Rosa Parks who we all knew was an African civil rights movement zealot woman who became to be best known for the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurrence event that transpired in the capital of Alabama and that was Montgomery. She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama on February 4, 1913 and then passed away in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 2005 (Rosa Parks, Wikipedia). The Bus Boycott incident in Montgomery happened on December 5, 1955 then ended on December 20, 1956 (Montgomery bus boycott, Wikipedia). There was another African lady who was like Parks who worked as the NAACP’s chief investigator who was victimized for rape. Her name was Recy Taylor. She was born in a sharecropping family in Abbeville, Alabama on December 31, 1919 then passed away there on December 28, 2017 (Recy Taylor, Wikipedia). This story is really significant because a group of Caucasian young males sexually assaulted her. Rosa Parks came to the rescue to help get justice for Recy Taylor. In addition to this case, the #me too movement was involved as well. Even though Recy Taylor became new Rosa Parks, she was moreover a powerful woman too who had a voice just like the other women.
First, Recy Taylor was sexually raped by a crowd of Caucasian young males. How this all transpired was when she was heading straight home coming out of a church in Abbeville until a group of 6 white young males abducted her, put her into their car, and then drove off with her into the woods to rape her. After the guys finished doing what they did, they warned that they’ll slice her throat off with a knife or another sharp object if she gets them busted for violating her. After the guys drove her to an abandon area blindfolded where she obviously couldn’t see anything, they left and her dad found her and took her home. Taylor had the chance to notify him about it then both of them disclosed it to the authorities (When Recy Taylor was gang raped in 1944, no arrests were made. The NAACP sent Rosa Parks to investigate). That was a scary nightmare that she didn’t forget. Those men that hurt Taylor are honestly despicable individuals.
Second, the NAACP sent civil rights activist, Rosa Parks to discover the facts about this allegation to establish the truth. Parks had a face to face talk with Taylor about this raping incident. Parks brought in the Committee for Equal Justice as her back-up to give the justice that Taylor needed (“The Rape of Recy Taylor”: How Rosa Parks Helped a Sharecropper Report Her Assault & Seek Justice). They teamed up/joined forces with each other to do whatever they can to help Taylor. Parks and the Committee team are her superheroes kind of similar to the Justice League group. She also started an organized course of action to stop sexually hurting all the black women (How Recy Taylor’s brutal rape has become a symbol of #MeToo and #TimesUp). Rosa Parks has honestly become a really strong hero in the world to stand up for women’s rights.
Last but not least, the movement or national campaign program against sexual abuse that was involved in relations to domestic work (specifically maids) is called “The Me Too Movement” also known as #MeToo (Me Too movement, Wikipedia). This campaign movement was started by a black woman named Tarana Burke (Before #MeToo, There Was Mrs. Recy Taylor). Her campaign movement helps people especially women stand up against sexual violence. It was a great idea for Burke to start the march so that it will help put an end to this sexual violence. It’s like she became the boss of a Women’s March. She’s strong and she should keep up the great work. That is how I feel about Recy Taylor being sexually violated in the worst, possible manner. No woman in the world should ever have to go through this tragedy.
To summon it up, the reasons why Recy Taylor’s story is important is because white boys sexually harassed her, NAACP sent Rosa Parks to look into this rape case, and Burke’s #MeToo helped end sexual violence on all women and Recy Taylor was a strong African leader. Recy Taylor is a unique, trending lady with a tragic, awful story. Taylor is like the series character for Parks like Simone Biles is the series for Gabby Douglass. That’s why Taylor’s story was salient.
Works Cited
- Berry, M. F. (2018, January 23). Before #MeToo, There Was Mrs. Recy Taylor. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from http://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2018/01/before-metoo-there-was-mrs-recy-taylor.html
- Brown, D. L. (2018, January 30). How Recy Taylor’s brutal rape has become a symbol of #MeToo and #TimesUp. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/11/27/the-gang-rape-was-horrific-the-naacp-sent-rosa-parks-to-investigate-it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bce9d106be38
- En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Recy Taylor. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recy_Taylor [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].
- Me Too movement. (2018, April 27). Retrieved April 27, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Too_movement
- Montgomery bus boycott. (2018, April 26). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_bus_boycott
- Rosa Parks. (2018, April 25). Retrieved April 25, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks
- T. (2018, January 19). When Recy Taylor was gang raped in 1944, no arrests were made. The NAACP sent Rosa Parks to investigate. – The Lily. Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.thelily.com/when-recy-taylor-was-gang-raped-in-1944-no-arrests-were-made-the-naacp-sent-rosa-parks-to-investigate/
- ‘The Rape of Recy Taylor’: How Rosa Parks Helped a Sharecropper Report Her Assault & Seek Justice. (2017, December 20). Retrieved April 26, 2018, from https://www.democracynow.org/2017/12/20/the_rape_of_recy_taylor_how
