COPE Program

The African American Heritage Program provides education pertaining to local African American leaders whose contributions became the bedrock of Asheville and Buncombe County.  Information is shared with participants through various workshops and events that highlight education, civil rights advocacy, and community development.

The African American Entrepreneurship Program examines the history of African American entrepreneurs in Asheville and Buncombe County.  It recognizes the rich history of the Eagle-Market Streets “BLOCK” location, as well as other African American communities in which entrepreneurship was the “Norm.”  The Program encourages youth to become entrepreneurs and seeks to foster partnerships with other organizations promoting entrepreneurship as a viable option of wealth creation, self-sufficiency, and breaking the cycle of reliance on government assistance.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County partners with the YWCA of Asheville to promote programming that addresses racism, microaggressions, and fosters diversity and inclusion.  Programming is developed each year pertaining to the YWCA’s current theme.

The Juneteenth Celebration provides educational outreach pertaining to the oldest known celebration that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States.  The celebration emphasizes that two and a half years after the official ending of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Texas were not told of their freedom until Major General Gordon Grander landed at Galveston, Texas with the news of freedom.