Ciara Taylor

Ciara Taylor is an activist involved in student movements, social reform, and human rights. She is one of the founders of Dream Defenders, a human rights organization that seeks to shift culture through transformational organizing.
Personal Life
Taylor grew up in the suburbs in Florida and attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. She is currently the Director of Political Consciousness at Dream Defenders.
In high school, Taylor protested the United States 2000 presidential election, between Al Gore and George W. Bush, after Bush was named President. Taylor felt frustrated and hopeless in this process, because she felt as though she could not actively influence the decision being made about her soon-to-be president. She continued this activism into college at Florida A&M, where she advocated for living wages for campus workers and advocated against budget cuts that defunded her major a year before she graduated. This demonstration was held in response to the decision of the Trayvon Martin case, in which George Zimmerman was acquitted for Martin's death. The group stayed their ground, refusing to leave unless Governor Rick Scott spoke to them about the Stand Your Ground self-defense law, which states that defendants have the right to protect and defend themselves without retreating. After 31 days, House Speaker Will Weatherford agreed to speak with them about Stand Your Grand, while Governor Rick Scott continued to decline. After this demonstration, Dream Defenders continued working on Trayvon's law, which addresses and seeks to end the issues of racial profiling and the school-to-prison pipeline. The Dream Defenders tackle issues head on, and work on issues that continue to effect minorities, people of color, LGBTQIA individuals, and women.
 
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