OR send snail mail to P.O. Box 13286, Austin, Texas 78711.

Don’t forget to join De-Confederate Austin on Facebook and follow the group on Twitter at @DeConfederate."