Tag: Viola Desmond

News

Best $10 Bill In The World

The Canadian $10 bill has been given the Bank Note of the Year Award for 2018, by the International Bank Note Society The bill, which features social justice icon Viola Desmond, is the first one in Canada to be vertical instead of horizontal. In other words, the images on the bill are to be viewed up-and-down rather than sideways.
The bill is made of polymer rather than paper.
It is the first Canadian bank note (bill) to feature a woman other than the Queen of England.

News Politics

Viola Desmond On New Canadian $10 Bill

Canadian hero Viola Desmond is the face on the new $10 bill in Canada, which goes into circulation at the end of March.

Viola Desmond was thrown in jail in Nova Scotia in 1946 because, in a movie theatre, she wanted to sit downstairs where the white people were allowed to sit. She didn’t want to sit up in the balcony, where the black people had to sit. The police held her in jail overnight. The dignified and brave Desmond paid a fine of $20 the next day, even though she had done nothing wrong. Today, we think of her for being a brave advocate for the rights of African-Canadians and helping to inspire the human rights movement in Canada.

It is a great honour to have your face on a country’s money. This is the first time an African-Canadian woman has been featured on Canadian paper money.