Who Is Recy Taylor, Named in Oprah's Golden Globes Speech
BALDWIN: We are back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Oprah Winfrey's Golden Globe speech, for all its passion and inspiration, was also filled with hard truths about the racist brutality committed against black women during Jim Crow. She told this story of a black woman by the name of Recy Taylor.</s>OPRAH WINFREY, FORMER TALK SHOW HOST: A name I know, and I think you should know, too. In 1944, Recy Taylor was a young wife and a mother. She was just walking home from her church service she'd attended in Abbeville, Alabama, when she was abducted by six armed white men, raped and left blindfolded by the side of the road, coming home from church. They threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone. The men who tried to destroy her were never persecuted. Recy Taylor died 10 days ago.</s>BALDWIN: With me now Nancy Buirski, the documentary filmmaker and producer who brought Taylor's story to life in the film, "The Rape of Recy Taylor." Also nominated for an NAACP Image award for a featured documentary. Congratulations for that.</s>NANCY BUIRSKI, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER & PRODUCER: Thank you.</s>BALDWIN: It is such a pleasure to meet you. In commercial break, did you even know that Oprah was going to mention Recy Taylor's name? And you said no. And what did you do?</s>BUIRSKI: I stood up and screamed.</s>BALDWIN: You were screaming.</s>BUIRSKI: Yes. And I was sure people would knock on my door and my apartment because I was screaming like crazy and the phones started ringing and the texting came in.</s>BUIRSKI: We were all so excited. We really -- we truly believe that more people should know about Recy Taylor. That's why we made this movie. "Time" magazine came out with the cover of the women that were part of the Me Too movement, and the person that wasn't on the cover was Recy Taylor.</s>BALDWIN: Recy Taylor.</s>BUIRSKI: Oprah Winfrey corrected that, and we are so grateful to her.</s>BALDWIN: The second I heard her name come out of Oprah's mouth, I was Googling away and wanted to have this conversation on TV. We heard a bit of her story, 24, leaving church in Alabama and she's raped. What happened?</s>BUIRSKI: She was walking home from church with a friend and her friend's son, and this car comes up behind her and it circles around, and then it comes up again and circles around. And these guys get out with a shotgun and they tell her, if you don't get in the car, we'll kill you and we'll kill your friends. So they take her to this pecan grove, and the rest, obviously, you know that they kept her there for four hours and they raped her, and they pretended that they had given her money. They left her on the side of the road. Her father found her. And instead of going home and not saying anything, which is what most women did in those days, that night she spoke up. That night, she went to the sheriff and she said, I've just got to tell you what happened to me. That's what's so incredible about her. She was so brave when her life was at risk. So you know, she's the start of this movement. She's really the foundation for what we're celebrating today.</s>BALDWIN: Say her name, Recy Taylor.</s>BUIRSKI: Correct.</s>BALDWIN: I was trying to read if she ever saw any sort of justice, and it sounds like with the juries all white, all male.</s>BUIRSKI: The grand juries never indicted any of those men. And some of them confessed to the killing and we have their testimony in our film.</s>BALDWIN: Incredible.</s>BUIRSKI: But she was given an apology by the state.</s>BALDWIN: Not by the men.</s>BUIRSKI: Not by the men, of course, not.</s>BUIRSKI: But by the state. But that wasn't really enough and her brother, Robert Taylor, who plays a big role in our film, was committed to having her story told. He's -- he's courageous himself, as is this whole family. The strength of the family is amazing.</s>BALDWIN: Just last quick question, what do you think I don't know -- she passed away 11 days ago now. I don't know when you were last in touch with her or anyone in her family. What would she have thought watching that last night?</s>BUIRSKI: You know, I'm sure, on some level, she would be so gratified, and understand that her story is the story of so many women. There are so many Recy Taylors.</s>BALDWIN: And so many we don't know.</s>BUIRSKI: That's right. And so she's not only courageous on her own, but she is a symbol and a metaphor for so many women who didn't have the chance to speak out. I'm sure she's proud, and I know her family is.</s>BALDWIN: Nancy Buirski, thank you so much. Thank you for bringing to light the story. "The Rape of Recy Taylor" is the film. Good luck this weekend.</s>BUIRSKI: Thank you so much.</s>BALDWIN: Winner of the NAACP Image award. Thank you so much. Continuing on, as the president defends himself against concerns of his mental fitness, CNN is learning he is still fuming behind the scenes, and it involves his former chief strategist. We have detail ahead. Also depression, insomnia, even suicide. Some Apple investors say these are all very real dangers of iPhone addiction, especially in young people. And they actually want the company to do something about that. Their concerns, next.