Just 16 days ago, activist Heather Heyer was killed by a white supremacist while protesting against racism and hatred in Charlottesville, NC. The protest centered on a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee that supremacists rallied around after it was announced that it would be removed from its location at the University of Virginia.
At the VMAs Sunday night, Robert E. Lee’s ancestor, Rev. Robert Lee, IV, spoke out against and condemned the violence and the hatred it stemmed from as he introduced Heyer’s grieving mother, Susan Bro, to present the Best Fight The Power Award.
Ms. Bro, who promised to use her voice to amplify her daughter’s legacy, took the stage to announce the formation of the Heather Heyer Foundation, will use donations to provide scholarships to people interested in social justice issues. The foundation spun out of thousands of dollars raised by a GoFundMe campaign for Ms. Heyer’s funeral.
The funds from the foundation will be used for recipients to pursue careers in social justice-focused fields such as law, paralegal studies, social work and education. Bro also refused to speak with the President, saying that his statements about the violence in Charlottesville lumped in her daughter with the reprehensible white supremacists who came to protest with guns and riot gear.
