Family emotional as WSU honors civil rights activist
Source: Detroit News
In an emotional ceremony marked by tears but also proud smiles from three generations of Liuzzos, Viola Gregg Liuzzo was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws Friday by Wayne State University, the centerpiece of a week of celebrations.
The Detroit mother of five, a part-time nursing student at Wayne State, was shot and killed by Klansmen in March 1965 as she drove a demonstrator home along the Selma-to-Montgomery
The death of a white woman in civil rights violence who was not an activist, just a concerned mother and wife, caused such a stir nationally that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was proposed and passed in August of that year. . .
Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2015/04/10/wsu-honor-slain-civil-rights-activist-viola-liuzzo-posthumous-degree/25565521/
I was 14, just north of Eight Mile, and a native Detroiter. This shocked us all, across the nation and especially us Detroiters. So great to honor her; can you imagine how great was her commitment to civil rights to leave her family to work for all of our rights? She gave the last full measure of devotion - for all of us. Killed by the Klan.
And she left behind 5 children, her husband, and those of us who cherish her memory.
= new reply since forum marked as read
