Civil Rights Figure, Activist. She was a Canadian Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation at a film theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in 1946. She refused to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre and was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she had paid for and the seat she used. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada. In 2010, Desmond was granted a posthumous pardon, the first to be granted in Canada. The government of Nova Scotia also apologized for prosecuting her for tax evasion, and acknowledged she was rightfully resisting racial discrimination. In 2012 Viola Desmond was honored by Canada Post with her image on a postage stamp, and on March 8, 2018 the new Canadian $10 bill with her image was introduced to the public. Desmond was also named a National Historic Person in 2018.
Civil Rights Figure, Activist. She was a Canadian Black Nova Scotian businesswoman who challenged racial segregation at a film theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, in 1946. She refused to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre and was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax difference between the seat she had paid for and the seat she used. Desmond's case is one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history and helped start the modern civil rights movement in Canada. In 2010, Desmond was granted a posthumous pardon, the first to be granted in Canada. The government of Nova Scotia also apologized for prosecuting her for tax evasion, and acknowledged she was rightfully resisting racial discrimination. In 2012 Viola Desmond was honored by Canada Post with her image on a postage stamp, and on March 8, 2018 the new Canadian $10 bill with her image was introduced to the public. Desmond was also named a National Historic Person in 2018.
Bio courtesy of: Wikipedia
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