From the archives: Viola Desmond featured on Canada Post stamp
CBC Archives | Posted: July 27, 2021 7:27 PM | Last Updated: July 27, 2021
Desmond was arrested in 1946 for sitting in the whites only section of a New Glasgow cinema
In 2012, Canada Post issued stamps in honour of two iconic Black Canadians, Viola Desmond and John Ware.
In this excerpt from a CBC Calgary report, Bryan Labby gives background on Desmond's arrest in 1946 for sitting in the "whites only" section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S.
The report contains a clip from 2010 of the premier of Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter, apologizing for Desmond's arrest.
In the report, Mayann Francis, then the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, speaks of the importance of freeing "ourselves from what oppression can do and that is the freedom of the mind."
"And to understand that we as a Black people can do whatever we set our minds to do."
This segment originally aired on Feb. 1, 2012.
This content is being presented as it was originally created and may contain references or representations of people and cultures that audiences may find offensive or triggering.
For suggestions on content to feature in CBC's online collection of African Nova Scotian archival material, please email ansarchives@cbc.ca
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.