Civil rights activist Viola Desmond, who famously fought racial segregation in Nova Scotia, will become the first Canadian woman on the front of a bank note. She will be featured on the $10 bill starting in 2018.
Desmond is best known for refusing to sit in the balcony seats of a segregated Nova Scotia movie theatre in 1946, choosing instead to sit in the whites-only floor section.
View this video on YouTube
She was ejected from the theatre and jailed, and later charged and convicted for "tax evasion" due to the penny difference in price. Her story was turned into a Canadian Heritage Minute earlier this year.
Desmond, who has often been compared to Rosa Parks, died in 1965. The province gave her a posthumous free pardon in 2010, recognizing the grave injustice she and other black Nova Scotians suffered.
Desmond was one of an impressive list of five final choices, which also included a pioneering engineer, athlete, poet, and journalist. There were 461 eligible nominees in total.
People are pretty stoked to have Desmond on the money.
Viola Desmond absolutely represents the tenacity, strength, and perseverance of Canadian women. Proud to have her on our $10 bill 🇨🇦
Really stoked.
Viola Desmond will be first Canadian woman featured on banknote #BlackGirlMagic
Some people are also welcoming the opportunity for Canadians to learn more about racism that has existed in the country.
This is genuinely good news. Viola Desmond was an amazing person and Canadians need to learn about their own Jim Cr… https://t.co/NyaBRhU0s3
Canada and the US will both soon have awesome black women on their money.
Viola Desmond and Harriet Tubman on Canadian and American bank notes. Words cannot express this feeling. Pure joy.… https://t.co/K6FiAAcm6Z
Desmond will be the first woman on the front of a Canadian banknote, other than the Queen. Quebec feminist Thérèse Casgrain and The Famous Five voting rights activists have been featured on the back of the $50 bill before.
Desmond will replace Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, on the $10 bill. But the Bank of Canada says Macdonald will be moved to a higher-value bill in the next round of redesigned bank notes.