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Social Justice
Asheville Reparations Commission Part Two
Part Two: Mission and Work
Five work groups are responsible for analyzing detailed information on the Impact Focus Areas and reporting key findings to the full commission.
Social Justice
WWWD - The November 5, 2024 U.S. Election
The November 5, 2024 U.S. Eection
"If you know what's good for you in the long run, DIAL IT BACK."
Environmental Integrity
Sochan gathering in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
by Sarah Farmer, US Forest Service
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the National Park Service signed an agreement restoring tribal members’ right to harvest sochan in the park.
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - May 12, 1939
May 12, 1939
"Something wonderful happened yesterday. I only wish you'd have been here to share my joy."
Social Justice
Asheville Reparations Commission - Part One
Part One: Background and Resolution
"In July 2020, the Asheville City Council passed a resolution supporting community reparations for Black Asheville..."
Written & Spoken Word
Fred Chappell
"Fred Chappell: I Am One of You Forever"
A documentary film about the life of Fred Chappell (1936-2024), produced by UNC Greensboro Media Studies professor Michael Frierson
Social Justice
Natalie Baszile announcement
Author will live for two months at Wilma's childhood home in Lynn Cove just north of Asheville, NC
“The Wilma Dykeman WIR program represents the rare gift of time and space, something that is difficult to sustain in my life in San Francisco."
Written & Spoken Word
The Totality
Robert Nozick and Wilma Dykeman
"When we see and conceive of ourselves as a part of those ongoing processes, we identify with the totality..."
Social Justice
Malcolm X speaks in Detroit - February 1965 - Part Two
Part Two
"The masses of our people still have bad housing, bad schooling, and inferior jobs..."
Social Justice
Malcolm X speaks in Detroit - February 1965 - Part One
Part One
"I was in a house last night that was bombed - my own."
Environmental Integrity
Beyond Monarchs: A Pollinator Primer
A Pollinator Primer
"Plenty of pollinators overwinter in our yards, gardens and fields, using plants and debris that are left behind."
Environmental Integrity
The Bald Eagle
An Overview by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
"The bald eagle is an Endangered Species Act success story."
Written & Spoken Word
The Irreplaceable Gift
A lyrical, atmospheric new picture book celebrates author and environmentalist Wilma Dykeman
“Wilma’s companions were flowering dogwoods, twinkling fireflies, tumbling streams. In nature, she was never alone.”
Social Justice
Nappy Thoughts: What I Want My White Friends to Know about Racism and Our Friendship
What I Want My White Friends to Know about Racism and Our Friendship
"I'm going to share five tips. Five things I want to see my White friends do."
Social Justice
Black In Asheville - a 2023 documentary film by Todd Gragg
A 2023 documentary film by Todd Gragg
Todd's simple question to himself, "Why aren't there more successful Black businessmen in Asheville, North Carolina?" led to his making this film.
Social Justice
The Asheville View
The Wilma Dykeman Legacy and Social Justice
"Our programs include supporting black artists, publishing black voices, and working in white space to educate about passive and active racism."
Environmental Integrity
Wilma Dykeman Greenway - The Missing Mile
The Wilma Dykeman Greenway
“The city of Asheville and NCDOT will continue to coordinate on the design and ultimate construction of the greenway [extension]."
Environmental Integrity
Stormwater 101 - Part Two
RiverLink's call to Reduce Rain Runoff
"Don't run off: Be a Part of the Solution."
Environmental Integrity
Stormwater 101 - Part One
RiverLink's call to Reduce Rain Runoff
"The sheer volume and velocity of rain runoff is the biggest threat today to the health of the French Broad River watershed."
Written & Spoken Word
Brothers and Sisters Like These - Part Three
A Creative Writing Program for Veterans
"What carries us all are the relationships we've been privileged to build with wounded veterans willing to write and share their remarkable stories."
Written & Spoken Word
Brothers and Sisters Like These - Part Two
A Creative Writing Program for Veterans
"Each of them has found an ability to articulate memories, losses, and triumphs in their own unique voice."
Written & Spoken Word
Brothers and Sisters Like These - Part One
A Creative Writing Program for Veterans
It didn't take Veterans Administration physician Bruce Kelly long to "realize how many veterans in my care were still carrying wounds from service."
Environmental Integrity
As vast as climate change, as personal as a child with asthma
WE NEED YOUR INPUT (not your money)
"Tell us what Environmental Justice means to you."
