Ken Bogan was born in Clarksville, Texas in 1958. On a trip to New York after completing graduate school at Duke University, he decided to stay and resided in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights for one year, before moving to Crown Heights, Brooklyn in 1991. Bogan's father, who ran for mayor of their tiny Texas town, and grandfather - who was a union organizer - both taught him the importance of political activism at a young age. As a pastor, youth outreach worker and former political fundraiser, Bogan followed in his family footsteps. This journey would eventually lead him to the neighborhood at the time of the 1991 riot. As minister of the Greater Restoration Baptist Church and board member of Project CARE - which aims to bring together members of the Black and Hasidic communities - Bogan continues to work with Crown Heights residents.