Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart officially declared Black History Month during a civic ceremony at City Hall Friday.
It’s the ninth such celebration in Vancouver since the city passed a motion to celebrate local black history as a civic special event in late 2011.
The ceremony in the packed council chamber recognized the contributions to the local black community by three individuals in the areas of sport, education, and inclusion and accessibility.
They included five-time Olympian Charmaine Crooks of Vancouver; Dr. June Francis, an Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the Sustainable Development Program in SFU’s Faculty of Environment, and Roger Jones, a.k.a “The Ability Guy,” a recognized expert who has spoken nationally and internationally on disability issues.
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The roots of Vancouver’s local black community dates back to 1900 in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood, also known as Hogan’s Alley. That population of roughly 1,000 had previously settled on Vancouver Island, to which they’d fled from oppression in San Francisco in the mid-1800’s.
The Hogan’s Alley neighbourhood was largely razed by the construction of the Georgia Viaduct half a century ago, but recent years have seen efforts to preserve, commemorate and rejuvenate the area’s historical and cultural significance.
Among many notables, the neighbourhood was home to Nora Hendrix, grandmother to rock legend Jimi Hendrix and a cook at the legendary Vie’s Chicken and Steak House.
WATCH: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau marks Black History Month in Ottawa
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