''The Clarion'' was a newspaper established in

New Glasgow New Glasgow is a town in Pictou County, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated on the banks of the East River of Pictou, which flows into Pictou Harbour, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait. The town's population was 9,075 ...

, Nova Scotia, by

Carrie Best Carrie Mae Best, ( Prevoe; March 4, 1903 – July 24, 2001) was a Canadian journalist and social activist. Biography Carrie was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of James and Georgina Aubergine Prevoe. In 1925, she ...

in 1946. It was the third publication in the province owned and published by a

Black Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...

, after '' The Atlantic Advocate'' established in 1915 and '' The Nova Scotia Gleaner'' established in 1929. On the masthead below the newspaper's name was the text "Published in the Interest of Colored Nova Scotians".

Background

In late 1941, two black girls attended the

Roseland Theatre The Roseland Theatre is a landmark theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. Originally built for silent films, it is one of the oldest movie theatre buildings in Nova Scotia but it is best known as the location of a human rights case involving Vi ...

to watch a film. They were told to leave, and recounted this story to

, who wrote to the owner to protest the action. Unable to resolve the issue, she and her 15-year-old son Calbert went to the theatre in December 1941, refusing to leave their seats in the whites only section of the theatre. They were later ejected and charged with

disturbing the peace Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct. Public ord ...

, for which they were convicted and fined. Best filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

(''Best v. Mason and Roseland Theatre'') on the basis of

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin color, race or ethnic origin.Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain g ...

against the theatre. She lost the lawsuit, with the judge stating that racial discrimination was superseded by an owner's right to exclude anyone from their property. In November 1946,

Viola Desmond Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 – February 7, 1965) was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia by refu ...

was travelling to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on a business trip to sell beauty products. Her car broke down in New Glasgow, and she had to wait a day for a part to be delivered. That night, she attended a screening of '' The Dark Mirror'' at the Roseland Theatre. The

myopic Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...

Desmond tried to purchase a ticket for a floor seat, the whites only section of the theatre, instead of the further balcony seats, but the theatre sold her a ticket for the balcony seat. She nonetheless sat in a floor seat, and after refusing to leave, was eventually removed by police. She was later charged for a minor offence of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

, because the ticket she was sold was 1 cent cheaper than the ticket for the seat she occupied.

Founding

''The Clarion'' was established as an single-sheet

church bulletin A parish magazine is a periodical produced by and for an ecclesiastical parish, generally within the Anglican Church. It usually comprises a mixture of religious articles, community contributions, and parish notices, including the previous month� ...

focussed on the Second Baptist Church in New Glasgow. It was relaunched in

tabloid format A tabloid is a newspaper with a compact page size smaller than broadsheet. There is no standard size for this newspaper format. Etymology The word ''tabloid'' comes from the name given by the London-based pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wel ...

in December 1946, with the first issue devoted to Desmond's protest at the Roseland Theatre. The issue marked a shift for the newspaper from covering local issues to covering issues that advocated for racial equality throughout the province. Best travelled to Halifax to seek advertisers. There, she met a Jewish merchant named Manuel Zive, to whom she said she "wanted to have something to say about racial understanding, because things were not good", and he replied that "You are just a small voice crying in the wilderness – but keep on crying", then gave her a

cheque A cheque, or check (American English; see spelling differences) is a document that orders a bank (or credit union) to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The pers ...

. ''The Clarion'' was incorporated in 1947 from donations she received, with Best becoming editor with assistance from her son Calbert. In August 1949, by which time the newspaper was published in

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...

format, it was renamed ''The Negro Citizen'' and distributed throughout Canada. The name was reverted to ''The Clarion'' in 1950. It ceased publication in 1956, at which time she began writing as a human rights columnist for the ''

Pictou Advocate Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the larger town of New Glas ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarion, The Black Canadian organizations Defunct newspapers published in Nova Scotia Multicultural and ethnic newspapers published in Canada Newspapers established in 1946 1946 establishments in Nova Scotia Publications disestablished in 1956 1956 disestablishments in Nova Scotia