She earned her doctorate in American History from University of California, Santa Barbara.
In 2017, she wrote The Promise of Patriarchy: Women and the Nation of Islam (University of North Carolina Press, 2017).
[3] Written chronologically, Taylor's book follows the growth of the growth of the organization though telling the stories of several NOI Sisters and prominent leaders, including founder, Master W. D. Fard, Prophet Elijah Muhammad, and Malcolm X, among others.
[4] In 2018 Taylor's book, The Promise of Patriarchy, received the Liberty Legacy Foundation Award.
[7] In 2013, she received the Distinguished Professor Teaching Award for the University of California, Berkeley.