Monday's Journey

We left Montgomery this morning and our first stop was this memorial to Viola Liuzzo.

Viola Fauver Liuzzo was an American civil rights activist in Detroit, Michigan. She was known for going to Alabama in March 1965 to support the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. On March 25, 1965, she was shot dead by three Ku Klux Klan members while driving activists between the cities and transportation.

Park Ranger Theresa Hall have us some background the Lownes County Interpretive Center which is located roughly halfway between Selma and Montgomery along the Trail on U.S. Highway 80 West near Whitehall, AL. The center has exhibits, including interactive exhibits, that tell the story of the history of the Voting Rights Movement, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March, and the Tent City that housed 20 families over a two year period following the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Beginning of the March from Selma to Montgomery near Brown's Chapel.

At lunch we heard from Linda Bland who was the youngest person to march on Bloody Sunday where she was beaten back by state troopers over the Edmund Pettis bridge. She had been arrested nine times by her 14th birthday on behalf of civil rights. She is a freedom fighter and a great inspiration!

We later walked over the bridge to the Civil Rights memorial Park commemorating all those who fought and died for justice throughout the civil Rights period.

We then continued on to Brown's chapel where we saw the Civil Rights Freedom Wall

And found the staff of Good Samaritan Hospital and the Sisters of St Joseph of Rochester noted on that wall for our work towards Civil Rights.

We then visited a park spearheaded by Joanne Bland, Linda's sister, and here's one mural from that park.

We had both are lunch and dinner at reflections coffee shop hosted by Jackie Smith. She made us feel at home with her delicious cooking and her message of generosity with each person she meets! 

She was awarded a national recognition as "entrepreneur of the year" in Washington in 2024. She and her coffee shops are jewel of Selma!