Bob Bland, who's real name is Mari Lynn Foulger, is a self declared NYC fashion designer claiming to be women's activist. She was one of the founding members of the Women's March and served on the Board of Directors since 2017.
With Bland at the leadership wheel, along with other prominent antisemites Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, and Carmen Perez, the group constantly ostracized and excluded Jewish women and Zionist groups and was under constant fire due to antisemitsm stemming from the top of the organization.
Teresa Shook, one of the original founders of the Women’s March, who left the organization in November 2018, called for its leadership to resign in light of their vile antisemitism. “Bob Bland [et al] have steered the Movement away from its true course,” she wrote in Facebook post. “I have waited, hoping they would right the ship. But they have not. In opposition to our Unity Principles, they have allowed anti-Semitism to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs.”
According to several sources, during the first meeting of the Women's March in November 2016, the founding members stated Jewish people bore a special collective responsibility as exploiters of black and brown people, and claimed that Jews were proven to have been leaders of the American slave trade.
Bland denied any such statements were ever uttered but admitted there was a discussion about "how white women had centered themselves."
Bland and Mallory appeared on the View in January 2019, and refused to condemn their constant cheerleading of antisemite Louis Farrakhan, who has compared Jews to Vermin and called Hitler a fine man.
On March 17, 2019 Bland shared a (now deleted) post blaming the New Zealand massacre on American Jews- “The same language and hate that folks spew against Sisters Linda Sarsour and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) killed 54 Muslims in New Zealand. You can’t stand in solidarity with the Muslim community and simultaneously disavow Muslim women for speaking their truths. American Jewish Establishment, I’m looking at you.”
When confronted about her antisemitic post, Bland blamed her kids for distracting her when she was sharing the post but didn't express any regret nor denounced its antisemitic content.
Amid the continued antisemitism displayed by Bland and her March sisters, major sponsors like the Democratic National Committee pulled out and less than half of the group's original partners continued the partnership in 2019.
In July 2019, Bland stepped down from her position and a formal announcement was made last month. Media outlets reported the Women's March was fed up with the continued antisemitic controversies that followed the original founders and replaced Bland, Sarsour, and Mallory with new Board Members.
Unfortunately, their bad decision making process continued as one of the newly elected members, Zahra Billoo, who was featured as an Antisemite of the Week, was selected and consequently removed from the Board within 48 hours after horrifying antisemitic posts of hers surfaced on social media.