Written & Spoken Word
The Metamorphosis - Part Three
Franz Kafka
"'I will not utter my brother's name in front of this monster, and thus I say only that we must try to get rid of it.'"
Written & Spoken Word
The Metamorphosis - Part Two
Franz Kafka
"About one month had already gone by since Gregor's transformation..."
Social Justice
K-12 Education
Report from U.S. Government Accountability Office
A history of discriminatory practices has contributed to inequities in education, which are intertwined with disparities in wealth, income, & housing.
Environmental Integrity
What does environmental justice mean to you?
by Kate Bashford, Wilma Dykeman Legacy Program Chair for Environmental Integrity
Since the onset of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, environmental “justice” is often meted out by powerful people to disastrous effect.
Social Justice
Children's Health and Safety
as reported by the U.S. Government Accountability Office
"It is difficult to know if the states' efforts to improve the quality of child care are working."
Social Justice
Tribal and Native American Issues
as reported by the U.S. Government Accountability Office
"American Indians and Alaska Natives continue to rank near the bottom of all Americans in terms of health, education, and employment."
Written & Spoken Word
The Metamorphosis - Part One
Franz Kafka
"One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug."
Environmental Integrity
The State of Our Rivers - Part Four
MountainTrue's 2023 Report
"Community health and economic risks require policy interventions."
Environmental Integrity
The State of Our Rivers - Part Three
MountainTrue's 2023 Report
"Sources of pollution are not a mystery."
Environmental Integrity
The State of Our Rivers - Part Two
Mountain True's 2023 report
"Stream health is generally good."
Written & Spoken Word
Moby Dick - Chapter Four
Read by Rick Kisner
Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg’s arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner.
Environmental Integrity
The State of Our Rivers - Part One
Mountain True's 2023 Report
"The French Broad River is generally unsafe for swimming and other primary recreation."
Written & Spoken Word
Alice in Wonderland - Chapter Four
The Rabbit Sends In a Little Bill
Alice is once again approached by the White Rabbit, but finds herself once again changed after having a drink.
Social Justice
Allen High School Reminiscence by Mary Othella Burnette
My days at Allen High School: 1948-1949
"And Allen was integrated in a way I had never seen before."
Social Justice
The Allen School in Asheville, North Carolina, 1887-1974
An Extraordinary Educational Opportunity for African Americans
By 1972, more than three-quarters of Allen High School graduates attended four-year colleges.
Social Justice
Shanita Jackson is the 2nd Wilma Dykeman Writer-in-Residence at UNCA
Author will live for a month at Wilma's childhood home in Lynn Cove just north of Asheville, NC
"It is a full circle and a dream come true to return to my stomping grounds with the soul purpose of creating, writing..."
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - November 18, 1938
November 18, 1938
"I really feel quite adult in many of my ideas and beliefs. I truly feel I have a firmer basic moral and spiritual stronghold than any of the girls."
Written & Spoken Word
John F Kennedy - Remarks at Amherst College honoring Robert Frost
Wealth Inequality and the Value of the Artist
"I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist."
Social Justice
Ashley McGhee Whittle - My Story: Part Three
Paul Brigmon as a Youth
And they went to every race they could get to in Asheville. Those were illegal races. That big long straightaway in front of where Sam's Club is now..
Social Justice
Ashley McGhee Whittle: My Story - Part Two
Nancy Anderson Brigmon
"She had so many mouths she had to support that she stood down there and thought about throwing Peggy in the creek."
Social Justice
Ashley McGhee Whittle: My Story - Part One
The Black Andersons
M signified Mulatto. The word "mulatto," while never precise, most often connoted a White father and Black mother.
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - October 27, 1938
October 27, 1938
"Saturday is the big Homecoming Celebration for the football team, and we play Minnesota, which will probably be the toughest game of the year..."
Written & Spoken Word
Wilma Dykeman's Letters from Northwestern - Introduction
Introduction
"I know that you're being taken good care of now, and if you will enjoy yourself, and not worry about filthy lucre, everything will be hunky dorey."
Environmental Integrity
Nature-Based Solutions for Water - Part Four
Nature-Based Solutions for Droughts and Floods
Water-related risks and disasters...result in immense and growing human and economic losses globally.
