EXCERPT:

HOSTIN: "There has been some controversy surrounding the Women’s March Organization. And Tamika, you came under some fire for your relationship with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Now, he’s known for being anti-Semitic, for being homophobic, but you do attend his events and you posted, I believe, a photo together calling him the GOAT, which means the greatest of all time. And you are running an organization that says it fights bigotry. Do you understand why your association with him is quite problematic?"

MALLORY: "I think it’s important to put my attendance, my presence at Savior’s Day which is the highest holy day for the nation of Islam in proper context. You know, as a leader, as a black leader in a country that is still dealing with some very serious unresolved issues as it relates to the black experience in this country, I go into a lot of difficult spaces. I wrote a piece immediately following the beginning of this controversy talking about wherever my people are, that’s where I must also be. So I also go into prisons where there are people who have been convicted of heinous acts, and I am trying to help people to move from wherever they are today and build that unity to bring them to a place where we live in a more fair and equitable society, and I think that that work is not easy for everyone to understand but it’s certainly work that I’m committed to. And everywhere that I go is difficult. The women’s march was very difficult. I met with a lot of women who did not even understand why race was important to be a part of the conversation as it relates to women’s rights issues, and there was a lot of, you know, offensive rhetoric that I heard. And you know, just because you go into a space with someone does not mean that you agree with everything that they say."

HOSTIN: "But let me push back a little bit. Why call him the greatest of all time?"

MALLORY: "I didn’t call him the greatest of all time because of his rhetoric I called him the greatest of all time because of what he’s done in black communities.”