Press release from UNC Asheville:
The annual African Americans in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia Conference, now in its sixth year, will be held at UNC Asheville and the YMI Cultural Center Oct. 17-19, bringing local and regional leaders together for scholarly talks, panel discussions, concerts and awards. The three-day event aims to illuminate the African American experience in Southern Appalachia including history, culture, community and enterprise. It also seeks to eradicate incomplete and false narratives about African Americans in this region, while creating new possibilities for the future. The theme for 2019 is “Existence as Resistance: Expressions of Resilience.”
Conference sessions and the Friday night concert are free and open to everyone to attend, but registration is requested to reserve a seat. Some events on Saturday require a ticket, which can be purchased online at aawnc.unca.edu.
The conference will open at the YMI Cultural Center on Thursday evening, Oct. 17 with a 6:30 p.m. reception, followed by the Jesse and Julia Ray Lecture featuring Aaron Thompson, Ph.D., president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Thompson is the first Kentucky native and African American to hold that position.
Presentations will be held on UNC Asheville’s campus in Highsmith Student Union on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18 and 19. On Friday morning, UNC Asheville students will present research on the impact of gentrification in Asheville in particular and on African American communities in general; the role and representation of African Americans in regional media outlets; the history and legacy of WNC native standup comedian Loretta Mary Aiken aka Moms Mabley; and research – continued from work presented at the 2018 conference – on factors influencing education among African Americans in the region. Their projects are funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Another featured panel on Friday will be “Black Lens on Tourism.”
Space dedicated to heritage, art and wellness will be made accessible throughout the conference in the Grotto in Highsmith Student Union, and artistic features will be woven throughout the event itself including visual art, poetry, and music as curated by Cortina Jenelle Caldwell of Artists Designing Evolution (adé PROJECT). Featured art will include the display from the Isaiah Rice collection and a community quilt project, which will culminate in a collectively curated quilt donated to the Stephens-Lee Alumni Association and Stephens-Lee Recreation Center.
Musicians Sparky and Rhonda Rucker will lead a concert on Friday evening, Oct. 18 at the YMI Cultural Center celebrating “Black Roots of Appalachian Music.” The concert will also honor Ed Cabbell, co-editor of the groundbreaking book Blacks in Appalachia, who passed away in 2018.
Saturday will feature presentations on the re-emergence of the NAACP in Western North Carolina, and art as a tool for cultural preservation and community storytelling. Saturday’s brunch will celebrate Stephens-Lee High School with a presentation of the first annual Preservation Society Johnny Baxter Award. Tickets for the brunch are $10 for the general public and free for UNC Asheville students and Stephens-Lee High School Alumni. Please purchase online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/african-americans-in-wnc-southern-appalachia-conference-tickets-68514598007 or by calling 828-255-7215.
The conference concludes with the annual CoThinkk Awards at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Hi-Wire Big Top Event Space in Downtown Asheville. The theme of the fourth annual CoThinkk Community Awards Night is “Shifting the Now: Shaping the Future.” Tickets are available at https://cothinkk.org/2019-award-night/.
The annual African Americans in WNC and Southern Appalachia Conference receives funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, WNC Diversity Engagement Coalition, Dogwood Health Trust, Buncombe County, City of Asheville, Blue Ridge Public Radio, Explore Asheville and The Buncombe County Tourism and Development Authority, The McClure Fund, the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, and the Jackson County branch of the NAACP, Self-Help Credit Union, Amy Mandel, Center for Craft, and Western Women’s Business Center.
For more information about the sixth annual African Americans in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia Conference, including a detailed conference schedule, visit https://aawnc.unca.edu.
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