The week of my 39th birthday, I encountered the story of a woman and mother who died at age 39 in 1965.

Her name was Viola Liuzzo.  She was shot by members of the Klu Klux Klan in Selma, Alabama while transporting a black teenager in her car.  She had just participated in a march, led by Martin Luther King Jr, toward the Alabama capitol to fight for the right of African Americans to register to vote.  The marchers were brutally and murderously intercepted numerous times by state police and Viola’s tragic shooting brought national attention to the cause.  She had 5 children.  

Viola’s death lead me to reflect about myself at 39, mother of two, with the causes I feel passionate about in 2023. Is there any cause I’d be willing to risk my life for, to leave children behind for?

The social media revolution promotes influential people.  It’s become easy to make a difference on the internet and build an audience that generate views, followers, subscribers, and media attention.  But when Harriette Tubman was directing the underground railroad, there were no likes or subscribes.  She was simply grounding into her truth, at the risk of her life, in order to help fellow humans escape to freedom and break out of oppression.  

Sometimes I get nervous about answering the call to help people find their own versions of freedom–like it’s some crazy and difficult challenge.  Then I think I deserve a solid b*tch slap from the Universe.  So many amazing women and men have laid their lives down, risked everything to advance the cause of human rights and personal freedoms. 

Why am I asking for permission and hoping I’ll be celebrated?  Sometimes it’s just time to get off your ass and lead the way through the dark portals, no matter how dim your light feels at the time.  

Thank you Viola, 39 year old mother of 5.  Thank you for your love, your courage, your compulsion to make a difference, your belief in a better society.  We are all better because of you.  Your life and death was not in vain.