In the summer of 2022, Hogan’s Alley Society founding director and community organizer Lama Mugabo collaborated with a team of five UBC students to explore pressing intersectional issues faced by Black communities in Canada.
These students were enrolled in SOWK 440C-529A Communities, Social Development and Community Organizing: Frameworks and Strategies for Practice. In this course, students work together to find and create the knowledge and expertise Community Organizers need to play essential roles in addressing oppression and building healthy communities through activism, social development, and social change.
Through their project work with Mugabo, the team developed an anti-Black racism in social work toolkit, which they presented to the Chair of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and Advanced Master of Social Work (MSW) programs.
“This project is crucial because it supports the needs of the Black community in Metro Vancouver. We strive to raise public awareness of the role played by Black activists who worked hard to build a dynamic community against all odds.”
— Lama Mugabo, Founding Director, Hogan’s Alley Society
Looking ahead, this toolkit will help the UBC School of Social Work better confront anti-Black racism in Canadian social work and provide future social workers with critical awareness of these issues.
This course will be offered in Fall 2024 and it is open to all students at the 400 and 500 levels. For those that are interested, check out the Syllabus from Fall 2023.
See below for project details and a recent report with project leads Lama Mugabo and Antoine Coulombe.
Project Details
Project Title: Community Organizing through African diaspora lens: Locally and Internationally
Project co-leads:
- Lama Mugabo, Founding Director, Hogan’s Alley Society
- Antoine Coulombe, Assistant Professor of Teaching, School of Social Work, Faculty of Arts
Project duration: May – June 2022
This project was supported by the Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund.
Project Report with project leads Lama Mugabo and Antoine Coulombe
Can you give us a brief overview of the project?
Coulombe: Lama Mugabo began working with a student-led project, a team of five students, on Anti-Racism in the context of the School of Social Work at UBC. Lama worked collaboratively with the team for a whole session and stayed in contact and dialogue with the team as the project moved through different steps for about four weeks. The team built an Anti-Racism in Social Work Toolkit that was presented to the Chair of the BSW and MSW programs.
Lama Mugabo’s contribution to this course was significant. He first met students at session 4, where he offered a thought-provoking talk on Think Global & Act Local – Community Development Through Rwandan Traditional Lens. This topic helped students understand both how organizing can help communities heal from the most challenging experiences, and the importance of centering organizing on the local knowledge of communities. Students expressed a deep appreciation of learning from Lama’s experience, which had a meaningful impact on their projects.
Why is this project important?
Mugabo: This report is crucial because it supports the needs of the Black community in Metro Vancouver. We strive to raise public awareness of the role played by Black activists who worked hard to build a dynamic community against all odds.
We would like to engage young people who are not aware of this history in the hope that collectively, we can make a contribution to the revitalization of Hogan’s Alley and create a space for Black Canadians to give back to their city, their province and indeed to Canada.
What did you learn throughout the project?
Coulombe: Through this experience, we have learned that a comprehensive learning experience for students requires contributions from both local and international communities. Effective collaboration between students and community partners can be achieved through dialogue. Additionally, community experiences offer valuable learning opportunities that can be genuinely impactful.
It is essential to revitalize community leadership continuously. Lama Mugabo, a community organizer, recognizes the importance of motivating students to embrace community leadership. This venture established a platform where students could gain knowledge from an inspiring community leader, while enhancing their own abilities and cultivating power and leadership skills. In the face of increasingly intricate social and environmental circumstances, this initiative holds significant value.
Asking students to collaborate with an experienced community partner is always an intriguing opportunity. During this project, both parties gained valuable insights from meeting and collaborating with each other. Students can learn from the wisdom and experience of our community partner, while the partner can learn from the students’ ideas, reflect on their questions, and find hope in the vision that new generations are bringing. This experience is truly wonderful.
What long-term impact do you envision for this project?
Mugabo: I would like to see a flurry of activities that will lead to more books, academic journal articles, and videos and films about the resilience of Black Strathcona.
Vancouver is the only large city that does not have a large Black community in North America. As we grow as a city, I hope we will open doors and allow more Black immigrants to live, work and play in Metro Vancouver. We want to create an opportunity for young Blacks from all walks of life to make a continuation of our city’s large tapestry.