Canadian Women Now and Then: More than 100 Stories of Fearless Trailblazers
ACTIVISTS Anjali Katta NOW Born 1997 Birthplace Sudbury Ontario If we give a girl a chance imagine how different the world would be Since the age of six Anjali Katta has been helping people She's made jewellery to raise money for the British Columbia Children's Hospital helped in soup kitchens and volunteered with groups in India where her parents were born One day while visiting Mumbai India Anjali met girls her age who were forced to work instead of getting an education Some were forbidden to go to school because their parents were worried the boys there would harass them To help girls like them Anjali founded GirlsCo when she was 16 years old The not for profit organization raises money for girls education One of the organization's projects is Bombay Pads It delivers menstrual products and sex education to girls and women in Mumbai so that girls don't have to miss school or be shamed for not having such products That means they have a better chance of keeping up with their classmates In 2014 Anjali spoke to the United Nations on the International Day of the Girl She talked about what it means to be a girl and how in some parts of the world girls are made to feel unimportant But she said girls are actually capable and strong A year later Canada's government set up the Girls Advisory Council to find out what is important to Canadian girls Anjali was chosen to advise the council She wants to empower girls in Canada and raise awareness about the difficulties that girls face around the world GirlsCo also holds conferences across the country to encourage young people to become activists just like Anjali
Viola Desmond THEN 1914-1965 Birthplace Halifax Nova Scotia When Viola Desmond's car broke down in New Glasgow Nova Scotia in November 1946 she had no idea she was about to make history Stuck there overnight this quiet hairdresser decided to see a movie Viola bought her ticket and found a seat on the main floor But her ticket was for the balcony only white people could sit in the theatre's better section Black people like Viola had to sit upstairs An usher told Viola to move so she tried to buy one of the more expensive tickets for the main floor The ticket seller refused This was the last straw Viola had put up with racism all her life She slapped down her money and returned to her original seat Eventually a police officer took her to jail Viola was charged with cheating the Province of Nova Scotia She hadn't paid the extra one cent tax for her seat on the main floor of the theatre No one mentioned Viola's skin colour but everyone knew that's what the case was really about She was found guilty and had to pay a fine Viola fought her conviction but lost Black people were still discriminated against Her story might have ended there if not for another strong woman -Viola's sister Many years after Viola died Wanda Robson began telling her sister's story People agreed Viola had been treated unfairly In 2010 Nova Scotia's premier apologized to Viola and all the province's black people and granted Viola an official pardon Viola Desmond now appears on the 10 dollar bill making her the first black woman on a Canadian banknote Wonderful Women Journalist Carrie Best 1903-2001 made Viola's story front page news to publicize the discrimination she faced Carrie's newspaper The Clarion was the first in Nova Scotia owned and published by a black person
ACTORS Lilly Singh NOW Born 1988 Birthplace Scarborough Ontario Whaddup It's your girrrl Superwoman If you've ever watched Lilly Singh's videos then you know that's how they begin And you probably have her videos have been viewed about 3 billion times She's become one of YouTube's biggest stars Lilly comes across as confident but she wasn't always that way After studying psychology in university she didn't know what she wanted to do She began making YouTube videos in 2010 to cope with depression Lilly decided to use the name IISuperwomanll for her channel That's because when she was a kid she believed she had an invisible Son her chest like a superhero It made her think she could do anything Lilly writes directs and stars in her videos They often show her Punjabi culture and she plays characters based on her mom and dad Her fans Lilly calls them Team Super love watching her make comedy out of everyday life Lilly has also appeared in movies and has several of her own web series As well as being an actor Lilly is a comedian singer and music video producer She is also a social activist In 2016 she began her campaign #Girllove to encourage positivity and support among girls and women Lilly spread the message by having celebrities talk about why it's cool for women to help one another She also works with the organization ME to WE to raise money for girls education in developing countries Lilly created the word bawse rhymes with house to describe someone who is confident and a boss at life She encourages every girl and woman to be a bawse In 2019 Lilly became the host of her own late night talk show
Mary Pickford THEN 1892-1979 Birthplace Toronto Ontario Gladys Louise Smith didn't want to act in films she thought they weren't as good as live theatre But she was tired of making so little money for her roles So in 1909 when she had a chance to act in a film and earn better pay she changed her mind about movies She also changed her name to Mary Pickford On Mary's first day of filming she earned five dollars and was asked to return the next day She said she would but only if she was given ten dollars Mary got the raise and began to like acting in films Moviegoers loved the spunky characters that Mary played By now she was living in Hollywood and became known as America's sweetheart Mary wasn't afraid to ask for more money for her work Filmmakers thought she was rude for demanding higher pay but she was one of film's most popular stars and expected her pay to show it In the early 1900s when most women didn't work outside the home Mary earned up to 350,000 per movie At age 24 she was Hollywood's first millionaire It wasn't long before movie studios couldn't afford Mary's salary She also wanted more control over the kinds of movies she made So in 1919 Mary became a cofounder of United Artists studio along with three men in Hollywood including Charlie Chaplin Soon she was starring in producing and distributing her own movies No woman had done this before Mary won two Academy Awards one in 1930 for the film Coquette and a lifetime achievement award in 1976. But more important she paved the way for independent women in Hollywood
