Goldie Taylor
Goldie Taylor (born July 18, 1968) is an American author and opinion writer based in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]
Early life
Taylor was born in University City, Missouri, but raised in East St. Louis, Illinois. Her father was murdered on November 5, 1973 when she was 5, leaving her mother Mary to raise her and her siblings alone. She attended public schools in the metro St. Louis area before moving to Atlanta and graduating from Cross Keys High School in 1986. Taylor was an active duty US Marine trained in Public Affairs Broadcasting at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. She received an honorable discharge on medical grounds. Taylor then gained admission to Emory University in Atlanta where she studied Political Science and International Affairs.
Career
Political
Volunteering for her first political campaign in 1993, Taylor worked as an unpaid deputy press secretary for Michael Lomax’s Atlanta mayoral campaign. In the time since, she has worked as a communications director, field organizer and media consultant for various political candidates at the local, state and federal level. She retired as a consultant in 2009 after serving as Director of Communications for then state senator M. Kasim Reed. Reed was sworn in as Mayor of Atlanta in January 2010. Prior to retiring from politics, Taylor considered running for public office twice, qualifying for 4th District Congress in Georgia in 1996.
Writing
While a student at Emory University, Taylor began writing for the Emory Wheel as well as for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a part-time staff writer. She self-published her first novel, In My Father’s House, with WheatMark Press in 2005. Her second novel, The January Girl, was first published by Madison Park Press in 2007 and later re-released by Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette.
Throughout her career she has written for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Creative Loafing, Marie Claire, TheGrio, CNN.com, Americablog, MSNBC.com, and EbonyJet.com. Her 2008 op-ed column regarding then Republican Vice Presidential nominee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, “A Woman’s Worth”, published by EbonyJet.com, remains the most visited webpage in the site’s history. She is also the author of “Show Me Your Papers!”, a special-contributor opinion aired on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show that addressed Birtherism through the prism of a family story about her great-great-grandfather, Major Blackard. Both pieces spread virally throughout the internet upon publication.
Television
Taylor is a frequent contributor to MSNBC, CNN and HLN on social, political and faith issues. In the wake of the Penn State sex abuse scandal, Taylor revealed during a November 2011 appearance on "CNN Newsroom" with Don Lemon her own experience being sexually abused.[1] In a post on her blog about her decision to come forward, Taylor named her abuser. In February 2012, Taylor itemized on Twitter a history of domestic abuse, disclosing intimate details about a previous abusive relationship. In March 2012, Taylor appeared on "The Lawrence O’Donnell Show" wearing a hooded sweatshirt in solidarity with slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. She was the first cable news pundit to do so, being an early vocal proponent of a deeper investigation.
Corporate
Taylor has served as executive consultant to NBC News and CNN Worldwide. In 2009, while serving as a consulting producer to CNN, Taylor re-opened an investigation into the Atlanta Child Murders and convicted serial killer Wayne Williams. She was also an executive consultant to CNN’s "Black In America", leading the audience tune-in strategy. "Black In America 1" remains one of the highest rated documentaries in CNN’s history. Taylor was also the chief architect of Proctor & Gamble’s “My Black Is Beautiful”, the largest marketing effort targeting African-American women in the company’s history.
She has previously been an external affairs executive for several Fortune 500 companies, as well as two of the world’s largest public relations agencies, the GCI Group San Francisco and Edelman Atlanta Public Relations. Taylor is currently the CEO of Goldie Taylor Brand Communications, an Atlanta-based multi-cultural advertising and public relations agency. She is also the managing editor and host of “The Goldie Taylor Project”, an opinion blog devoted to contemporary political, social, and faith issues confronting America.
Personal life
Taylor currently lives with her family in Atlanta.