Viola Desmond's Canada by Graham Reynolds & Wanda Robson

Author:Graham Reynolds & Wanda Robson [Reynolds, Graham & Robson, Wanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Granting of Official Apology and Free Pardon, 15 April, 2010

Shortly after the ceremony in Halifax, President John Harker of Cape Breton University announced the creation of the Viola Desmond Chair in Social Justice, and he appointed Dr. Graham Reynolds to serve as the first holder of the chair. President Harker and his wife Eunice had attended the ceremony in Halifax, and they were deeply touched by the event as well as my praise for the role Cape University played in my personal journey of education and self-awareness.

On August 15, 2010, I was invited by the town of New Glasgow to take part in celebrations honouring Viola that coincided with the annual Black Homecoming Gala. Earlier that month my book Sister to Courage: Stories from the World of Viola Desmond, Canada’s Rosa Parks was published, and my editor, Ron Caplan, of Breton Books, arranged to use the occasion in New Glasgow as part of the official launch of my book. The celebration began with a dedication of a commemorative bench in the African Heritage Memorial Park followed later with the unveiling of an interpretive panel at Laurie Park by Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis, Defence Minister Peter MacKay and mayor Barrie MacMillan. Later that same day in the town hall, Mayann Francis unveiled a portrait of Viola painted by artist Davis Macintosh. Viola’s portrait is now on permanent display in Province House in Halifax.

Notes

1. Much has been written on the subject of black self-identity in predominantly white societies. Frantz Fanon wrote about this in his classic study Black Skin, White Masks, revised edition (New York: Grove Press, 2008). This subject was raised recently by African-Canadian writer and poet Orville Lloyd Douglas in a provocative article published in the online edition of The Guardian. Douglas writes that as an African-Canadian male living in Toronto, he finds it difficult to feel positive about his black self-identity because there are such fear and negative attitudes expressed toward black males, particularly in public spaces. He states: “Every time I sit on a crowded street car, bus, or subway train in Toronto, I know I will have an empty seat next to me.” See Orville Lloyd Douglas, “Why I Hate Being a Black Man” The Guardian (online edition, November 9, 2013). Retrieved from <http://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/09/i-hate-being-a-black-man>.

2. For a full discussion of this earlier incident at the Roseland Theatre, see Constance Backhouse, “I Was Unable to Identify with Topsy: Carrie M. Best’s Struggle Against Racial Segregation in Nova Scotia, 1942,” Atlantis 22, 2 (Spring/Summer 1998), pp. 16–26.

3. Constance Backhouse, Colour Coded, A Legal History of Racism in Canada 1900–1950 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999), p. 266.

4. Dean Jobb, “Ticket to Freedom,” The Beaver (April–May, 2009), pp. 24–29.

5. Prior to the events that lead to Viola Desmond’s free pardon in April of 2010, Tony Colaiacovo printed and distributed 35,000 copies of his The Times of African Nova Scotians, and this undoubtedly helped to raise public awareness regarding the Viola Desmond incident. The Times of African Nova Scotians, in book

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.