By David P. Ball

Hogan's Alley Society has spent much of the pandemic growing vegetables for a nearby social housing complex, creating a community cookbook, and sharing food. One of the gardeners explains why food has become so central as their anti-racism struggles continue.

The Hogan's Alley Society may not yet have their long-dreamt community centre for Vancouver's Black community, but that isn't stopping them from celebrating culture, community and cuisine.

Lama Mugabo, of Hogan's Alley Society, in the Nora Hendrix Place community garden in Vancouver - Photo courtesy Lama Mugabo/Instagram

The group recently put a call out for recipes from the city's Black diaspora to include in an upcoming cookbook, and all summer during the pandemic members have been growing vegetables and herbs alongside residents of the Nora Hendrix Place temporary modular housing project next door.

According to Hogan's Alley Society member Lama Mugabo, it is no coincidence that so much of the group's activities revolve around food, whether in the barbecue held earlier this month, the cookbook project, or the food they've shared with low-income residents of the affordable housing complex — located in the heart of what was once Vancouver's thriving Black neighbourhood before it was bulldozed in the 1960s to build the viaducts.

"When we did consultations in the community to revitalize this block, community members told us they wanted a cultural centre, they wanted retail spaces for Black-owned businesses and they wanted housing," Mugabo told The Pulse on CFRO. "But most importantly, they talked about food.

"Food is very central to our cultures. We want to make sure we can grow food here, cook it here, and enjoy it."
As the continent grapples with another police officer shooting an unarmed Black man — this time in Wisconsin where they paralyzed a man last week sparking another wave of unrest and protests — Black activists in Vancouver continue their struggle to channel police funding instead into improving crisis mental health response, and finally end street checks targeting disproportionately Black and Indigenous people.

But Mugabo said for him, the community garden has helped balance his anti-racism activism, offering therapy while at the same time strengthening his diverse community.

"As an activist, it's a push and pull — you do this over the years and you win some and lose some," he explained. "Of course the authorities never want to give up power, so it's a constant battle.

"I find that gardening is really fulfilling, in that you're working with the Earth, and you're growing stuff … And at the end of it all, you celebrate: you harvest, cook, share meals, and talk over food."

The Hogan's Alley Society is hosting a community forum to discuss their plans and activism to restore and revitalize the city's Black neighbourhood on Sept. 22. More information on registration for the event is on their Instagram account.