Women’s March co-founder Tamika D. Mallory poses with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Image by Instagram

By Aiden Pink March 8, 2018

A regional chapter of Planned Parenthood announced Wednesday that it was cancelling a planned speech by Women’s March co-president Tamika D. Mallory amid a growing controversy over her ties to the anti-Semitic preacher Louis Farrakhan.

Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, which represents the states of Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Hawaii, issued a statement announcing that they were disinviting Mallory from giving a keynote speech in April at its annual fundraising luncheon in Seattle.

“When historic numbers of women took to the streets more than a year ago, it was to stand up and say they stood for women’s rights, equity and justice — for people of ALL backgrounds, identities, and ideologies,” the organization said. “When leaders of the Women’s March — or any allied group — stray from these aspirations, we will do everything we can to help them return to our shared mission.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Mallory has come under harsh criticism in the past few weeks over her longstanding support for Farrakhan, including attending one of his rallies last month. “Thank God this man is still alive and doing well,” she wrote on her social media last year.

Farrakhan has been known to make anti-Semitic comments for decades, including calling Adolf Hitler “a very great man” and claiming that Jews were behind the 9/11 terror attacks.

In response to the controversy, Mallory wrote an article on Wednesday that did not include an apology or a denunciation of Farrakhan.

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount