CBC Creatively Protests Trump’s State of the Union Address

The members of the Congressional Black Caucus, offended by President Trump’s statements about people and countries of color as well as his policies toward civil and human rights, protested as the president delivered his first State of the Union Address on Jan. 30. Most of the members of the CBC who attended the address wore Black suits draped with a kente cloth or wore kente ties and bow ties and wore red and white buttons signifying support for the late Recy Taylor, who was gang-raped by White men in Alabama in 1944 but were never brought to justice for their act. Taylor, who died on Dec. 28, 2017 at the age of 98, was mentioned by billionairess-entertainer Oprah Winfrey on Jan. 8 at the Golden Globe Awards and she visited Taylor’s grave site several days later. On Jan. 10, Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) talked about honoring Taylor by asking members of Congress to wear the Recy button while Trump delivered his address and almost all of the Black women CBC members who attended the ceremony did so.