Hogan’s Alley was popping. It was the place to be in Vancouver for decades. The community was thriving with Black-owned businesses like Vie’s Chicken and Steak House and a residence for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Then it was all destroyed.
The city wanted to rezone the neighborhood as a part of “urban renewal,” a keyword for displacing large numbers of our people. Much of Hogan’s Alley was demolished because of plans to construct a highway through the city.
This destruction was a part of a larger pattern.
The story of Hogan’s Alley is akin to Tulsa’s Black Wall Street and countless other of our once-thriving neighborhoods that they intentionally destroyed. Highways have been built through Black neighborhoods everywhere, from Baltimore to Detroit. And in the case of Hogan’s Alley, the highway was never built.
From noise to air pollution, the anti-Black legacy inherent in city planning continues to affect our people today. From premature and higher death rates many health problems are caused by our environment.
No matter where we are, we deserve to live in peaceful, thriving communities where our health and livelihood are at their best. We must continue to seek control of our land, homes, and spaces to challenge the system and build strong communities. Our lives depend on it.