Rather than give white supremacists a platform, we went to Charlottesville to find out how Heather Heyer's family and friends were doing one year after her death. They are truly some of the most remarkable people I've ever met. I urge everyone to listen: facebook.com/NowThisReports…
Susan Bro, Heather Heyer's mother, told us: "Recognize that Heather’s death is a call to action for everyone. Don’t be one of those people who says, gee, the world is really awful, I wish someone would do something. Be that somebody." facebook.com/NowThisReports…
At Heather's funeral, Susan Bro said, "They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her." She has spent the past year magnifying Heather, through her foundation that works for racial and social justice.
The most remarkable thing about Susan, to me, is how she spent a good chunk of our interview directing attention to Black Lives Matter. "I want to point out that [Heather] was not a leader at this event, it was not about her, it’s about Black Lives Matter and the racial divide."
Susan Bro continued: "I want to refocus the energy in that direction. I want to acknowledge my daughter’s sacrifice but I also want to acknowledge why she was there and what she was there to support." Full video: facebook.com/NowThisReports…
Susan said she spent a lot of time wondering why Heather's death was such a big deal and she thinks it's partly because of "the myth of the sanctity of white womanhood" in America.
The other remarkable people in this piece: Heather's friends, Marcus and Marissa Martin, and Courtney Commander. Marcus was the man who pushed his fiancee, Marissa, out of the way of the car, and broke his leg, as seen in this Pulitzer-prize winning photo from @RyanMKellyPhoto: 
Marcus still feels anger about the car attack. "Every time my leg hurts, I get mad, because it shouldn't be like that. I didn't inflict this on myself." Marcus was only able to go back to work 2 months ago. But he's working with his now-wife, Marissa, for positive social change.
Marcus and Marissa Martin got married in May 2018, and dedicated parts of the ceremony to Heather, "who would have been there." "She loved Marcus," Marissa told us. Their wedding photos are beautiful: facebook.com/NowThisReports…
Courtney Commander worked with Marissa and Heather at a law firm in Charlottesville. She says had August 12 not happened, August 11 would have been the worst day of her life. She was livestreaming the tiki torch march through the city on her Facebook.
The reason Heather Heyer went to the counter-protest in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, according to her friend Courtney Commander, was because Heather watched Courtney's livestream of the tiki torch march on Aug. 11 and was motivated to act. facebook.com/NowThisReports…
As for Courtney herself, who had been the most politically active of the crew, she said "I felt like I morally didn’t have another choice but to show up" with neo-Nazis marching through her town.
The statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, the attempted removal of which precipitated the white supremacists' march through Charlottesville, is still up, by the way. "And that's when you gotta question the people in Charlottesville," Marcus Martin said.
"You used to be able to say Nazis are bad, and people would agree with you. Now, they're like, 'well, actually...'" - Marissa Martin on our changing times: facebook.com/NowThisReports…
As for Trump's comments about "very fine people on both sides," and whether she would speak with him now, Susan Bro says, "I still maintain he really doesn’t need to waste his time reaching out to me. We’re not going to see eye to eye at this point, let’s just move on."
It seems there were no further attempts at contact with Susan Bro after the initial back and forth last August, and no one from the White House has reached out to Marcus, who broke his leg in the attack.
I'll close out with this from Susan Bro. "My reply to President Trump is: always think before you speak, tell the truth, and be accountable for your actions." That's the rule she tries to live by herself. I hope you'll give this short doc a watch. facebook.com/NowThisReports…
