Viola Desmond, Canadian who fought segregation, to appear on $10 note
Source: The Guardian
Thursday 8 December 2016 15.57 GMT
Viola Desmond, a black businesswoman who challenged racial segregation in Canada in 1946, will be the new face of the C$10 bill, the government said on Thursday, making her the first Canadian woman to be featured on a banknote.
Desmond refused to leave a whites-only Nova Scotia movie theater in an incident that took place nearly a decade before Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to the segregated part of a bus in the United States. Desmond was subsequently jailed, convicted and fined.
While the Queen of England appears on most Canadian currency, Desmond is the first Canadian woman to be featured on a regularly circulating banknote.
“Viola Desmond is a woman who broke barriers, who provided an inspiration for Canadians around social justice issues and showed that each of us individually in courageous moments can make a difference,” said Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/08/viola-desmond-canada-banknote-woman
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