Taliaferro was claimed to be the first African American talk show host on a major market radio station in the country in 1967. He helped found the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975, and was honored by the San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce in 1994 with the Black Chamber Life Award, recognizing him as a "forerunner in broadcasting". Taliaferro was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2011, and the association's Ray Taliaferro NABJ Entrepreneurial Spirit Award" recognizing "journalistic entrepreneurship" was named in his honor.