Unveiling the Magic
A look at the celebration of Viola Liuzzo’s legacy, and the unveiling of her statue.
On July 23rd a crowd gathered at the Viola Liuzzo park on 20087 Winthrop Street in Detroit, Michigan. A couple hundred family members, friends, and other admirers spent the morning celebrating the park’s namesake, Viola Fauver Gregg Liuzzo. To understand the deep and varying emotions in the crowd it is important to know a little bit about Mrs. Liuzzo’s life and legacy.
On March 7th, 1965 peaceful marchers tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL during a march organized to protest in favor of protecting voting rights for black Americans. When the marchers reached the end of the bridge they were told to turn back and then ambushed by a violent mob of police officers, and others wielding everything from batons to tear gas. The horrific footage aired across the nation stunning thousands of people. One of the many deeply affected by this footage was Mrs. Liuzzo. During the park celebration, Anthony Liuzzo recalled how his mother was visibly affected. After the events of that day in ’65, now known as Bloody Sunday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called upon the nation to come down to Selma and take part in the fight against injustice; Mrs. Liuzzo answered that call and drove down to Alabama.
Mrs. Liuzzo spent several days in Alabama, offering help and assistance in any way she could. When the march was successfully completed on March 25th, Mrs. Liuzzo stayed and shuttled marchers back and forth between Selma and Montgomery. As she drove through- Lowndes County with fellow marcher Leroy Moton in the passenger seat, they were spotted by a car holding four members of the Ku Klux Klan. Seeing Mrs. Liuzzo driving with Moton, a black 19 year old male, the KKK followed her car and proceeded to shoot at them killing the 39 year old mother of five.
The aftermath of Mrs. Liuzzo came with a firestorm of slander, FBI cover-ups, trials, and other painful side effects. That being said, the celebration in the park sent a clear message, that while Mrs. Liuzzo may have been taken from this earth, her spirit lives on. The celebration was just that, a celebration and while it is often easy to get bogged down with the weight of tragedy, the celebrants in the park on July 23rd focused on the positive. It was not how she passed, but rather how Mrs. Liuzzo lived that set the tone of the day.
The ceremony was led by Joshua Liuzzo, Viola’s grandson. There were a few musical acts including two songs written and performed by Arlan Feiles who attended the event with his young daughter Tessa. Before his first song, Mr. Feiles reminded the crowd that “…it is critical that we never forget, and that it is ‘Everybody’s Fight’”. He then played piano and sang a song he wrote called, Viola. Later during the ceremony, he performed a second original song entitled, 50 Miles From Freedom, a song that he wrote and dedicated to the march from Selma to Montgomery.
Mrs. Amanda LaPerry and her husband Joseph Laperry, Sandy & Gary Klurack performed, Ride On King Jesus. Later in the ceremony, they performed the song, Yellow Bird. Yellow Bird was one of Viola Liuzzo’s favorite songs. The crowd was deeply touched by the performance. “Yellow Bird brought tears to my eyes. My Mom and I used to harmonize together singing it,” Viola’s oldest daughter Penny would later recall. The song brought back many memories for her.
Four out of five of Viola’s children were in attendance. Her eldest son, Tommy was ill and unable to travel. The four children in attendance all spoke during the event. Anthony Liuzzo, father of Joshua was the first to speak. He reminisced about how lively and full of energy his mother was. He also shared that before the park was named the Viola Liuzzo Playground, it was originally called the Children’s Playground, which felt like a very appropriate name for a park honoring a woman who loved children. Anthony told the crowd about how on Christmas Eve, a house in their neighborhood had caught on fire. So Viola went to wake up the proprietor of the local toy shop so that she could buy toys for the children in the home. “She said that children can’t think that a fire can stop Santa Claus from getting toys to them,” Anthony remembered. He said his mother loved joy and she loved a good fight.
He went on to speak about how watching the events on Bloody Sunday, which happened to be the day before his birthday, affected her deeply and of course led to her making the decision to go to Selma. Viola Liuzzo answered Dr. King’s call for people to come down to Selma, because she believed in it, and Anthony believes that she was meant to be there in Selma and Montgomery to fight for the people. He urged the crowd to continue the fight and to continue fighting for voting rights. He passionately asked them to get involved and to press their representatives to make sure the Voting Rights Act is reinstalled in its entirety (The VRA expired in 2013.)
After Anthony spoke, Mary Liuzzo-Lilleboe spoke about her mother and the people she has touched. There is a monument in Lowndes County on the road where Viola was killed. Evelyn Lowery, the woman who worked to place the monument marker, also added a pink rose to the marker itself. Mrs. Lowery said she carried the rose from where she found it all the way to the marker because she wanted people to know that women were there. She also mentioned a conversation between herself and her friend, Dr. Bernard Lafeyette in who said he doesn’t get discouraged because more women are joining politics.
Mary explained that she isn’t trying to focus on gender really, but that in 1965, what her mother did was unheard of. “She was maligned and J.Edgar Hoover said this wasn’t the kind of family we wanted to be American heroes,” Mary recalled. Hoover and many others made numerous awful claims about Mrs. Liuzzo and her children have spent a long time working to change that image. So to know that there are young women all over the world that see Mrs. Liuzzo as an inspiration is a wonderful thing.
Mary also spoke about the importance of voting. “The only thing we can give back is our vote. Oppressed people are people without a voice. When you don’t voice your vote the oppression grows. Don’t let your head outthink your heart in this one, just vote. Vote!” Before she handed the mic back she spoke of Dr. King’s dream of a world where everyone has the same opportunities and the right to achieve their highest potential. “That’s the world we want and that’s the world we’ll work until we can’t work anymore.”
