Yahoo News Women's history month: How Recy Taylor risked her life by refusing to remain silent
Throughout March, the Evening Standard is running a special series to mark Women’s History Month, covering everything from forgotten female heroes to the brilliant women of today.
Oprah Winfrey raised the roof at the Golden Globes, with a speech that went quickly viral. In it, she mentioned the name of Recy Taylor, a woman whose story has never been acknowledged as widely as it needs to be. Nancy Buirski has directed a new film about Taylor's life, bringing the shocking reality of her experiences back to the forefront. Here, she explains why it's a story that needs to be told.
Who was Recy Taylor?
Recy Taylor was a 24 year old black mother and sharecropper, who was kidnapped on the side of the road and gang raped by six white boys in a pecan grove in Abbeville, Alabama in 1944.
Her name has most recently come to prominence again through it being mentioned by Oprah Winfrey during her powerful Golden Globes speech, which went viral online. She said: “Recy Taylor is a name I know and I think you should know too... speaking your truth is the most powerful tool you have.”
What makes her so significant?
Recy Taylor immediately went to the police and accused her attackers whom she could identify, which put her life in grave danger. Rapes of black women by white men during the Jim Crow era were not unusual. What was extraordinary was her courage to speak up!
Her case could also be seen as an early catalyst to the historic Civil Rights Movements in America during the 1950s-1960s, which escalated following the Montgomery Bus Boycott, aiming to end legalised segregation and racial inequality in the United States.
Why has she been “forgotten”?
Though her case received some recognition due to the efforts of celebrated civil rights activist Rosa Parks and legions of supporters, the boys were never indicted and her story fell into the dustbin of history.
The families and the survivors of these staggering number of rapes in this era typically kept silent. They were rarely reported in the white press, so, unlike lynchings, they remained a hidden story.
Why does she deserve more recognition?
Not only was her bravery remarkable, but in this era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, we need to remember that the rare black woman who spoke up in Recy Taylor’s day was doing so when her life was in danger. Most importantly, she felt no shame as she knew what happened to her was a legacy of slavery, when white men felt entitled to a black woman’s body.
How are you celebrating her this Women’s History Month?
We are screening our film, The Rape of Recy Taylor, in many many locations throughout the US, UK and internationally. We follow each screening with robust and sensitive discussions and panels, that allow so many to share Recy Taylor’s experience with others and celebrate her legacy. We are premiering the film in London tonight, with a special screening event in partnership with UN Women, at Curzon Soho. Q&A panelists will include Baroness Manzoor, CBE, Conservative Peer who was previously Deputy Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality; Yomi Adegoke, who is co-author of the upcoming book Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl’s Bible; and broadcaster Maxine Mawhinney.
We also have two further preview screenings over the weekend at BAFTA and the Everyman Cinema in Kings Cross, the latter of which is being hosted by Edith Bowman.
The Rape of Recy Taylor will be screened at Curzon Soho tonight (March 22); curzoncinemas.com
