The honors for Desmond, who is sometimes refered to as Canada’s Rosa Parks, go far beyond the bank note. She’s been honored with a Canadian postage stamp . She’s had a ferry in Halifax named In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus for a white man. Parks’s act of civil disobedience helped spark the civil rights movement in the U.S. But almost a decade earlier, a Canadian woman named Viola Desmond made a similar stand — and made history. Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913, to Leona (née Edwards), a teacher, and James McCauley, a carpenter.In addition to African ancestry, one of Parks's great-grandfathers was Scots-Irish, and one of her great-grandmothers was a part–Native American slave. Viola Desmond was Canada’s Rosa Parks Few Canadians know the story of Desmond, who was arrested in 1946 after sitting in the white section of a theatre in Nova Scotia. Graham Reynolds traces a The Canadian who preceeded Rosa Parks by almost a decade. She was Canadian, young, beautiful, a successful Halifax-based businesswoman, and black. It was because of Viola Desmond’s colour that For women’s history month we honor the life and legacy of Viola Desmond, The Rosa Parks of Canada. Viola Desmond was born July 6, 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. Growing up Viola’s parents James & Gwendolyn Davis instilled in her and her siblings the value of hard work and giving backing to the community, as they were active and Nine years before the renowned Rosa Parks, Desmond took a seat in the whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in Halifax 3. On 8 th November 1946, upon the purchase of her ticket, she proceeded to seat herself on the main floor- the black population was mandated to sit on the balconies 4 . The story of Rosa Parks is commonly known in the context of the American Civil rights movement. Less commonly known, even among Canadians, is the story of Viola Desmond, an African Canadian arrested nine years before Rosa Parks for refusing to surrender her seat in a segregated movie theatre in Nova Scotia. Parks’ courageous act of refusing to surrender her seat on the Montgomery bus ignited the Montgomery bus boycott, a transformative event that led to the desegregation of public transportation. Coinciding with MSVU’s 125th anniversary, a special convocation ceremony was held in August 1998 to recognize Parks with an honorary degree A Canadian Icon and Her Fight Towards an Integrated Nation. Rosa Parks gets consistently praised for the ground-breaking role she played in creating equal rights for black people. This led to Viola Desmond being often referred to as the “Canadian Rosa Parks” (CBC News, 2016). Rosa Parks’s legacy has been honored through various awards, including the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Numerous memorials and museums also commemorate her contributions to the civil rights movement. What can we learn from Rosa Parks today? Rosa Parks’s story teaches us the importance of standing up for 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. Rosa Parks (1913—2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. Her actions Rosa’s grandfather Sylvester is described in the book Rosa Parks: A Life in American History, 2021, page 6, as having been the son of a white plantation owner, likely named John Edwards, who raped Rosa’s great-grandmother. When Rosa passed away on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92, people around the world mourned her loss. Her body lay in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, an honor reserved for only a few great Americans. Why Rosa Parks Matters. Rosa Parks’ story is a reminder that courage doesn’t always come with loud speeches or grand gestures. Rosa Parks is considered a hero because she bravely stood up against racial segregation by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. As a Canadian now living in Maryland, I just discovered who Viola Desmond was by seeing Canada Post’s new stamps issued for Black History Month. Renee Martin is right in saying that Ms. Desmond is not “Canada’s Rosa Parks.” Thank you for educating us and shedding light on why her family objested to the posthumous pardon. Rosa Parks (center, in dark coat and hat) rides a bus at the end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, Dec. 26, 1956. Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images. Most of us know Rosa Parks as the African American woman who quietly, but firmly, refused to give up her bus seat to a white person Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama. That small act of Rosa Parks (1913-2005) is one of the most enduring symbols of the tumultuous civil rights era of the mid-twentieth century. Her 1955 arrest in Montgomery for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and set in motion a chain of events that resulted in ground-breaking civil [] She’s long been compared to Rosa Parks, and now late civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond appears on Canada’s $10 banknote. Known for refusing to sit in the segregated section of a movie theater, Desmond first graced the note in 2018.
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