Words by Ime Ekpo
On Sunday (October 15th) activist and co-chair of the Women’s March on Washington, Tamika Mallory was forced off of an American Airlines flight at Miami International Airport after experiencing a case of “white male aggression.”
Mallory was coming back home to New York from the Revolt Music Conference this past weekend and ended up becoming an example of the mistreatment of Black women in America. When the Women’s March icon arrived at the Miami International Airport, she wanted to switch her plane seat from a middle seat to an aisle seat. There ended up being a surprise for the activist at the gate. The agent handed her a new ticket that placed her back to a middle seat. When Mallory inquired about the change to the agent, she received a foul vibed response. A pilot decided to stop her after eavesdropping on the mild wrangle with the agent, just to tell her the seat change was beyond the agent’s control and that she was the one showcasing disrespect.
According to a series of tweets by Mallory, every American Airlines representative that she spoke with confirmed the pilot’s unjust way of handling the matter, which was a simple seat dispute. Before forcibly kicking her off the plane, the pilot asked her in an obviously condescending manner, “Are you gonna behave?”
After her verbal altercation with the pilot, the activist was outraged in expression, inquiring about why she was being kicked off the plane, and not one person gave her an answer.
On Tuesday (October 17th), Mallory held a press conference to discuss the events that took place with American Airlines that day with her attorney Royce Russell and rapper/activist Mysonne which aired on Facebook Live that morning.
The hashtag #IStandWithTamika has been sanctioned as a way to acknowledge the disrespect and blatant act of racism Mallory experienced as a black woman against a white man and has also ignited the hashtag #FlyingWhileBlack, reopening the dialogue.
I was just removed from an .@americanairlines flight because of white make aggression. I will fight this until I die!
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
Doesn't matter how much we do and how hard we fight, white men are allowed to treat black women like shit .@AmericanAir
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
& other ppl stand by and watch it happen because it doesn't affect them. If I have to fight alone, .@AmericanAir will NEVER GET AWAY W/ THIS
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
Correction: I was DISRESPECTED by an .@americanair employee and a pilot today.
— Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017
