Carrie Best Biography

Carrie Best (March 4, 1903 - July 24, 2001) was the well-known first black-owner and publisher of Nova Scotia newspaper. She was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada, and also died there at the old age of 98. She grew up in New Glasgow, in the era where racial discrimination was common. She was the daughter to James and Georgina Ashe Prevoe, and had two brothers. She received good education as encouraged by her parents. She started writing poems at the young age of 4. On June 24, 1925, she married a railway porter, Albert Best. They had a son named James and also invited many foster children into their home as well.
Her countless occupations included journalist, social activist, author, publisher, and broadcaster. She wanted to use publishing
and broadcasting to spread positive influence to the societies in Nova Scotia and Canada. She was the co-founder of The Clarion, the first newspaper in Nova Scotia that was owned and published by Black Canadians. In fact, she used this opportunity to advocate for Black rights. In 1954, she started her own radio show The Quiet Corner, which lasted 12 years. In 1977, she wrote her autobiography, That Lonesome Road, at the age of 74, dedicating it to her mother. In 1946, she publicly supported Viola Desmond in her unfair case against the Roseland Theatre.
Desmond, a Black businesswoman from Halifax, was given a seat at the balcony when she was at the movies. She tried to “upgrade” her ticket, but the cashier refused her request. Regardless, she went to sit on the main floor. Consequently, a manager told her to leave the “white-only” section, but she declined, because she couldn’t accept the unfairness to her race. The police arrived and dragged her out by force, injured her, and also left her in jail for the night. Carrie, an ally of Desmond, saw that she was in a helpless situation with the court; she helped Desmond through her trial by featuring her story in The Clarion and asking the viewers to contribute to the cost for Desmond’s legal battle. Nonetheless, all five judges of the Supreme Court rejected their case, but this incident demonstrated how much Carrie wanted to support her fellow Blacks and advocate their rights in
Canada.
When she terminated her newspaper publication in 1956, Carrie continued to advocate on behalf of Blacks at public speaking events and in the other Nova Scotia newspapers.
In 1968, she was hired by Pictou Advocate to write a weekly column titled “Human Rights”, where she promoted Aboriginal rights; this ran until 1975. In 1974, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General. The following year she founded the Kay Livingstone Visible Minority Women’s Society, which provides educational funds for Black women. “Education is very important — more important than ever… We have to get funding from Black churches, Black organizations, and take the time to teach the children...” This quote indicates how much she valued children to go through proper education, which is why she was determined to make the schools integrated instead of segregated.
Carrie Best contributed greatly to Canada, even to her old age. In 1992, at the age of 89, she was fighting over a land dispute because she wanted the money to create a trust fund for gifted young people. However, she didn’t do this with the help of a lawyer, or anyone. She revived her newspaper agency The Clarion even though it had ended 36 years ago. She published all the details of the dispute in the newspaper and did all she could to get the help she needed. To memorialize her thoughtful contributions to Canada, and also to the whole world, she was awarded the Order of Nova Scotia in 2002, a year after she
died.
As part of Canadians, her contributions are also significant to us. We are able to learn in Christian schools now because the Black Christians organized the schools. Besides, we have an integrated Christian school, and we are able to practice Christianity, faith in action. Unlike “churchianity”, a regular church-goer without living actively with the word of God. “I do live close to God — I'm a born-again Christian — but I consider Christianity and ‘churchianity’ two different things.” Carrie herself is a true witness and helped promoted Christianity in our world. Without her, we would still have to deal with racism and all the unfairness against different races. In an interview a few years before she died, she said, “being old now is... a blessing. God gave me this extra time to accomplish whatever I can... I'm so thankful.”