Carrie Best

Carrie M. Best, OC ONS (March 4, 1903 – July 24, 2001) was a Black Canadian journalist and social activist.

Dr. Carrie Best
Born
Carrie M. Prevoe

(1903-03-04)March 4, 1903
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
DiedJuly 24, 2001(2001-07-24) (aged 98)
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
OccupationJournalist and social activist
Known forThe first black owner and publisher of a Nova Scotia newspaper
ChildrenJames Calbert Best
AwardsOrder of Canada
Order of Nova Scotia

Biography

Carrie was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She was the daughter of James and Georgina Ashe Prevoe. In 1925, she married Albert T. Best. Together, they had one son, named James Calbert Best in 1926. They would later adopt 4 foster children.[1]

In 1943 she confronted the racial segregation of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow. She purchased two tickets for the downstairs seating of the theatre and attempted to watch a film with her son James Calbert Best. Both were arrested and fought the charges in an attempt to challenge the legal justification of the theatre's segregation. Their case was unsuccessful and they had to pay damages to Roseland's owners. However, the experience helped motivate Carrie Best to found The Clarion in 1946, the first black-owned and published Nova Scotia newspaper. It became an important voice in exposing racism and exploring the lives of Black Nova Scotians.[2] In the first edition of The Clarion she broke the story of Viola Desmond who also challenged racial segregation at the Roseland Theatre and whose story became a milestone human rights case in Canada.[3] In 1952 Carrie Best started a radio show, The Quiet Corner, which was aired for 12 years. From 1968 to 1975 she was a columnist for The Pictou Advocate, a newspaper based in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

Her son James Calbert Best, who helped found The Clarion, went on to become a union activist, senior public servant and high commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago.

In 1977, she published an autobiography, That Lonesome Road.

In 1974, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 1979. She was posthumously awarded the Order of Nova Scotia in 2002.[4] She is commemorated on a postage stamp issued by Canada Post on February 1, 2011. Best died at the age of 98 of natural causes in her hometown New Glasgow.[5]

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See also

References
  1. "Carrie Best | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
  2. Mainstreet, CBC Radio Halifax, January 19, 2015
  3. "Carrie M. Best/A Digital Archive".
  4. "Order of Nova Scotia Recipients—2002". Archived from the original on July 20, 2008.
  5. "Carrie Best and Fergie Jenkins". Canada Post. Archived from the original on February 5, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
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