DETROIT — By now, you've likely seen cars driving around with vintage blue and gold Michigan license plates.
They are not a new way of showing your love for the Michigan Wolverines, but a silent tribute to a woman who gave her life in the civil rights movement.
Detroit native Viola Liuzzo died in Selma, Alabama, while marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to defend the right to vote.
The Buick she drove down to Selma had the Winter Wonderland plates.
To honor her sacrifice, the Secretary of State reissued the plates earlier this year. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says in many ways, the plate represents who we are.
"Our team thought they would make the play also available for citizens throughout the state as kind of a silent, quiet way to honor her selfless sacrifice that really, in many ways reflects who we are as Michiganders, people who will show up for others who recognize fighting for equality is everyone's fight," Benson said.
Since the plates came out, more than 600,000 Michiganders have requested one for themselves.
"It's not about Michigan versus Michigan State is a lot of people concluded when we first released it, which I chuckled. It's really about honoring a former Michigander or Michigander who endured a great deal so that every citizen Republican, Democrat and independent could have a right to vote and and have their voice heard."
The plate can be ordered online through the Secretary of State's website, at no extra cost.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.