Long Road To Justice

This historical event, may not appear very important to some, but to many thousands, it is a valuable historical lesson. Canada did have her own Rosa Parks, and it happened 9 years before the Rosa Parks incident in the US, her name is Viola Desmond.

Viola Davis Desmond was born on July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The beautiful and elegant African-Canadian woman owned and operated a successful beauty parlour and beauty college in Halifax. She led a relatively unassuming life until one particular day when she held on tight to her convictions and stood up to the world. What she did became one of the most publicized incidents of racial discrimination in Canadian history.

On a cold and blustery day, November 8, 1946, as Viola Desmond drove from Sydney to Halifax for a meeting, the weather worsened until it became a full-blown Canadian blizzard. As if the weather wasn't enough, her car broke down in town called New Glasgow.

The local mechanic took a look at her car and shook his head. He told her he could not repair it until the next day. A resourceful woman, Rosa booked herself into a local inn and looked around. What better way to wait out a blizzard than to catch a flick at the local movie house! Her decision was to alter the course of her life forever.

Viola made her way to the Roseland Theatre, stepped up to the wicket, and asked to purchase a ticket for house seats. Instead, the teller sold her a ticket for the balcony. Unbeknownst to Viola, the house seats were designated for whites only. The balcony was where blacks were to sit.

Viola made her way into the theatre and settled into a seat on the main floor. Before long, the manager approached and ordered her to move to the balcony.

Indignant, Viola refused. Outraged, the manager called the police who immediately arrested her, dragged her from the theatre, and placed her in a jail cell to spend the night.

Bruised and enraged, with her immaculate elbow-length white gloves on herhands, Viola sat primly upright on the hard bench in her cold jail cell the entire night, a total of 12 grueling hours.

I plead with the visitors to this blog, to take the time to read about it in this publication.

Here is a re-enactment of the racist treatment of Viola Desmond (it is long, but shows the strength and character of Viola)



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