N.S. civil rights icon Carrie Best speaks about racism at the Marshall Inquiry in 1988
Best told the commission "I will die fighting injustice"
Civil rights activist Carrie Best was born in New Glasgow, N.S., in 1903, and died in 2001.
In 1946, she founded the Clarion, a newspaper designed to reach the black citizens of New Glasgow. It was also the first newspaper in Nova Scotia to be published by a black owner.
Best was also an author and broadcaster. In 1954 she began her own radio show, The Quiet Corner, which aired on CBC Radio out of Halifax. It was a program of poetry and music and lasted for 12 years. She was also awarded the Order of Canada for her lifelong work on civil rights and an honorary doctorate Halifax's University of Kings College in 1992.
On Nov. 25, 1988, she appeared before the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr., Prosecution and spoke of her mistrust of the justice system, calling for "bringing this awful system of racism in Nova Scotia to an end."
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For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
