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Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 – February 7, 1965) was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre.
Viola Irene Desmond (née Davis), businesswoman, civil rights activist (born 6 July 1914 in Halifax, NS; died 7 February 1965 in New York, NY). Viola Desmond built a career and business as a beautician and was a mentor to young Black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture.
May 9, 2024 · Viola Desmond (born July 6, 1914, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada—died February 7, 1965, New York, New York, U.S.) was a Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian who built a career as a beautician and was a mentor to young Black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture.
Dec 13, 2021 · Her courageous act laid bare the realities of racism in Canada. Desmond devoted the rest of her life to fighting racism and injustice. She was issued a posthumous pardon by the Nova Scotia government in 2010 and in 2016 became the first Canadian woman to be depicted on a Canadian banknote.
In mid-20th century Canada, Viola Desmond brought nationwide attention to the African-Nova Scotian community’s struggle for equal rights. An African-Canadian businesswoman, she confronted the anti-Black racism that African Nova Scotians routinely faced by refusing to move from her seat in the “whites-only” section of the Roseland Theatre ...
Dec 8, 2016 · Remembering Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond. The manager dragged her out of the theatre and she was arrested. She spent a night in jail and was released the next day, badly bruised,...
Jan 29, 2018 · By refusing to change seats and by fighting her conviction in court, Viola Desmond directly challenged segregation in Canada. She was not the first Black woman in Canada to push back against racism.
Nov 8, 2021 · One fateful November evening 75 years ago, Viola Desmond stepped into New Glasgow’s Roseland Theatre. She was looking to kill time while waiting for her car to be repaired. She left in police custody. Desmond, a successful businesswoman from Halifax, requested a seat in the front of the theatre.
Feb 7, 2016 · Viola Desmond was a quiet revolutionary — a title also used to describe another civil rights icon in the United States, Rosa Parks. But Desmond's act of defiance happened nine years...
Viola Desmond is an important figure in Canadian Civil Rights Activism. Due to her actions in 1946, Nova Scotia, she sparked the Civil Rights Movement in Canada. Cape Breton University is creating a Chair for Social Justice in her name, and need your support to make it happen.
