All-white spaces dominate Asheville’s culture. Oftentimes the white people in these spaces do not even notice the lack of diversity, which is troubling to say the least. Sometimes they do, then shrug it off as an unchangeable reality. Occasionally white people actually … Continue reading Inclusive Invitations
This week, let’s start of with a few options for your calendar: Tonight, Tuesday, May 31, 7:30 – 10:30 pm Center for Participatory Change (CPC) Jazz-n-Justice fundraiser The BLOCK off Biltmore, 39 S. Market Street Find out more about CPC … Continue reading This Week + Reading
My quality of life is enhanced by WRES FM, whose tagline is “The Urban Sounds of Asheville.” For the past twelve or so years that WRES has been on the air, the radios in my car and house are frequently set to 100.7 … Continue reading WRES: The Urban Sounds of Asheville
Back in March I had the honor of being a selected for “Heroes of Asheville,” a project of the third grade classrooms of Francine Delany New School for Children and Evergreen Community Charter School. For this project, adults in the community … Continue reading Heroes of Asheville
In case you missed it, the Asheville Citizen-Times recently ran a feature story about Hood Tours, “Hood tours revisit Asheville’s black landmarks.” Hood Tours offers “Hood Tours is an interactive tour focusing on Asheville’s African American resilient history and future in the … Continue reading Hood Tours
Steps Towards Possibility When visionary leaders describe the Asheville/WNC we could be, their visions become lights that illuminate my steps, and the steps of others in our community moving towards positive possibility. There are people with big hearts and bright minds making change … Continue reading Taking Steps
State of Black Asheville Dr. Dwight Mullen gave a talk on his “State of Black Asheville” course last week. The State of Black Asheville is a public policy course at UNC Asheville which Dr. Mullen has been teaching since 2006. Students … Continue reading Reality. Resilience. Roots.
For my first Asheville Action post of 2016, I want to share some positive stories with you. As I thought about what to include, I happily discovered a plethora of things to celebrate. It reminded me of the power of looking for forward movement, even as … Continue reading Good News for the New Year
Awareness –> Action My most recent post, “Asheville, Invest in Black-led Solutions,” generated a strong response. Many of you, with a greater understanding of how systemic racism operates in our community, have asked, “What can I do?” Since that post was primarily a case … Continue reading Awareness–>Action
The Game is Rigged The devastating cumulative impact of centuries of systemic racism on blacks in this country cannot be underestimated. It is way past time to face the fact that whites have been benefiting from a game that is … Continue reading Asheville, Invest in Black-led Solutions
Ami Worthen 