Marie Michael Library

401

DVD

Viola Desmond was born in 1914 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  In 1946, while waiting for her car to be fixed, she visited a local theatre.  The theatre had a discrimination policy and African Nova Scotians weren't allowed to sit on the main level.  Viola sat on the main level and when she refused to leave, police arrested her and she spent the night in jail.  She was convicted of defrauding the Province and given a fine, which she paid. In 2010, the province of Nova Scotia granted an official apology and free pardon to Desmond, now deceased, for her courageous stand again racism.