On Monday, the founder of the Women’s March, Teresa Shook, publicly called for the co-chairs of the movement, Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez, to step down because of what she termed their “anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric.”
Shook wrote on Facebook:
As Founder of the Women’s March, my original vision and intent was to show the capacity of human beings to stand in solidarity and love against the hateful rhetoric that had become a part of the political landscape in the U.S. and around the world. I wanted us to prove that the majority of us are decent people who want a world that is fair, just and inclusive of Women and All people. We proved that on January 21, 2017 (and in the U.S. this past midterm with a diverse electorate).
Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez of Women’s March, Inc. have steered the Movement away from its true course. I have waited, hoping they would right the ship. But they have not. In opposition to our Unity Principles, they have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs. I call for the current Co-Chairs to step down and to let others lead who can restore faith in the Movement and its original intent. I stand in Solidarity with all the Sister March Organizations, to bring the Movement back to its authentic purpose. As Women’s March founder, I am stepping up to bring focus back to the Unity Principles on which our movement began, and with the support of all of those who marched and have continued to march, I pledge to support grassroots, decentralized leadership promoting a safe, worldwide community devoid of hate speech, bigotry and racism.
Shook is months behind other members of the Women’s March movement who launched a petition to remove the leaders of the Women’s March for their anti-Semitism.
Sarsour and Mallory have been associated with the anti-Semitic and racist Louis Farrakhan; Mallory has gone as far as labeling him the GOAT (greatest of all time). Last June, Mallory called the founding of the state of Israel a “human rights crime.” Sarsour has a record of anti-Semitism; her latest attack was to accuse American Jews of having dual loyalties.
Shook founded the Women’s March immediately after the election of President Trump with a Facebook post in which she wrote that a women’s march was needed. When there was no response, she asked how to create a Facebook group herself. She recalled, “I woke up after the election. I was not really happy. I was really unhappy. So I got on a chat and there were women and they were depressed, and they were sad, and they felt powerless. They just kept talking about how horrible it was. And I thought, well this won’t do. We have to do something. I didn’t want to sit around and feel powerless. So I started a Facebook event page. I went back and I said, hear our voice. We won’t be silent anymore. And we’re gonna stand up for a fair, just, and inclusive America. A fair, just, and inclusive world, where there is equality for women. Where there’s equality for all people.”