BC Black History Timeline

BC Black History Timeline

2021
May 14 2021
May 14, 2021: Retired Judge Selwyn Romilly is wrongly detained by Vancouver police
On May 14, 2021, retired BC Supreme Court Justice Selwyn Romilly was stopped and handcuffed by Vancouver Police while out for a morning walk along Vancouver’s seawall. The officers told Justice Romilly that he “matched” the description of the suspect, who was described as a 40 to 50 year-old dark-skinned man. Justice Romilly was in his 80’s. The incident was condemned as an example of racial targeting and stereotyping. Perhaps not so ironically, 47 years earlier, on October 12, 1974, Justice Romilly’s brother,  Valmond Romilly, at the time a lawyer, was stopped on Granville Street and detained by three Vancouver city policeman in another case of “mistaken identity” involving Black people. The incidents raise questions of whether the police have genuinely addressed systemic racism in their ranks.
August 14 2021
August 14, 2021: “Hope Meets Action: Echoes through The Black Continuum”
open space with 6-foot high, self-standing, information panels supported and connected by rigid metal frames

BC Black History Awareness Society in partnership with the Royal BC Museum opened, opened Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum on August 14, 2021. The exhibit presented the story of Afro-diasporic ‘British Columbia’ history, past, present and future.  Written, told and designed by Black voices, this exhibition reclaims and retells the complicated history of stolen people on stolen land, and how the contributions of Black leaders echo across the centuries into the present; a history that has long been whitewashed in the annals of colonial history.

The exhibition was open at RBCM until March 31, 2022. It is now featured in the RBCM Learning Portal.

About the project

 

2022
January 21 2022
Canadian Black Heritage Stamp honours Eleanor Collins

The commemorative stamp was issued to honour “Canada’s First Lady of Jazz.” She has fostered the values of equality and acceptance; is recognized as a civic leader and pioneer in the development of British Columbia’s music industry. She is celebrated for her extensive career as a jazz singer; one of the first Black artists in North America to host a national, weekly television series.
eleanor collins sitting with commemorative stamp poster on easel on the right
Read more of her unparalleled story

March 5 2022
“Worlds Within: Diverse Histories, Identities, and Experiences of Black People of African Ancestry in British Columbia”
book cover with black background, gold text at top, bottom is brown metal pail with vibrant colors of paint cascading from itt

Between February 2020 and March 2022, the African Ancestry Project, led by Alice Muthoni Mũrage in partnership with BC Black History Awareness Society, conducted research through a survey, interviews, and focus group discussions. The history, data and stories of over 160 participants from BC were woven together and made part of a comprehensive and inclusive report on the vast diversity of people of African ancestry in the province. The report was released on March 5, 2022. The Project’s work continued with a Youth Dialogue, a series of three virtual youth dialogues engaging 40 young people between ages 15 and 19. The final phase will produce three videos documenting the youth dialogue.
Download the report

July 9 2022
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers National Apology to the descendants of the No. 2 Construction Battalion, CEF
On July 9, 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a National Apology to the No. 2 Construction Battalion and their Descendants, acknowledging the overt racism they had endured.

Some excerpts from the Apology –

Hundreds of young Black men wanted to serve their country and protect the freedom we hold dear. They wanted to fight with honour against tyranny and oppression, but almost every single Black volunteer was denied the honour of serving their country”;

This is what systemic racism and anti-Black hate does: it suppresses the truth; it tries to rewrite history under false narratives;

For the overt racism of turning Black volunteers away when they offered to sacrifice their lives for all, we are sorry;

For failing to honour and commemorate the contributions of the members of No. 2 Construction Battalion and their descendants, for the blatant anti-Black hate and systemic racism that denied these men dignity in life and in death, we are sorry;

And to their descendants, we hope you see yourselves as you are: heirs to the memory of true Canadian heroes.”

Read/watch the full apology
September 30 2022
Hogan’s Alley to become vibrant multicultural community spaces again

In September 2022, the Hogan’s Alley Society signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Vancouver for a Community Land Trust to revitalize the Hogan’s Alley neighbourhood.
“We honour the Black community that lived in Hogan’s Alley by celebrating the history and ensure pursuits on the land honour the history of those that were displaced and will create a legacy of acknowledging, honouring the past Black community while nurturing and developing the contributions of our contemporary Black community.” Hogan’s Alley Working Group Charette Report, July 2017
city street scene with highrise buildings in background, foreground is community square filled with people walking, sitting on benches, in open-air cafes and markets

 

2023
July 29 2023
Sleeping car porters permanent exhibit opens at Royal BC Museum

In May 2023, after the close of the “Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum” exhibit, BCBHAS and Royal BC Museum entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that established a framework for continuing community collaboration.
On July 29, 2023, the replica Train Station in the Old Town exhibit re-opened with interpretive panels telling the story of the sleeping car porters. One excerpt reads, “The porters took up the fight to overcome the deep racism and explicit exclusion in the union movement and achieve equal union representation. Building on the work started earlier by Black trade unionists in Canada, they won recognition by founding the Order of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labour union in North America.”

centred is photo of the inside of train station showing panels on the wall in situ, image is flanked by large images of the panels

The panels were created in partnership with BC Black History Awareness Society and Joshua Robertson, Hogan’s Alley Society and curator for the “Hope Meets Action” exhibit