When Mary was done she handed the microphone to her younger sister, Sally. Sally said a special thank you to everyone who came and to the Viola Liuzzo Park Committee. Back in 2012 Sally did an interview with NPR about the park the last time she saw it. In the interview she spoke about how it made her sad to see the park a mess with broken equipment and to not see any children at play. After the interview, Collette Mezza and Julie Hamilton made it their mission to revitalize the park and Sally was very grateful because of it.
The last child of Viola to speak was Penny, Viola’s eldest daughter. Penny said that she wanted people to remember that her mother was, magic. She teaches her kids and grandkids that when they aren’t different they’re magic. “When you stand up for what is right, you’re magic; pass it on.” She said before passing back the microphone.
After her sister was done, Mary spoke again. She told the crowd about her mother’s best friend, a black woman named Sarah; also affectionately called “Grandma Sarah” by the Liuzzo children. Sarah and Viola were friends for several years, and the Liuzzo children were raised alongside Sarah’s grandchildren. Before Viola left for Selma she asked her best friend to take care of her children. Sarah was the first one to reach the house after the news of Viola’s death. Mary introduced two of Sarah’s grandchildren, Tyrone Green and Sarah Louise to the crowd.
Julie Hamilton, member of the Viola Liuzzo Park Association Board introduced the other members of the board and committee, including Josh Liuzzo who just became a member. She spoke about how grateful they are for being able to make so much progress in the park and thanked several people and organizations that played a part in the progress. Hamilton thanked Sally Liuzzo for doing an interview that brought the park to their attention.
Other speakers included Detroit General Services representative, Lajuan Counts, head of the NAACP in Michigan, Yvonne White, President of the Detroit NAACP, Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, and Detroit Representative, Leslie Love.
Another special speaker was, Susan Bro. Ms. Bro’s daughter Heather Heyer was killed in Charlottesville after a white-supremacist deliberately ran his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Heather has been referred to as the modern-da Viola Liuzzo. Ms. Bro reminded us of a motto Heater adopted which was, “If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.” She said that at the Heather Heyer foundation they talk about not only stepping up but stepping out, and putting feet to your intentions. “And if Ms. Viola Liuzzo didn’t do that, I don’t know who did,” she said. She urged the crowd to move forward in the work that Mrs. Liuzzo started and to work for the betterment of man.
Though she didn’t speak at the ceremony, when asked later on about her mother-in-law’s legacy, Anthe Rhodes-Liuzzo, wife of Anthony Liuzzo stated, “people often use the term ‘color-blind’ when talking about my mother-in-law, as if she couldn’t see color when it was just the opposite. Not only was she able to respect how unique and special people were, but she recognized, despite her own poverty growing up, how people of color had a much harder time being denied their civil rights and targeted for violence.”
Also in attendance were members of the SCLC, NAACP, and the family of the late, Dean Robb. Robb was the Liuzzo’s family’s representation during their suit against the FBI.
After the reflections, and music joined in a symbolic march around the park. With arms linked they sang, “We Shall Overcome”, a popular song during the civil rights era, and also very significant, as Mrs. Liuzzo sang the words to this song in her last moments. The crowd also joined together in singing “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: before gathering in front of the veiled statue.
Austin Brantley is a black Detroit based artist and the creator of the beautiful sculpture. Brantley spoke to the crowd about his experience and what the opportunity to work on Mrs. Liuzzo’s statue meant to him.
When the black drape was removed from Mrs. Liuzzo’s statue, the crowd gasped almost in unison. The raw emotions were on full display as everyone took in the moment. A bronze true to life, 5’2” and green-eyed Viola Liuzzo is in mid-march with her shoes in hand. From her eyes to her bare feet, Brantley worked very closely with Viola’s family to make sure he got her likeness just right. Brantley used a photo from the march on Selma, the last photo taken of Mrs. Liuzzo, as his inspiration for the statue. Brantley also sculpted the mask of a klansmen and placed it on the ground behind her. It was really important to him to show her walking over and away from that symbol of violence and hatred.
Mary Liuzzo-Lilleboe immediately got up to hug Brantley after seeing her mother’s statue. Sally, the youngest of Mrs. Liuzzo’s children stood tearfully in front of the figure as she and all of the other people in attendance dealt with the emotions the event brought up.
At the start of the ceremony, Joshua Liuzzo, grandson of Viola, gave a challenge to the audience to take one thing away from the day and apply it to their own lives. Between the memories of Mrs. Liuzzo as a loving mother, friend, and caring neighbor; and her more public legacy as a woman who stood up for what was right regardless of how popular the decision might have been it isn’t hard to find several seeds of inspiration. I imagine at the end of the event those watching and listening took with them motivation to love wholeheartedly, to love their neighbors not just in word but in action, and to give selflessly. I imagine they took with them the drive to stand up for their beliefs. I hope they walked away from the event with their minds on voting. I for one took away all of these lessons and happily apply them to my life.
I hope people look up at the new statue and smile when they think of the five-foot two woman that woke up the toy store owner in the late hours so that her neighbors' children could still have Christmas presents after the fire. I hope they are filled with hope when they see her bare feet and shoes in hand marching forward. I hope they look into her eyes and remember to see the wrongs, and rights in the world, and remember that the fight for what is right indeed belongs to everyone.
When Mary Liuzzo-Lilleboe spoke about her mother she reminded the crowd that, “she wasn’t an organizer, she wasn’t a demonstrator. She was a mother and she wanted her children to live in a better world; and your children too.” Therefore, I hope people go forward knowing that no matter who they are they have the power to make spark a change in this world. Anyone can be, as Penny Liuzzo put it, “magic” .
Penny, Sally, Anthony, and Mary Liuzzo with Kim Trent (in 2015)
