Wanda Robson, activist who championed legacy of her sister Viola Desmond, dies at 95

By: RCI News

Wanda Robson, the youngest sister of the late civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond and an activist in her own right, died over the weekend. She was 95.

Born in Halifax on December 16, 1926, according to Cape Breton University’s Beaton Institute , Robson was instrumental in bringing recognition to her sister’s contribution to Canadian civil rights.

Desmond, who was Black, was arrested in 1946 for refusing to leave a whites-only section of a New Glasgow, N.S., cinema and eventually convicted of a tax offence. Her defiance helped motivate the struggle against racial segregation in Canada.

Thanks to Robson’s work, the Nova Scotia Legislature posthumously pardoned Desmond in 2010.

Robson lived with her husband, Joe, in North Sydney, N.S.

Fiercely passionate about the importance of education, Robson told dozens of students gathered at a Toronto school event in 2017 that as a young girl growing up in Halifax she saw discrimination first hand.

She said her best friend at the time was a white girl and she could not understand why she wasn’t allowed to play at her house.

Robson, who spoke at many educational events for children, believed they were the best hope for a future free of racial discrimination.

I think it’s up to the population who know, who understand, but I really think our salvation is with the little ones, Robson told CBC News.

Robson was pleased, though modest, about her work leading to Desmond’s legacy being commemorated on the $10 bill in November 2018.

At the launch of the new bill at the Canadian Museum For Human Rights in Winnipeg, Robson said she hoped people would think of the theatre incident and Desmond’s courage when they touched the bill.

The Queen is in good company, she said with a smile.

At the launch, Robson used the first $10 bill to buy a copy of Viola Desmond, Her Life and Times, a book she co-authored with Cape Breton University professor Graham Reynolds.

In 2004, while in her 70s,  Robson earned a bachelor of arts degree from Cape Breton University.

Robson was announced as a recipient of the 2021 Order of Nova Scotia  in December and was scheduled to receive the award at an investiture ceremony early this year.