As we mourn the loss of Rosa Parks and rediscuss civil rights in the United States, it is also a good time to remember another Detroiter Civil Rights Hero. Unlike Rosa Parks, Viola Liuzzo is not a household name. Here in Detroit, we don’t have memorials to her and no streets have been renamed in her honor. Yet, Viola Liuzzo is as much a Civil Rights hero as Rosa Parks.

A mother of five, Viola Liuzzo traveled to Alabama to assist in the Selma to Montgomery march of 1965. After the march, she and a young black man were driving back to Selma when they were chased by Ku Klux Klan members. During the chase, shots were fired into Liuzzo’s car killing her. She is the only white woman to be killed during the Civil Rights Movement.

Her story is powerful yet most people have never heard it. I hadn’t until I attended a screening of the documentary film Home of the Brave. I recommend it. I also think it is high time Detroit recognize her sacrifice and tells her story too.

Both she and Rosa Parks offer strong female role models to the young girls in this country. That standing up for what you believe in may not always be easy. You might not always be recognized for what you do. But taking a stand is the most important thing anyone can do.

Thank you, Rosa Parks and Viola Liuzzo. You are both woman I look up to and respect.