Tamika Mallory, Women’s March organizer and co-president, is defending herself after facing backlash for attending a Nation of Islam event last month where Rev. Louis Farrakhan made anti-Semitic remarks.
“I didn’t expect my presence at Saviour’s Day to lead anyone to question my beliefs,” Mallory wrote in a News One op-ed, noting that she’s attended the event for over 30 years and the significant role the Nation of Islam has played in her life.
“Where my people are is where I must also be. I go into difficult spaces,” she explained. “I attend meetings with police and legislators — the very folks so much of my protest has been directed towards.”
As CNN’s Jake Tapper pointed out, Mallory attended Farrakhan’s speech where he referred to “powerful Jews” as his enemy and blamed Jews for “all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out turning men into women and women into men.”
On Sunday, Rev. Farrakhan gave his Saviours’ Day 2018 Address, attended by thousands including one of the co-founders of the Women’s March.https://t.co/WE5ys7It8R
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 28, 2018
The Anti-Defamation League also pointed out that Farrakhan claimed that Jewish people control the media and the U.S. government in the speech and argued that the FBI, while under Jewish influence, is pushing to legalize marijuana to “feminize” black men.
He further claimed that the media, under Jewish control, is using their influence to increase the size of the LGBTQ community.
Given her extensive work with these communities, Mallory said she has “heard the pain and concerns” from them and she affirms “the validity of those feelings” while noting that she is growing and learning.
“It is impossible for me to agree with every statement or share every viewpoint of the many people who I have worked with or will work with in the future,” she said. “As I do not wish to be held responsible for the words of others when my own history shows that I stand in opposition to them, I also do not think it is fair to question anyone who works with me, who supports my work and who is a member of this movement because of the ways that I may have fallen short here or in any other instance.”
The Women’s March leader concluded her defense by explaining that her work requires an “operational unity” that could be “painful and uncomfortable.”
In addition to Mallory, several lawmakers have also fallen under public scrutiny for their ties to Farrakhan, including Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Rep. Maxine Water, D-Calif.
