18 Jan NY Daily News | Black Congressional Caucus to honor African-American rape victim at President Trump’s State of the Union

Even in death, she persisted.

When President Trump delivers his first State of the Union address later this month, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will wear red pins honoring Recy Taylor — the black Alabama woman who was kidnapped and gang raped by six white men over seven decades ago, the Daily News has learned.

Taylor, who died last month at 97, publicly testified against the men who raped her in 1944, even though they had threatened to kill her if she did. Her name started trending on social media after Oprah Winfrey referenced her in a rousing Golden Globes speech last week, and she rapidly became an icon for the burgeoning movements against sexual harassment.

New Jersey congresswoman Bonnie Coleman, a member of the CBC, told her fellow caucus members in an email obtained by The News that Taylor’s legacy serves as a reminder of the plight of sexual abuse survivors.

“As we raise awareness to this important cause, we cannot forget the many marginalized women who have spoken up, spoken out and have long been ignored,” Coleman wrote in the email. “Ms. Taylor’s quest for justice was a seminal moment in the civil rights movement.”

Coleman also encouraged the caucus members to wear all black for Trump’s State of the Union address on Jan. 30 in a display of solidarity with victims of sexual harassment.

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), another black caucus member and herself a survivor of sexual assault, plans to don all black and put a “Recy” pin on her jacket, according to her spokesman Eric Harris.

“It will serve as a strong message of defiance to those who have and continue to subject women to a toxic masculinity that has plagued our society for far too long,” Harris told The News. “The congresswoman wants them to know that their time is indeed up, from the world of media and entertainment to the halls of government.”

Moore and several of her Democratic colleagues have urged multiple congressional committees to investigate President Trump over the nearly two dozen claims of sexual harassment and assault that have been lobbed against him. But the committees have declined to take up the issue, arguing that it goes beyond their investigative scopes.

It was first reported Tuesday that a group of women Democrats plan to wear all black for Trump’s first State of the Union, echoing A-list celebrities who did the same thing at Sunday’s Golden Globes gala as part of the nascent “Time’s Up” movement’s efforts to raise awareness about sexual misconduct.

Amid the ballooning sexual harassment scandal enveloping the country, Democrats have expressed outrage over why Trump isn’t facing the same harsh consequences that some actors and media executives have.