Foundation started by victim’s mother promotes social justice

In sixth grade, Heather Heyer, the woman killed during the recent unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, got into a dispute with a classmate who challenged her to a fight after school.

Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, said Friday that her daughter turned to her for advice, and that she transformed the confrontation into a teachable moment.

“She said: ‘Mom, I’m not a fighter. What am I going to do?”’ Bro recalled. “And I said, ‘You know, you talked your way into this, you need to go talk your way out of this.’ And she and the girl later became fast and hard friends for a number of years.”

Now, through a foundation bearing her daughter’s name, Bro wants the country to learn the same lesson: Disputes that careen toward violence can be de-escalated by communicating in a peaceful tone, not compromising personal values and, sometimes, agreeing to disagree.

“We want to see more of that happen and have people recognize that you don’t have to respond in violence. You don’t have to respond in hate,” said Bro, 60. “If you see something that is making you unhappy, then speak up about it.”

Bro has started the Heather Heyer Foundation in honor of Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal who was killed as a driver rammed his car into a crowd protesting against a rally attended by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members.

The nonprofit foundation, Bro said, will use new donations as well as money from a GoFundMe fundraising effort that collected thousands of dollars for Heyer’s funeral to provide scholarships to people interested in social justice issues.

Recipients will be able to use the money to pursue careers in a number of fields, including law, paralegal studies, social work and education.