We decided to stop at an antiques store, which is probably not the wisest choice for us because we are suckers for anything blue and white, especially if it's an antique. We won't tell you everything we bought. Let's just concentrate on the fact that we didn't buy everything we wanted. The antique store is in an old warehouse built in 1910. It had three floors of antiques. 😲
The best part of the day, however, was meeting a wonderful couple from Montreal who happened to stop in the antiques store while we were there. It started out very innocently with one of us making a small remark as we passed each other in the store. Before we knew it, the four of us had stopped in the middle of the basement part of the store, and we started a conversation that kept going. Even as we were saying our good-byes it felt like there was more to say to each other. James and Leslie Desmond were wonderful, charming, and interesting. Leslie gave us her email address and told us to please contact them if we are ever in Montreal. If we are ever in Montreal, they might be sorry, because we will contact them.
James and Leslie Desmond
James told us a great story about his great aunt, Viola Davis Desmond. From www.britannica.com:
Viola Desmond, in full Viola Irene Desmond, née Davis, (born July 6, 1914, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada—died February 7, 1965, New York, New York, U.S.), Canadian businesswoman and civil libertarian who built a career as a beautician and was a mentor to young black women in Nova Scotia through her Desmond School of Beauty Culture. It is, however, the story of her courageous refusal to accept an act of racial discrimination that provided inspiration to a later generation of black persons in Nova Scotia and in the rest of Canada.
From www.heightline.com:
In 1946 on the 8th of November, Viola Desmond while away on a business trip for the sale of her products, decided to visit the cinema to pass the time while her car which had broken down got fixed. Unknown to her, the cinema had a policy that restricted the lower part of the cinema to colored people and left only the gallery for them to sit.
Being short-sighted, she decided to sit at the lower part of the cinema where she could see the screen better. When she was found out, an attempt to move her ensued. Realizing what was going on, she refused to change her seat, and this earned her an arrest as the price for the lower seats had a higher tax than those in the gallery. Her arrest was on the grounds of tax evasion; she was locked up for twelve hours and expected to appear in court for tax evasion for the price of one cent.
This event sparked a decision to fight the charge laid against her. Going against the wishes of her husband who had told her to drop the case; it led to one of the first trials on racial matters in Canada. When the trial ended, Viola Desmond moved to Montreal and closed her business in Halifax. She spent her final years in New York where she died at the age of 51.
For her actions, she has been compared to Rosa Parks although there are contextual differences in their reasons for protest. History also shows that Desmond was more interested in fighting for the right of black people by creating products for beautification that catered to them.
In 2016, Desmond became the first woman with Canadian nationality and the first woman who does not belong to royalty to appear on one of the currency notes of the country. This decision is one of the many attempts at correcting the wrongs that were meted out to her and to recognize her as a national hero for her fight against racism. This comes after the pardon she was given posthumously in 2010.
James told us that people have said to him that Viola is Canada's Rosa Parks. But, James said, since Viola's incident was before Rosa Parks, Rosa Parks, then, is the USA's Viola Desmond.
James is a very proud nephew and, as we told him, he should be. It was such an honor to meet them. Anyone who knows us well knows that we are more reclusive than social, though we can easily talk someone's ear off in the right setting. We usually keep to ourselves when we are home and work on our crafting projects, our house, and our yard. But there is something about a road trip that encourages you to get outside your norm and your comfort zone and just talk to people. We have done that several times on this trip and previous trips. So, James and Leslie, don't be surprised if a future road trip brings us to your doorstep in Montreal.😀
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