Viola Liuzzo: A Century of Courage

Helen Halyard's article, originally published in 2015, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the murder of Viola Liuzzo, a white civil rights activist who was killed in 1965 after participating in the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march. The piece highlights Liuzzo's background as a working-class woman from Detroit and her commitment to racial equality, which led her to travel to Alabama in support of the movement. The article details the events leading up to Liuzzo's death, including her involvement in transporting marchers and her assassination by members of the Ku Klux Klan. It emphasizes the brutality of the crime and the attempts by the FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, to smear Liuzzo's reputation in an effort to discredit the civil rights movement. Halyard contrasts the heroic image of Liuzzo with the racist and reactionary forces arrayed against her, represented by the Klan and the government's complicity in the cover-up. The article argues that Liuzzo's sacrifice highlights the deep-seated social and economic inequalities that fueled the civil rights struggle. Finally, it underscores the continuing relevance of the fight for equality and social justice in contemporary society. find the original article here: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/04/11/qgag-a11.html