Black History Month: Black Female Figures and Their Stories
Feb 29 • Written by Azbah Wasim, Ruoshui(Grace) Zhang, and Zaira Shareef
February is Black History Month, a month within which we celebrate all the amazing members of the Black community who have made significant contributions to help better our community as a whole. Within this blog post we will be highlighting 3 Black Females, their stories and their contributions to the world we live in today.
Violet Pauline King Henry
Violet Pauline King Henry, born on October 18, 1929 in Calgary, Alberta, is the first Black Canadian to obtain a law degree in Alberta, the first Black person admitted to the Alberta Bar and the first Black woman to become a lawyer in Canada.
Life and Education
King’s family moved to Calgary in 1919. Her father worked as a sleeping car porter with the Canadian Pacific Railway and her mother worked as a seamstress. King is one out of four children in the family. She attended Crescent Heights High School and became president of the Girls’ Association in Grade 12. At that time, King knew that she wanted to pursue a legal career, which she wrote in the yearbook “Violet wants to be a criminal lawyer”.
After graduation, Violet King attended the University of Alberta in 1948. Out of 142 students in the Faculty of Law, King was one of the only three women in the program. In her undergraduate years, King actively participated in multiple clubs and groups. Between 1951 and 1952, King was chosen as the class historian and represented Alberta in the 1952 International Student Services Conference held in Hamilton, Ontario. She also received an Executive “A” gold ring during Colour Night, the annual celebration of student contributions to the University of Alberta.
Career
After graduation, King worked under Edward J. McCormick, who is a well-known criminal trial lawyer. She was called to the Alberta Bar on June 2, 1954, and became the first Black female lawyer to practice law in Canada. It was such astonishing news and two Calgary publications described it as a milestone in Canadian history.
King publicly spoke about discrimination in the workplace. She once mentioned the inequality that is ongoing between different races and ethnicities, “It is too bad that a Japanese, Chinese or colored girl has to outshine others to secure a position.” The same time, King expresses the difficulty of women in the workplace as well.
King’s contribution to Canadian history is remarkable. She shines the way of a legal career for both women and colored people and became the representation and role model. Her life and journey is not only a story, but also inspiration to others who are also looking forward but might be afraid of pursuing their dream. King proves that nothing cannot be achieved, and her legacy remains with us today, and continues to inspire the new generation of Canadians to make Canada a diverse and space where people are encouraged to pursue their dream.
“People told me it wasn't a good idea for a girl to be a lawyer, particularly a coloured girl — so I went ahead.”
– Violet Pauline King Henry, 1956
Viola Desmond
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1914 Viola Irene Desmond was a civil and women’s rights activist and a businesswoman. She grew up in a large family with 10 siblings where her father worked as a barber and her mother worked as a housewife.
She graduated from Bloomfield High School and then went to the Field Beauty Culture School in Montreal. After she graduated in Montreal, she became a beautician; opening up her educational institute Desmond School of Beauty Culture where she mentored black women on hair care tips in her hometown of Nova Scotia. Her institute grew popular with around 15 students graduating each year.
Viola Desmond came to prominence on November 8th, 1946 when she stood up to racial segregation by refusing to leave a “white people only” section in Roseland Theatre even though she had a ticket for the balcony seats. Henry MacNeil, who was the manager who confronted Desmond, claimed that Roseland Theatre had the right to “refuse” entry to people like her. That did not stop Desmond from leaving her seat and when police officers were called, she was dragged out of the theater and held in a cell overnight. The following day, she was fined $26 and was charged for tax evasion.
How She Is A Key Figure
This key event happened during a time when racial segregation and discrimination against those of colour were prominent. Desmond’s courage to stand up by refusing to settle for what she had shows how she acknowledged that discrimination against those of colour existed and that individuals shouldn’t deny others certain rights because of the colour of their skin. Desmond’s event also sparked a national civil rights movement for those of colour when her case was taken to the Supreme Court of Canada where her lawyer, Frederick Bisset, applied for her conviction to be put aside. Although the conviction still happened, Desmond won her case and even though her charges and fines weren’t removed, the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NSAACP) used its funds in an effort to end segregation. By 1954, segregation against those of colour was ended.
Present Day
Desmond sadly passed away in 1965 but her legacy continues to live on. On April 10, 2010, Viola Desmond was granted a pardon by Lieutenant-Governor Mayann Francis that included her charges being laid off and an apology from Premier Darell Dexton that her charges were a result of a miscarriage of justice and should have never been laid out in the first place. In 2017, Viola Desmond was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame and on November 19, 2018, she became the new face of Canada’s $10 bill, marking the first woman to be put on a Canadian Bill.
Viola Desmond’s effort to end racial segregation has made a huge impact on Canadian culture and has inspired individuals - particularly youths - to stand up against discrimination and that no one should be judged or looked down upon based on the colour of their skin.
“Do your little bit of good where you are. It’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Viola Desmond, 2018
Ilhan Abdullahi Omar
Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, a 41-year-old Somali-Canadian, was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 4, 1982. Having arrived in Vancouver, Canada, during her youth due to her parents' forced migration, she settled on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Among her seven siblings, she is the youngest in a family of nine. When Ilhan was just two years old, her mother, Abukar Haji Hussein, passed away, leaving her father and grandfather to raise her.
Life and Education
Ilhan is a public health instructor, storyteller, and filmmaker, dedicating her work to the narratives and well-being of Black and Muslim migrant communities. She has recently begun a Ph.D. journey, aiming to prioritize Black refugees in her research. Her focus is on examining how community organizing and social innovation contribute to the transformation of public health systems.
She attended Thomas Edison High School, and graduated in 2001, and graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in political sciences and international studies. Along with this, she was a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
During her career's early days, she served as a community nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota from 2006 to 2009 in the Greater Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. In 2012, she took on the role of campaign manager for Kari Dziedzic's reelection campaign for the Minnesota State Senate, and in 2013, she managed Andrew Johnson's campaign for Minneapolis City Council. Starting from September 2015, Omar assumed the position of Director of Policy Initiatives at the Women Organizing Women Network, where she advocated for East African women and actively engaged in civic and political leadership roles.
Key Contribution
In 2021, Omar was chosen as one of the emerging Black filmmakers in Vancouver to participate in the Being Black in Canada Film program. During this initiative, she authored and documented her short film, "Dreamers," which revolves around the Somali refugee community. Her documentary has been showcased at festivals across Canada and internationally, gathering award nominations. Currently, she is actively engaged in future projects, aspiring to bring them to screens.
Omar finds the most gratifying aspects of her career in collaborating with individuals who prioritize justice and humanity. She draws inspiration from her colleagues and community, all dedicated to working towards a brighter future. Despite her success, Omar has encountered numerous challenges on her journey. She highlights social justice and systems change work as demanding, and the most formidable challenge she faced was losing hope in herself. Rather than viewing this as a negative experience, she chooses to sit with those thoughts, embracing the tension in the workforce. Omar collaborates with many facing similar challenges, emphasizing the importance of sticking together and collectively finding solutions.
In addition to raising awareness and advocating for East African women, Ilhan Abdullahi is active in civic and political leadership roles to this day. Her goal is to remove all forms of discrimination from society, and she continues to work hard to make a difference in society for all cultures.
"You're agitated by my tone because you think people like me should be sitting in a corner, not heard and not seen."
Ilhan Omar, 2020
February is surely Black History Month, a time to acknowledge and learn more about the efforts of the Black community. That said, our acceptance, appreciation, and desire to learn about these efforts should not be restricted to this month alone. It is vital to be aware, to seek education, to desire learning about the history of our nation.
