he was forced to end his run outside of Thunder Bay because the cancer had spread to his lungs. Although he was unable to complete his run, Terry Fox’s legacy of hope and courage lives on and continues to aid in progressing cancer research.
- Claire Baglole
Viola Desmond
Business Woman & Civil Rights
Activist
"Viola Desmond will remind current and future generations that big change can start with moments of dignity and bravery when confronted with injustice.”
- Celina Caesar-Chavannes, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, 2016
Born and raised in Halifax, the daughter of a middle-class mixed-race family, Viola Desmond (1914-1965) began her career teaching in Black schools, one of the few employment options available to her at the time. Desmond’s true aspiration was to become a successful businesswoman in the hair and beauty industry, however, Black women in Nova Scotia were prohibited from going to beauty salons much less studying beauty culture. So Desmond left Halifax to obtain diplomas at schools in Montreal and New York before returning to open a salon alongside her husband Jack Desmond.
As a successful entrepreneur, she became a role model for African-Canadian women. In November 1946, Viola Desmond attended the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow where she encountered segregated seating rules. When she was told to move to another seat, she refused and was then arrested, sent to jail, and convicted. Although she was unsuccessful at overturning the verdict, her case eventually went before the Supreme Court shedding light on the reality of Canadian segregation and the discrimination faced by people of colour every day. The humiliation and injustice Desmond suffered outraged the Black community and further inspired the civil rights movement that ended segregation in 1954.
In 2010, 45 years after her death, Viola Desmond was granted a pardon and given an official apology. Desmond now appears on the new $10 bill as an inspiration to others to fight against injustice.
- Elizabeth Chen-Baker