SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Black History Month

Honourable senators, I rise today during an extension of Black History Month to honour two very important African Nova Scotian women, Viola Desmond and her sister, Wanda Robson. Every February Canadians celebrate Black History Month. However, in Nova Scotia we call it African Heritage Month. The month of February was a time to highlight the culture and lives of people of African descent. This year’s theme in Nova Scotia was Our History is Your History. This theme is a message I hope will stay with you long after February is over, and, of course, because I’m doing it today, you will. Black history is Canadian history.

You all know of Viola Desmond by now, a Canadian human rights icon who stood up for her rights in 1946 when she refused to be segregated in a movie theatre. She was forcibly removed and arrested for tax evasion. But we all know it was not tax evasion, it was because of anti-black racism and legal segregation of public spaces in Nova Scotia. Although many people know the story of Viola Desmond in this New Glasgow movie theatre, they do not know that her work for racial justice is not limited to that incident. She was also an entrepreneur. Beauty schools were segregated during her time. However, Viola Desmond did not allow this barrier to prevent her from becoming a successful businesswoman. She developed products for black skin and hair care.

Viola Desmond is now being honoured on the 10-dollar banknote and a silver coin reminding us of the fight for human rights and racial equality. Viola is one of many African Nova Scotian women who have fought for racial equity in Canada. Viola Desmond’s history is Canadian history. I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with her sister, Wanda Robson. Wanda Robson has many of her own stories. One of the most compelling stories is that when she was a student at Cape Breton University at the age of 75, she decided that the rest of Canada needed to know the story of her sister, Viola Desmond. We must thank Wanda Robson as well for telling the rest of Canada and now the rest of the world about the compelling story of Viola Desmond.

Just as Viola’s history is Canada’s history, so was Wanda Robson’s. It is history that must be taught in our public education system beyond Black History Month.

Honourable senators, our history is your history. Black history is Canadian history. Let’s make a commitment to celebrate it beyond the month of February. Thank you.