Remembering Detroit civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo 60 years after her assassination
Remembering Viola Liuzzo 60 years after murder
Civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, who was from Detroit, was murdered in March 1965 after traveling to Alabama to march for Black voting rights.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - March 25 marked 60 years since Ku Klux Klan members murdered a white civil rights activist who traveled to Alabama from Detroit for a voting rights march.
Viola Liuzzo, 39, a mother of five, was driving a young Black man to Montgomery in 1965 when KKK members shot and killed her.
Her death sparked outrage across the nation, a fact echoed by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. immediately following the murder.
"She was an innocent speaking truth to power woman who happened to be white, who committed her life to fighting for social justice and freedom and democracy," said Dr. Wendell Anthony, the leader of Detroit's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Before her death, Liuzzo was a member of Detroit's NAACP chapter as she fought for the rights of all people.
Several months after she was killed, the Voting Rights of 1965, which prevents racial discrimination in voting, was signed by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Decades after Liuzzo was murdered while fighting for justice, her actions and legacy continue to inspire others.
"She paid the ultimate price, and if she did what she did, it really compels us to do what we must do," Antony said. "Everybody can do something. You cannot sit this out. Elections have consequences, but the power of the people is much greater than the people who have power."