Outdoor movie theatre in Halifax commemorates Viola Desmond

An outdoor movie theatre opened to the public in Halifax on Sunday in honour of Viola Desmond.

Desmond is an African Nova Scotian who challenged racial segregation. She is viewed as a pioneer in the civil rights movement after being forcibly removed from a movie theatre for sitting in a ‘whites only’ section.

“Considering what happened to Viola Desmond about the theatre and that, we thought of this being a good think not a negative thing,” said Sharon Johnson of Empowered Women Blossom.

The Viola Desmond Outdoor Theatre opened the same day she was forcibly removed from the theatre, jailed and fined in 1946.

“You know it’s making a statement that it was in a theatre where she suffered this injustice and now we have a theatre named for her,” said Reverend Rhonda Britton of Cornwallis Street Baptist Church.

The court case that followed Desmond’s arrest helped dismantle Nova Scotia's segregation laws. It was an event that changed human rights and social justice in the province.

In 2012, Canada Post issued a stamp commemorating Desmond's life in celebration of African Heritage Month. Nova Scotia's first Heritage Day holiday in February honored Viola Desmond, as well.

“We’re going to have free outdoor movies. We're going to have the community come,” said Johnson. “Bring the family, bring a blanket.”

The theatre is located in a park in north-end Halifax, near where Desmond grew up and owned a business. The goal is to be an inspiring, inclusive, community minded place - traits personified by Viola Desmond.

“It’s wonderful having something commemorating her right in the community,” said Britton. “I think it would mean a lot and it sets a good model for our children.”

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jacqueline Foster.