liuzzo, viola

Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five, was the only white woman killed during the civil rights movement. Paola di Florio's powerful and poignant documentary rescues from obscurity Liuzzo's tragic untold story. Dramatic archival footage recaptures this turbulent era and compelling interviews with her children paint a vivid portrait of a shattered family determined to uncover the truth about their mother's murder, and the government's campaign to smear her name.

The civil rights movement in the United States is usually understood in terms of its leadrship, such as in the case of Martin Luther King, Jr. or of its dramatic events, such as the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. But often the catalysts for progress were people who fought from within a larger group or performed individual, and seemingly small, acts of heroism.

Presents the life of the civil rights worker who was murdered shortly after the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and discusses the rights of Afro-Americans living in the South prior to and following her death.