Who is Lawrence Nathaniel?
Buckle up, y’all- it’s a ride.
At a mere 26 years old, this kid has collectively grabbed our attention, but who is he and where did he come from? Depending on who you ask he could be anything from a Congressional candidate, President of one of the many foundations and orgs he’s “founded,” a young and up and coming organizer, or a class “A” grifter. Most of those you will ask usually use the latter to describe him.
His “career” began in Orlando, less than weeks after the tragic shooting at the Pulse Nightclub killing 49, a press release was published detailing a rally and memorial for the those lives lost. The event director was- you guessed it- Nathaniel Lawrence.
In an initial press release, published June 27, 2016, boasted five big name sponsors such as Publix and famous performers such as Pandora Boxx and Thorgy Thor from RuPaul’s Drag Race. It billed itself as a “mass multicultural event of 20,000 or more people uniting to show love and support to this community.” In one press release, they asked the public for volunteers and donations via GoFundMe. Four days later, a second press release was published announcing that the memorial had been moved to a later date. Lawrence’s name was no longer listed anywhere on the event, the size of the crowd had also shrunk to an expected 1,000 people and the list of sponsors and performers had also shrunk tremendously- oh, and Demi Lavato and Nick Jonas were no longer listed on the release (you can’t even make this up). The memorial was eventually canceled; the first of many involving Lawrence Nathaniel.
The paper trail really began in San Diego, from what one can tell- a quick Google search will pull a slew of articles surrounding planned and failed protests and rallies all of which were plagued with uncertainty, miscommunicaton, and self-promotion. Lawrence came to San Diego out of nowhere in late 2016 and approached student organizers to plan a protest at the Mexico Border. The local organizers did not know Lawrence prior to this event, they had no clue why he was there but they were happy to help. Lawrence Nathaniel led the organizers to believe that he was the President (Founder?) of the We Are One Foundation, which doesn’t exist.
Since then Lawrence has been behind a slew of rallies/protests that have drawn suspicion from the local activists and organizers because of the miscommunication, repeated call for donations, and lack of transparency. For instance, The People’s March aka the Impeachment March quickly gained traction on Facebook when the event was first published. Over 2k people said they were going and over 25k people were “interested”. When local organizers began questioning the authenticity of People Demand Action, the host of the event, they were met with either hostility or nothing at all. Some digging was done, copied from this article: “The website for People Demand Action, the organization claiming responsibility for the march, is copyrighted by the “We Are One Foundation,” which is nothing more than a website copyrighted by Presidential House USA, aka “The United States of America Presidential House” whose Facebook page was created in 2009 and was officially incorporated in October 2017.”
If this seems confusing it's because it is. There’s so much more to the story here, but we must go on to the present. It’s recommended you read every single article about Lawrence Nathaniel.
As time went on, the local organizers became more weary of Lawrence, when they would inquire about permits they were met with empty words. When people in the community expressed distrust in a new organizer planning an event without first reaching out to already existing local groups and orgs that had been doing the work, he kept moving forward. When local activists were told that Lawrence had contacted not only the San Diego Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security, organizers were dumbfounded. This put not only the organizers at risk but the very people that they are fighting for, undocumented people, in so much unecessary danger. When they found out a few days before the event that the permits had not been paid for, something that they’d assumed Lawrence/WAO had taken care of as he had been the one fundraising, they realized that there was no possible way they could continue with Lawrence/WAO. The organizers split with Lawrence/WAO and asked that the $400 that had been raised for the event be transferred from Lawrence’s account to a local organizer’s with the intention of donating it to community orgs. Lawrence Nathaniel went back to South Carolina, leaving the local organizers to repair the damaged relationships caused by mistrust. Before leaving, he managed to borrow around $300 from local organizers for a plane ticket home with the promise he’d pay them back when he got paid. When the local organizers asked about the $400 raised for the event, and the $300 he borrowed he told them that he already donated the $400 to another organization, providing no proof. After trying to get the $300 back from Lawrence, he said that he sent the organizer $250, but it never appeared in their account. Lawrence Nathaniel then involved his “family manager” who then threatened legal action against the student organizers and then followed up by posting threatening messages on Snapchat.
That Brings Us to Now
Why does all of this matter? I mean, there are so many more important things to worry about right now right? We can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Recently, Lawrence Nathaniel has been making quite a name for himself in his home state of South Carolina. He ran for congress for a few months, managing to raise $20,000 from his community before dropping out well before the primary.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of the state, protests began popping up all over the country. One of the Marches was planned in Columbia, SC by a page called I Can’t Breathe which has been in the process of ‘rebranding’- we’ll get to that later. Members of ICB leadership found out that Lawrence Nathaniel was soliciting “monetary donations” in the name of I Can't Breathe to his congressional campaign’s CashApp. They split from Lawrence and started their own group, continuing with their mission.
Now, back to ICB’s rebranding- On June 23, Lawrence Nathaniel announced that he had filed the paperwork for an official Black Lives Matter Chapter and that I Can’t Breathe will be transitioning to BLMSC. Filing to be an official chapter is no easy task, you must have: (1) legal entity (i.e. fiscal sponsorship, 501(c)(3)); (2) Completion of the induction process; (3) Conversations with current Chapters, and; (4) A grace period. To my knowledge, he’s secured none of the above. When local organizers asked if he’d had conversations with the existing unofficial branch of BLM in Columbia, SC, he became short and got defensive, leaving more local organizers suspicious of his intentions. None of this has stopped Lawrence from announcing the date of July 25th as the official launch of BLMSC, we’ll see. As of today, Lawrence has begun soliciting monetary donations in the name of BLMSC for an unknown reason. On could ask if he knows that by doing so he’s possibly violating the Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act, but he knows that already as this isn't the first time his “organizations” have been reported to the State Treasurer’s Office for being in violation.
This isn't the first time Lawrence Nathaniel has used national tragedy for public gain, but it can be his last. Please share this among your friends far and wide, he’s managed to scam people in at least two states and the District of Columbia. If you’ve been unfortunate enough to have crossed Lawrence’s path and have a story to tell, please feel free to do so. In the meantime, please y’all- do not give this man money, but remember that the fight continues, we have work to do. There will always be those folks that will use tragedy for political or personal gain, in this case, Lawrence Deshawn Silva Nathaniel did both.
All of my sources have been linked within the body and those that have asked to remain anonymous will stay that way.