Viola Desmond

Viola Desmond Webby JuliaI chose Viola Desmond because I saw her as a strong woman role model. The book I read was a biography. The book I read about Viola was thirty-one pages. This book covers the story about how Viola was told that she was not allowed to sit in the same area with all of the white people even though her movie ticket said that was her spot. So she got thrown out, and word got around that she stood up to the people discriminating against her and others for the colour of their skin. Then Viola's career as a Canadian civil rights activist and businesswoman started. The book is called Meet Viola Desmond. It explains all about that experience! The book was made in 2018 and published in 2019. Here is a fact about Elizabeth Macleod, the author. She was a magazine editor, then she stopped after she had kids. Then she became an author and wrote a book about electronic communications for kids, and more books!

Viola Desmond portraitby JuliaViola Desmond was born in a small black community in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her mother was white and her father was black, and they discriminated against lots, which was hard on Viola. Viola lived with her grandparents and nine siblings, six girls including Viola and three boys... Can you imagine that? She really wanted to open a beauty salon after she finished at Bloomfield High School. She wanted to go to a beautician school, but soon she found out she was not welcome because she was black. So instead she practised on her siblings until she did not want to be a beautician anymore. So then she opened her own business to be a businessperson. When she got older she remembered how much she liked being a beautician, so she became one while she was still a businesswoman! 

In 1914 Viola had a really crazy experience. Viola was going to go see a movie because her car had broken down and she needed to wait until the repairman came. She went to go see a movie to pass some time. She received her ticket and went to sit down, but just as she reached her seat, security told her she could not sit there. They pointed to a sign that said Whites Only. She showed them the ticket, but they did not care. She got kicked out of the theatre and went to jail. Once she got let out, she went to court and paid a fine of twenty dollars, which was a lot of money back then. Four weeks later, she fought for equality for black people. After all of what she went through, she finally opened a beauty shop! She was very successful in her business. Sarah Breedlove, known as Madam C.J. Walker, was one of Viola Desmond’s role models. She always looked up to her and really wanted to meet her! The reason she looked up to her was that she was the first black millionaire, and that gave her more courage because of how successful she was in her business and how she became a millionaire. When Viola was released from jail, she looked up to Madam C.J. Walker, and that’s how she fought for her civil rights as a black person. Viola is brave and strong. She stood up for what she believed in, like the time she went to the movies and sat in the spot she was not supposed to, that takes a brave soul. One of her weaknesses or fears was people taking away her civil rights. One sad thing is that she died on February 7, 1965.

Viola Desmond buying a movie ticketby JuliaViola Desmond is now on the Canadian $10 bill because of her courage and dignity, and not a lot of people get picked to be on Canadian money. If Viola Desmond was still alive, I would ask her three questions: What was it like being discriminated against? What was it like to have nine siblings? Was it fun to be a beautician? I would like to be her daughter, but If I was, I probably would not be here today. I would like to see what it was like back then and know what the old days looked like. I wish there were better books to describe her lifetime, but the one that I read was pretty good. I liked it because it explained some of the most important times in her life and it was actually really interesting. One of the things I learned was that back then Viola had a pretty harsh life; she was always discriminated against because of her colour and race. I couldn’t really connect in any way with her. Others may have connections to her, and if you would like to read more about her, a good book called Meet Viola Desmond is really good to get to know her. I’m super happy I chose to pick her! She is a really good inspiration, and definitely a hero!