What's your father's name?
“What’s your father’s name?” is a very common expression around Cape Breton Island. If someone asks “What’s your father’s name?”, they are curious to see if they can find a way to make a personal connection to you. True to that tradition, this week I wanted to highlight a personal connection to a significant milestone in Canadian history.
The news headlines of November 19th, 2018 read “Canada’s new $10 bill featuring Viola Desmond officially enters circulation”[i]. Viola Desmond was a human rights activist from Nova Scotia honoured for her role in Canada’s pursuit of racial equality. Rosa Parks was America’s Viola Desmond.
Aside from honouring a civil rights activist and wonderful role model, the $10 bill demonstrates a humility that I think is one of the great characteristics of the Canadian culture. We have made mistakes, we embrace those that helped us learn from our mistakes and we can acknowledge we still have obstacles of overcome. Our continued pursuit of rights and freedoms was also highlighted on the $10 bill with “an eagle feather, which the Bank of Canada said represents the "ongoing journey toward recognizing rights and freedoms for Indigenous Peoples in Canada." [ii] but this is about making a personal connection as noted above. I did not know Viola Davis nor did I ever think about asking her “What’s your father’s name?” but I know her sister’s name and would like to highlight her sister that has been at the center of all the announcements about Canada’s newest $10 bill: Wanda Robson.
Wanda Robson lived in my hometown when I was growing up. She worked closely with my Mom and was a Brownie/Girl Guide leader when Deb and I were involved in the organization. She was a loving, generous woman and the epitome of a humble servant of the community. She herself was always involved in charity work and looking to help people. She was the first person to open my eyes to gender inequality and for that, I will always be grateful to her. She opened the eyes of a girl who thought the whole world looked like the world she grew up in. It was a lesson in reality that has fueled my feminist tendencies as a researcher.
I was in High School. It was just a day. In the middle of class, the principle called in to our class and asked the teacher to send me to the office. I was greeted by Principle O’Connor and told that there was a lady who wanted to speak with me about something very serious. I was to help her in whatever way I could. Out of respect for Principle O’Connor I agreed and went to the other side of the office to meet with the lady. There, leaning against the counter in the office was Wanda Robson. She told me about the Montreal Massacre and upon finishing the tragic story, she handed me a box of purple ribbons and asked that I get the word out. Those purple ribbons would represent our fight against violence towards women.
Now, I cannot remember what I did that first year, but I know that each year of my High School tenure after that meeting, purple ribbons were visible. This carried on into my University days. One of the most memorable events I ever had the honour to be involved with was the Montreal Vigil my first year at St. Francis Xavier University. So many people related to the horrors that the Montreal massacre stood for: inequality, injustice and violence towards women.
So as our country celebrates the profound impact of Viola Desmond, I would like to also acknowledge her humble sister for the great impact she has had on the lives of so many. I don’t know Viola Desmond’s father’s name but her sister is Wanda Robson.
Article Caption “Viola Desmond, right, who became a civil rights icon for her actions in the late 1940s, has been kept alive over the decades by her sister Wanda Robson, left. (Wanda Robson)”
Photo Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/viola-desmond-s-sister-wanda-robson-speaks-in-montreal-on-martin-luther-king-day-1.3938369