Viola Desmond

Canadian civil rights pioneer who challenged racial segregation decade before Rosa Parks

Viola Desmond (1914-1965), a Black Nova Scotian businesswoman, staged a historic act of resistance in 1946 when she refused to leave a whites-only cinema section. Her subsequent arrest and legal battle predated the Rosa Parks incident by nine years, making her a crucial figure in North American civil rights history.

Desmond's case (R. v. Desmond) exposed Canada's unwritten racial segregation policies and led to the first legal challenge of such practices in the country. Although initially convicted of tax evasion (a pretextual charge), her persistence inspired the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Coloured People to fight for systemic change.

In 2018, Desmond became the first Canadian woman to feature on the $10 bill, cementing her legacy. Her sister Wanda Robson's advocacy helped establish the Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice at Cape Breton University, ensuring ongoing research into racial equity issues.