Sunday, October 11, 2015

September, 2015 - Viola Gregg Liuzzo - Mamie Taylor

Viola Gregg Liuzzo (1925-1965)

"We're going to change the world.  One day they'll write about us.  You'll see."


Liuzzo was born in Pennsylvania and lived in Detroit with her second husband and five children.  Politically and socially active, Liuzzo was a member of the Detriot chapter of the NAACP.  After "Bloody Sunday," when civil rights supporters were attacked by police in Selma, Liuzzo traveled to Alabama. On march 21, 1965, more than 3,000 marched from Selma to Montgomery to campaign for voting rights for African Americans in the South.  During the march, Liuzzo drove supporters between Selma and Montgomery.  That night, Liuzzo was driving another civil rigths worker with the SCLC - an African-American teenager named Leroy Moton -- back to Selma on Highway 80, when another car pulled alongside her vehicle.  One of the passengers in the neighboring car shot at Liuzzo, striking her in the face and killing her.  Moton survived the attack by pretending to be dead.  The police arrested four members of the Ku Klux Klah for the killing, one of which was revealed to be an FBI informant.  They were acquitted by an all-white jury on state charges related to the crime, but were later convicted on federal charges.  Despite efforts to discredit Liuzzo driven by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, her murder led President Lyndon B. Johnson to order an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan.  It is also believed that her death helped encourage legislators to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Drink:

Mamie Taylor

2 oz blended scotch
.5 oz fresh lime juice
2-5 oz chilled ginger ale
lemon slice
on the rocks

Drinkability:  4
Drunkability:  3
Taxic Diversity:  2
Accessibility:  4
Priority for Conservation:  4

Comments:  


From "Women of the Civil Rights Movement" hosted by BallBuster

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