M.A.R.C.H Newsletter: January 2026
This e-newsletter shares what the MLK Association and its Community Outreach Providing Empowerment (COPE) Program is doing and offers other news, events, and stories that align with its efforts. Below are some items that are noteworthy.
As always, feel free to share any or all of these items or the entire e-newsletter.
Friends,
As 2025 fades into our past, and 2026 dawns, I pray that we hold on to the peace, and joy of the Christmas season amid the uncertainty, fear, anger, and frustrations of life. This is a prayer of hope that we stay strong in our belief that our neighbors and our communities can and will continue to work to be united in respect and justice.
In short, this is faith. A faith that is rooted in love and focuses not just on ourselves but also on others. It is the selfless agape love Dr. King often preached and spoke about like he did in his sermon entitled “Divine and Human Mutuality.”
“Our long and noble dream of a world of peace may yet become a reality. But it will come neither by man working alone or God breaking in to crash the wicked schemes of men. Peace will come when men so open their lives to God that he will fill them with love, mutual respect, and understanding goodwill. Yes, social salvation can only come through faith—man’s willing acceptance of God’s mighty gift.”
It is also the optimism one feels when they read the article Dr. King wrote in 1956 about the Montgomery Bus Boycott entitled, “Our Struggle.” In the article, Dr. King reflected on the lessons that could be learned from the boycott. One lesson he learned was that:
“The basic conflict is not really over the busses. Yet we believe that, if the method we use in dealing with equality in the busses can eliminate injustice within ourselves, we shall at the same time be attacking the basis of injustice—man’s hostility to man. This can only be done when we challenge the white community to reexamine its assumptions as we are now prepared to reexamine ours. We do not wish to triumph over the white community. That would only result in transferring those now on the bottom to the top. But, if we can live up to nonviolence in thought and deed, there will emerge an interracial society based on freedom for all.”
Though 2025 was full of trials and troubles, we cannot let that weaken our resolve in 2026! We need to stay committed working for equity, opportunity, and justice for all. I wish you and your loved ones a year of safety, peace, and happiness in 2026!
Jonathan McCoy
VP of the MLK Association
Editor of the M.A.R.C.H newsletter
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Annual Prayer Breakfast
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Doors Open: 7:30 AM
Program Starts: 8:30 AM
Location: Crowne Plaza Resort, 1 Resort Dr., Asheville
Speaker: Mike Kelly
Purchase Tickets
To purchase a table (10 tickets) email Mrs. Sarah Thornburg at sthornburg@mwblawyers.com
Candlelight Service
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church Street, Asheville
The 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Awardees will be recognized for their outstanding service.
Speaker: Mary D. Williams
Peace March & Rally
Monday, January 19, 2026
Time: 11:30 AM
St. James A.M.E. Church
Location: 44 Hildebrand St.
Please bring a non-perishable food item to support the St. James community pantry
Fellowship Service Begins: 11:30 AM
Speaker: Elder Alfred Blount
Peace March Begins: 12:30 PM
Route: From St. James A.M.E. Church to Pack Square Park
Rally: 12:50 PM–1:20 PM in Pack Square Park
Speaker: Jonathan McCoy
*Also on Monday*
St. James Annual Fish Fry & Brunswick Stew Fundraiser 11am – until
More information can be found at https://mlkasheville.org/tickets-donations/
Observances This Month
National News
- In Trump’s economy, the Black unemployment rate continues to rise. article
- The Trump administration is threatening the International Criminal Court (ICC) with sanctions unless it ensures it will not investigate Donald Trump and his top officials. article
- Trump is using executive privilege to stifle a long-running January 6th lawsuit. article
- The American Academy of Pediatrics lost its Health and Human Services (HHS) funding after criticizing RFK Jr. article
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was once one of President Trump’s loudest supports in Congress. She’s leaving Congress on Jan. 5th as one of his loudest critics. article
- In a series of interviews, Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles revealed the chaotic and toxic personalities and relationships of his leadership team. article
- The US Supreme Court will decide if President Trump can restrict birthright citizenship. article
- Speaker Mike Johnson is asking his fellow Republicans to stop airing their frustrations with the party in public. article
- Under the radar actions by the Trump administration regarding NATO is troubling to some Republicans in Congress. article
- The US State Department is rejecting visa applications of people who work to fact-check the Trump administration. article
- The Trump administration has travel restrictions to another 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority. article
