Recy Taylor died at the age of 97 on Dec. 28. Though she was always loved and admired by her family, friends and supporters, it was in the last years of her life that the wider world saw her, really saw this African-American woman from Alabama — her bravery, her strength and her role as a leader in a struggle that has found a loud voice.
Through a book and a film that amplified her story of being kidnapped and raped by white men, and then speaking out about that horrific crime in 1944, when doing so jeopardized her life, Taylor could more than legitimately claim a role as a mother of the movement that has come to be known as #MeToo, one that has stretched from the entertainment and media worlds to the halls of Congress.
Tarana Burke, the African-American woman who originated the powerful words in that hashtag and a nonprofit to continue the hard work of positive change, has a piece of that leadership, too, though apparently that was not enough for a spot on the Time Magazine cover that named “The Silence Breakers” its person of the year. (Looking at Taylor Swift’s cover pose on that issue was almost, though not quite, enough to nostalgically recall Kanye West’s award show interaction with the singer as he tried to claim her prize for Beyoncé.)
