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<b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Written, Told and Designed by Black Voices:</span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">New Pocket Gallery Exhibition Reclaims BC Black History</span></b><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;font-weight:normal"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">VICTORIA, BC –
</span></b><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">At a time when many British Columbians are already re-examining the province’s history and who gets to write it, the
</span></b><a href="https://bcblackhistory.ca/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">BC Black History Awareness Society</span></a><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal"> (BCBHAS) and Royal
BC Museum (RBCM) have partnered to produce a new pocket gallery exhibition that reclaims and retells the complicated history of Black “British Columbians.”<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">Opening August 14,
</span></b><a href="https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/events/calendar/event/110386/hope-meets-action-echoes-through-black-continuum" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum</span></i></a><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">
traces an unbroken line of strength and resistance from the distant past to the present and into the future by highlighting the</span></b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif"> contributions of Black leaders whose actions echo across
the centuries.</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">“With this exhibition, we not only want people to learn about the history of Black settlers and their legacy but we also want people to know that contemporary Blacks in BC are very
proud of this legacy,” explains BCBHAS President, Silvia Mangue Alene. “We will extend and grow this legacy through resilience, hard work, creativity and leadership, with the humbling acknowledgement that we are not Indigenous of these lands.”<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">The exhibition follows the seldom-told stories of Black women such as Sylvia Stark, who was born an enslaved person in Missouri, taught herself to read by secretly listening to her
master’s children’s lessons and eventually became a pillar of the Black pioneer community on Salt Spring Island. Her daughter Emma Stark would later become the first Black teacher on Vancouver Island.</span><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;font-weight:normal"><u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">It also features audio recordings of Black British Columbians calling in from around the province to lend their voices to this history, and—with a focus on decolonization—artwork
by young Black artists speaking to the history of the Hogan’s Alley community in Vancouver, BC.<b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal"><u></u><u></u></span></b></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">“This pocket gallery marks an important moment in time for BC,” says Royal BC Museum acting CEO, Dr. Daniel Muzyka. “Right now, many British Columbians
are re-examining the province’s history and challenging its longstanding bias toward European settler history. We’re indebted to the BC Black History Awareness Society for leading the way on this long-overdue retelling of Black history in BC.”<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">Hope Meets Action
</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">was created by the BC Black History Awareness Society in partnership with the Royal BC Museum; it was curated and written by Josh Robertson and designed
by Rodney Hazard. <u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">Access to the Royal BC Museum’s Pocket Gallery, located in Clifford Carl Hall on the main floor, is always free. Visit
</span></b><a href="https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/exhibitions/pocket-gallery" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">rbcm.ca/pocketgallery</span></a><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif;font-weight:normal">
to learn more.<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">The BC Black History Awareness Society has been working diligently for more than 25 years to keep BC’s Black history from being erased. This exhibit is an important step to recognize
the role Black history has played in the province by highlighting the past and present contributions of BC’s Black communities.</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><span><b><i><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Note to editors: images available at</span></i></b><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><span></span></span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/36463010@N05/322u30" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">https://www.flickr.com/gp/36463010@N05/322u30</span></span></span><span><span></span></span></a><span><span><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></b></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Media contacts:<u></u><u></u></span></b></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Silvia Mangue Alene<u></u><u></u></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">President<u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">BC Black History Awareness Society<u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">(250) 216-3039<u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span></span></span><a href="mailto:silvia.mangue@shaw.ca" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">silvia.mangue@shaw.ca</span></span></span><span><span></span></span></a><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif" lang="EN-GB"><u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><b><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Wesley MacInnis<u></u><u></u></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Communications Specialist<u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">Royal BC Museum<u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">(250) 208-8846<u></u><u></u></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span><span></span></span><a href="mailto:news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca" target="_blank"><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca</span></span></span><span><span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span style="font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55",sans-serif">
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