For over a decade, Qione Holmes, a.k.a. Hood Historian, has served as the memory bank for L.A. and its surrounding areas. He’s a self-taught archivist, born and bred in Long Beach, whose passion for sharing the history of Southern California through the lens of “a Black dude from the hood” has built a true community on Instagram. The posts include archival images going as far back as the 1930s, juxtaposing photos of a city block or building with some from the current day, illustrating just how much things change. Others include video clips from local news from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Holmes always captions them in his warm, casual style — often posing a question: “Did you go to this high school? Do you remember this concert?” It’s clear that this is someone who has lived a similar life to you, who shares your memories. In one post — a grainy camcorder video from 1993, where a man named Emilio decries the harassment street vendors like him were receiving from police at the time — a follower revealed that Emilio was her father and that he’d found success in the years since. In another post, Holmes shared photos of three young women whose afros radiated like halos in front of Magnificent Brothers Barber & Beauty Salon #2 in Watts in 1969, beckoning natives to the comments. For Holmes, sharing history is about connection — creating that light-bulb moment of remembrance, reflection or recognition. In his words: “We are history.”

Julissa James: Where did you grow up and what drew you to history in the first place?

Qione Holmes: I was born in Long Beach. I was raised in Long Beach. I went to school in Long Beach. When I was little, a guy named Huell Howser was on KCET. In his show, “Visiting … With Huell Howser,” he used to go places around L.A. Then he had another show called “California’s Gold,” and he used to talk to people about the history of this store or this house. Watching PBS as a kid got me interested in history, and then going to a library and looking at some of the books about local history. I’m talking about elementary school.

JJ: What was it about knowing the history of a place that really drew you in? What did you love about that?

QH: We are history. We’re a part of it. Even though I’m in Long Beach, we had the same story of the folks in L.A.: “Oh, my grandpa or my dad came out here from the South to work,” right? We did the same thing. So when I see old pictures of L.A., I see my neighborhood; I see Oakland, San Francisco. We all have a similar story. The thing is, we don’t see it that much online, on social media. We don’t see stuff that we can relate to, those of us who grew up in the streets, that grew up right in the middle of the neighborhood. I wanted to be the history guy on Instagram.

JJ: You have really built a community online — a deep community. Like you said earlier, people were wanting to see this history, a very specific kind of L.A. history that isn’t always shown in the history books. Talk to me about that.

QH: People get in the comment section. People get to tell their story. I’m giving other people a voice because they are the ones who can tell you the details about Old Man Johnson who lived on 130th and Vermont. Not too long ago, I did a post about a mailman that was a video I grabbed online — it was an exposé on PBS about the life and times after the 1992 riots. For the daughter of the man to say, “Hey, that’s my dad!” That’s what I’m talking about. For her to see that? I love stuff like that because I get to be the middleman. My page is not the biggest history page, but it’s not meant for that. I want people who live in L.A., South L.A., Long Beach, Gardena/Harbor Gateway, Inglewood, the Valley … I just want something for us.

JJ: Talk to me about why you chose the handle “Hood Historian.”

QH: I made that up in 2011, before Instagram, around the time that Nate Dogg passed away. I used the name because it’s true. It’s me. I live in the hood, and I’m a historian. I’m just a regular dude. I’m self-taught.

JJ: It’s real, and I feel like it brings the people that are meant to be there.

QH: [I want to show people that] it’s OK to question stuff: Why were these houses that style? Why in the ’70s did they do all this horrible redesigning? It’s OK to be a Black dude from the hood into old things, you know? There are like-minded people on my page.

JJ: Work like yours feels even more and more important as time goes on, because things change so fast. All of these neighborhoods in L.A. — one week you see a building up, and then the next week you don’t.

QH: Say the owner of the building that your aunt has lived in since 1980 passed away, and the new owner comes, and he wants to kick everybody out and remodel the building. Things change. And nothing lasts forever. It’s my duty to showcase how things used to be.

JJ: Through your work, what have you learned most about L.A.?

QH: Each neighborhood has its own characteristics. They’re known for this restaurant, they’re known for this store or that shopping center, or these type of houses or those apartments. But though every place is different, we have similarities.