- The US Department of Justice keeps trying and failing to re-indict NY Attorney General Letitia James. article
- The National Park System dropped MLK Day and Juneteenth from days of free entry while specifically noting Flag Day/President Trump’s Birthday being added to the list. article
- The Indiana Republican led state Senate stood up to Trump by rejecting a redrawn congressional map. article
- Eighteen Navy SEALs were disciplined for racist memes they posted targeting a Black SEAL. article
Local News
- Cases of Chicken Pox are increasing in Buncombe County. article
- DK Wesley will begin serving as the City Manger of Asheville on January 12th. article
- The NC State Board of Elections is looking at Asheville Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley’s residency and voting record. article
- Construction of AdventHealth’s Weaverville hospital can now begin. article
- New polling sites have been chosen for the 2026 Buncombe County elections. article
- Two past newsletter articles worth reposting:
- Amid Asheville and Buncombe residents’ concerns over recent ICE and border Patrol actions, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement. article Know your rights article
- The shrinking Black population of Asheville is real and on-going. The Asheville Watchdog is taking a deep look at this issue in a series of four articles entitled “Losing our soul”. Here are the four articles: article 1 article 2 article 3 article 4
State News
- An untreatable norovirus is spreading quickly across NC. article
- The Lumbee Tribe has secured full federal recognition. article
- FEMA has been ordered to reinstate $200 million in disaster mitigation funding for NC. article
- The US Army is considering moving the historic Duke University-NC Central University ROTC program to UNC-Chapel Hill which could put the Black students at NCCU at a disadvantage. article
- The expansion of I-77 south of Charlotte once again puts historically Black neighborhoods at risk. article
- In November, the town of Garysburg, NC elected the youngest mayor in the state’s history. article
Issues in Education
- To deal with a backlog of discrimination cases the Trump administration is working to keep dozens of Education Department staffers in its Office for Civil rights who were scheduled to be laid off. article
- The Trump administration’s attack on DEI in education is hurting college age white men the most. article
- The University of Alabama shutdown student magazines for Black and women students. article
- Texas State University said it canceled a Black history exhibit because of the anti-DEI climate. article
- Pauline Copes Johnson spent a lifetime guarding the legacy of her great-great aunt Harriet Tubman. article
- Texas plans to open Turning Point chapters in every high school. Oklahoma and Florida are doing the same thing. article
- Holly Andreatta, mayor of Lincoln, CA, is being criticized for her comments on race, religion and LGBTQ identity during her speech to a high school Turning Point chapter meeting. article
- A statue of Barbara Rose Johns, the Black woman who in 1951 at the age of 16 led a protest against segregated schools in Virginia, has replaced the Robert E. Lee statue in the US Capitol. article
Social Justice
- The largest hate group in America is called Patriot Front. NewsChannel 5 (WTVF) in Nashville, TN did an in-depth investigation of the organization. article
- There is an ongoing battle over the legality of filming ICE Immigration raids. article
- Here is a look at how much of Project 2025 the Trump administration achieved in 2025. article
- President Trump is being sued by four federal employees who were fired from their jobs because they focused on DEI in the workplace. article
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency tasked with fighting workplace discrimination, is calling on white men to come forward with bias allegations. article
- After saying they would not, the US Coast Guard went ahead and enacted a policy de-emphasizing the divisiveness of swastikas and nooses. article Which led 2 US Senators to stop the promotion of Adm. Kevin Lunday to lead the department. article
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times Roman font because switching to Calibri font, was a wasteful DEI action. article
- The Trump administration is arguing that requiring real-time American sign Language interpretation at events hampers Trump’s ability to control the image he presents to the public. article
- A tax targeting Gullah-Geechee landowners on Sapelo island in Georgia could force them to off their land. article
- The leading Human Resources organization, SHRM, was ordered to pay $11.5 million after losing a racial bias and retaliation suit. article
- AT&T commits to ending its “short-sighted” DEI programs. article
- The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funds from the Smithsonian if it does not comply with its mandated review. article
- Visitors to the American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands continue to voice their objections to the removal of two displays recognizing Black troops who helped liberate Europe from the Nazis. article
Justice work begins with truth-telling.
