Home of the Brave is about the only white woman murdered in the civil rights movement and why we hear so little about her. Told through the eyes of her children, the film follows the on-going struggle of an American family to survive the consequences of their mother's heroism and the mystery behind her killing.
Viola Liuzzo was a 39-year-old Detroit teamster's wife and mother of five, who joined thousands of people converging in Selma, Alabama for the march on Montgomery, led by Martin Luther King in 1965. But shortly after the historic Voting Rights March had ended, she was shot in the head and killed by a car full of Klansmen, while driving on a deserted highway.
Liuzzo's death came at a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, when President Johnson had been fighting an uphill battle to push the Voting Rights Act through Congress. Her murder is attributed by historians of the era as providing the final piece of leverage that won Johnson approval of the Act in Congress, which forever changed our political landscape.
Presented as part of the Detroit Historical Society's 2025 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming.
Free with museum admission. Registration requested.
Home of the Brave
75 minutes
Directed by Paola di Florio | Narrated by Stockard Channing
While specific content warnings or parental guides for this documentary are limited, it's important to note that it contains mature themes related to racial violence and civil rights struggles. Viewer discretion is advised, especially for younger audiences.