In this episode three Vancouverites share their perspective on Hogan's Alley and its rich history. Vanessa Richards speaks to the “histories we live”. She reads real-life chronicles of Vancouver’s black community members revealing the rhythm and cadence of the early 1900’s. Kevan Anthony Cameron tells of the musical and economic history of Hogan’s Alley, reminding us of the space it holds in the audio files of this city’s roots. Alex Morison narrates the methods of erasure, systemic racism, and its intergenerational impacts on those who suffered from displacement politics. This is a story of Vancouver’s colorful and complex history of the neighborhood we now call Strathcona.
After listening to our regular podcast please continue on to our essential listening track titled Bonus Episode - Community Voices from the Past. These first-person accounts are read by Venessa Richards, a descendant of the Trinidadian Calypso movement in Hogan’s Alley. Listen as Richards reads excerpts from Opening Doors in Vancouver’s East End: Strathcona, featuring Dorothy Nealy and Rosa Pryor two women who recount their lives in the early to mid 1900’s amid Hogan’s Alley heyday.
Artists Referenced
Bertha Clark
Billie Holiday
Nat King Cole
Jimi Hendrix
The Crump Twins
Duke Ellington
Louis Armstrong
Ella Fitzgerald
Wade Compton (poet)
Books Referenced
Opening Doors in Vancouver’s East End: Strathcona.
Community voices read from the book, Dorothy Nealy, Rosa Pryor
Vanessa Richard
Committed to the unique history and futurity of people of African descent in British Columbia, Richards was an active member of the City of Vancouver’s Black History Month Citizen’s Advisory Group for six years. She is a former and founding board member of the Hogan’s Alley Society. She is on the advisory committee for the RADIUS Fellowship at Beedie School of Business SFU and is a producer/facilitator for the Social Venture Institute with Hollyhock Leadership Institute and a volunteer mentor for two Black youth co-operatives, Ethọ́s Lab and Solid State. Vanessa is the founder and song leader of the Woodwards’ Community Singers. As a poet she’s been anthologized in a number of landmark collections including ;Bluesprint-Black British Columbian Literature and Orature, Step Into A World- A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature, IC3- The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain.
Kevan Anthony Cameron
Kevan Cameron, also known as Scruffmouth is a spoken poet and musician. In 2013, Kevan Anthony Cameron co-edited the landmark national anthology; The Great Black North: Contemporary African Canadian Poetry. He is the creative director for Black Dot Roots and Culture Collective and a leader in Hogan’s Alley Poetry Festival.
Hogan’s Alley Society
Advocating for Black Vancouverites who have endured the legacies of urban renewal and their erasure from the official historical narrative, the Hogan’s Alley Society (HAS) is a non-profit organization composed of civil rights activists, business professionals, community organizations, artists, writers and academics. HAS seeks to preserve and promote the historical, cultural, societal and economic contributions made by Black Settlers and their descendants to Vancouver, BC and beyond.
