Hogan’s Alley

A Legacy Interrupted, A Future Reimagined

A black and white image of a narrow dirt alley lined with wooden buildings and power poles. On the left side, there are simple structures, some with signs, and on the right side, two old vehicles are parked near a fence. The background features more houses with sloped roofs, and power lines run along the alley, creating a sense of depth. The scene appears to be from an earlier era, evoking a nostalgic atmosphere.

Courtesy Hogan's Alley Society

Space is limited, please register to attend.

Free and open to all
Entertainment by Bukola and Lordnation

A joint initiative between the Black Student Centre and the Gibson Art Museum, this event aims to explore the historical significance and cultural impact of Hogan's Alley, Vancouver's once-thriving Black community. It will bring together leaders from the Black community to discuss how systemic displacement of Hogan's Alley affected Black life and culture, while also showcasing efforts to reclaim space and memory. The panel aims to foster dialogue connecting past injustices to current movements for cultural preservation and community-led development. Through storytelling and critical reflection, the event will honour the rich history of Hogan's Alley and center Black voices in envisioning a brighter future for the community.

The panelists include Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson, Vice-President of People, Equity, and Inclusion at SFU; Michelle Fenton, an architect and founding partner of Khôra Architecture + Interiors, who designed SFU's Black Student Centre; and June Francis, Director of the Institute for Black and African Diaspora Research and Engagement at SFU and Chair of Hogan’s Alley Society. The moderator is Ilhan Abdullahi, SFU Radius instructor and graduate student, community organizer, public health professional, sessional instructor, and co-founder of the Black Public Health Collective.

Contributors

Ilhan Abdullahi

Yabome Gilpin-Jackson

Michelle Fenton

June Francis

Bukola

Lordnation

Eventbrite link

Images (2)

A hand-drawn map depicting a grid of streets, including Main St., Park Lane, Gore Ave., Union St., Dunlevy Ave., Jackson Ave., Hogan's Alley, Station St., and Prior St. The streets are labeled in a casual, handwritten style. The map features horizontal and vertical lines defining the streets and blocks, with arrows indicating direction on some streets.

Ilhan Abdullahi is a community organizer, public health professional, sessional instructor, and co-founder of the Black Public Health Collective. Grounded in a systems-change and equity lens, her work focuses on the health and lived experiences of underserved youth and migrant communities. Abdullahi is the health promotion lab manager at RADIUS SFU, where she leads health equity–centered programs for grassroots organizers, public health professionals and social entrepreneurs.

Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson (she/her/hers) is a multi-award winning scholar-practitioner in human & organization development with awards and professional recognitions in Canada, UK and the United States including the prestigious Harry Jerome Award given in recognition of Black-Canadian achievements.

She is an executive leader, consultant and educator in academia and across the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Dr Gilpin-Jackson is a two-time Beedie School of Business graduate with a Bachelor in Management/Organization Studies and an MBA in Leadership and Organization Change and holds a Master of Arts in Human Development and a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University where she is a post-doctoral Institute for Social Innovation Fellow.

In addition to being Founder and Principal at SLD consulting, she has served in Executive Leadership roles within the British Columbia Public Sector and is Simon Fraser University’s first Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion.

Her publications include, Transformation After Trauma, The Power of Resonance, coeditor for the 2022 Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation, the We Will Lead Africa book series and short story collections about global African experiences: Identities, Ancestries, Destinies.

Michelle Fenton is an architect and a founding partner at Khôra Architecture + Interiors. She facilitated and designed SFU's Black Student Centre, creating a space that fosters efficiency, engagement, and wellbeing. Her practice integrates participatory planning and inclusive design frameworks to align diverse perspectives, especially from marginalized communities, into actionable outcomes that build public trust and shared ownership. She specializes in guiding civic visioning and capital projects while holding space for culturally grounded conversations that prioritize lived experience.

Dr. June Francis is a professor at SFU’s Beedie School of Business and Director of the Institute for Black and African Diaspora Research and Engagement. A leading advocate for equity, diversity, inclusion and human rights, she chairs British Columbia’s Anti-Racism Data Committee and serves as Board Chair of the Hogan’s Alley Society, advancing the well-being of people of African descent. She is co-founder of The Co-Laboratorio (CoLab), where she works with organizations to address structural barriers facing Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities in workplaces, policy, and service design.

Bukola is a Nigerian Canadian songwriter and guitarist whose works grew from childhood storytelling and DIY songwriting into a jazz-infused, genre-bending sound. She has performed on notable stages, her song “Fight For Me” was featured on the soundtrack for season 2 of Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia,” and she recently recorded her sophomore EP, The Confessions of an Antisocial Butterfly, in Los Angeles.

Lordnation is a Nigeria-born, Vancouver-based musician, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (violinist) whose love for music began early through contemporary genres and high school string orchestra. His performances blend rich string arrangements with soulful melodies, creating immersive, expressive live experiences.