This Is What Made Me is my journey through survival, reclamation, and healing — a reflection on the systems we fight and the futures we deserve.
If you’re looking for a powerful read for the new year, you can get your copy here.
https://aishajohnsonadams.com/this-is-what-made-me/
***Reparations***
- The Asheville and Buncombe County Community Reparations Comission Final Report
- The Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Asheville has created the RSAA Hurricane Helene Relief Fund.Here is the link to the donation page.
The Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville, Inc., has dissolved and donated its assets to the Reparations Stakeholder Authority of Asheville (R.S.A.A.) Press Release
Monthly Community Events
Hood Huggers offers a fun way to learn about the history of Black Asheville. They work on 17 different community projects as well as organizing volunteer opportunities at the Peace Garden 47 Bryant St. Assheville, NC 28806. There are regular Community volunteer days. The Farm stand is open on Fridays from 3pm-7pm every week. Get details about how to book a tour, volunteering or taking part in their other community actions here.
Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park Work Day
Come out and join us on Friday, January 16 from 2:30pm to 5pm
30 George Washington Carver Avenue
No experience is necessary — we’ll provide tools, water, and snacks! Come learn about the food forest and the amazing edible plants growing right here in our city.
This event is a collaboration between Bountiful Cities, the City of Asheville Sustainability Department, and the East End/Valley Street Neighborhood Association.
Let’s grow community and food together! If you have any questions or would like to RSVP, please contact Kelly at kelly@bountifulcities.org.
Resources of Interest
Ways To Learn & Take Action
The Listing of Ways to Take Action and Be Informed was created to help proplr looking for ways to resist and oppose the efforts of those who are working to reverse the progress that has been made in the US over the years.
This saved document can then be viewed independently of these periodic e-newsletters. Since the listing is a google doc, changes will be updated as new actions and opportunities become available.
The Color of Asheville’s Black-Owned Businesses and Community Directory
- The NC African American Heritage Commission (AAHC) created in 2008, the commission works across the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to achieve the mission of preserving, protecting, and promoting North Carolina’s African American history, art, and culture, for all people. website Subscribe to their monthly newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/dncr/ncaahc-newsletter
- The Freedom to Learn Network is a coalition of leading civil rights and social justice organizations; national teachers unions; education advocates; parents; students; and other interested parties across the nation and world focused on fighting against attempts to limit antiracist education in US schools. website
- The North Carolina State Capitol Historic Site has begun a “From Naming to Knowing” project. The goal of this project is to name and, as much as possible, share the stories of the enslaved men who built and maintained the State Capitol between 1833 and 1865. https://namingtoknowing.org/
- The National Museum of African American History & Culture has 500,000 pages of Freedman’s Bureau records available online. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/freedmens-bureau
- The Official mapping Police Violence database – https://mappingpoliceviolence.us/
Remembrance Projects Nationally & Locally
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) has been the important partner not only to Buncombe County but to all communities willing and working to address their history of racial injustice. As in each edition of this e-newsletter, we will continue to highlight several items from the EJI.
- EJI is currently working with nearly 100 communities to advance Community Remembrance Projects. More than half have erected historical markers. You can find out more about the communities that have erected EJI sponsored Community Remembrance Project markers here.
- You can view what is on each of the markers for Buncombe County, front and back, here as compiled by the Equal Justice Initiative. To see the markers, go to the following sites: for Mr. John Humphries – College & Spruce Streets; for Mr. Bob Brackett – Triangle Park; and for Mr. Hezekiah Rankin – Craven Street & Emma Road.
- The full stories about each of the three men who were lynched are captured in this document.
- The Equal Justice Initiative shared this webpage of the Historical Markers Installation Ceremony In Asheville on October 30th of 2021.
Please remember:
- Do you want to stay connected to the work of the Equal Justice Initiative? Sign up for updates about their work here.
- Every day of the year offers important racial justice history. If you want to get a daily reminder of that history, the Equal Justice Initiative offers this sign-up. Go here to get today’s reminder.
The NC Black Alliance offers this webpage with a page entitled – “Access to Healthcare: What You Need to Know” along with other pages that have articles and information concerning the Black community.