Environmental Integrity
Nature-Based Solutions for Water - Part Three
Nature-Based Solutions for Water Pollution
Non-point source (diffuse) pollution from agriculture - notably nutrients - is a major problem worldwide. It is also one of the most amenable to NBS.
Environmental Integrity
Nature-Based Solutions for Water - Part Two
Nature-Based Solutions for Water Scarcity
"An estimated 3.6 billion people (nearly half the global population) live in areas that are potentially water-scarce at least one month per year."
Social Justice
A Day Of Listening
How can active listening be used to heal and improve our community?
Charles Fischer - High School English - Charlottesville VA
Social Justice
Building Community Brick by Brick
Can building a wall create a more inclusive community of both "insiders" and "outsiders?"
Rachel Reaves - Erwin Middle School - Asheville NC
Written & Spoken Word
Changing the World One Poem at a Time!
How can we promote social justice through poetry?
Aeryalle Coward - Pamlico County High School - Bayboro NC
Environmental Integrity
Nature-Based Solutions for Water - Part One
What are Nature-Based Solutions?
Water resource management remains dependent on human-built ('grey') infrastructure. Nature-based solutions support green growth or the green economy.
Environmental Integrity
Partnerships and Cooperation for Water
The United Nations World Water Development Report 2023
The three planetary crises of (1) climate change, (2) nature (biodiversity) loss, and (3) pollution are central to the UN's environmental strategy.
Environmental Integrity
Ozone Layer Recovery is On Track
Ozone Layer Recovery is On Track
"Nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances" have been phased out.
Written & Spoken Word
Moby Dick - Chapter Three
As read by Rick Kisner
"...and an exasperated whale proposing to spring clean over the craft as in the enormous act of impaling himself upon the three mastheads."
Written & Spoken Word
My Story: Matthew Bacoate, Jr. as told by Becky Stone
Integrating the first privately owned commercial facility in Asheville, North Carolina
"Everyone had to stay in their place. So that was the Asheville that Matthew Bacoate was born into in 1930."
Social Justice
John Vercher is the 1st Wilma Dykeman Writer-in-Residence at UNCA
Author will live for a month at Wilma's childhood home in Lynn Cove just north of Asheville, NC
“We are living in an era where our words are under fire, and...UNC Asheville is [leading] a movement to change the world with our writing."
Written & Spoken Word
Nella Larsen
An Introduction by Sharon Lynette Jones
"Larsen's works are read, discussed, and written about by scholars nationally and globally, and are taught in colleges and universities."
Environmental Integrity
Resilient Agriculture - Part Two
Bouncing Forward to a Resilient Food Future - Part Two
"Are you ready to step on the path to a resilient agriculture? Read on to learn about the 12 things that you can do at home and in your community..."
Environmental Integrity
Resilient Agriculture - Part One
Bouncing Forward to a Resilient Food Future - Part One
"There is a growing sense in government, business and civil society worldwide that business as usual is no longer an option when it comes to food."
Environmental Integrity
Geothermal Energy: The Basics
The Basics
The heat flowing from Earth’s interior is continually replenished by the decay of naturally occurring radioactive elements and will remain available..
Written & Spoken Word
Jim Stokely on Wilma Dykeman's life and career - Part Two
As told by son Jim Stokely to Henry McCarthy on WEHC 90.7FM-WISE 90.5FM "The Voice of Southwest Virginia"
On July 24, 2019, at Wilma Dykeman's childhood home just north of Asheville, North Carolina, her son Jim Stokely discussed Wilma's life and career.
Written & Spoken Word
Jim Stokely on Wilma Dykeman's life and career - Part One
As told by son Jim Stokely to Henry McCarthy on WEHC 90.7FM-WISE 90.5FM "The Voice of Southwest Virginia"
On July 24, 2019, at Wilma Dykeman's childhood home just north of Asheville, North Carolina, her son Jim Stokely discussed Wilma's life and career.
Written & Spoken Word
Stephen Crane's "Men in the Storm"
Stephen Crane's short story "The Men in the Storm"
"In this half-darkness, the men began to come from their shelter places and mass in front of the doors of charity. They were of all types..."
Social Justice
Rob Thomas: My Story - Part Six
Part Six
What's next is still waiting to be defined. I want to find my own financial security, because honestly, I still feel like I'm in slavery.
Social Justice
Rob Thomas - My Story - Part Five
Part Five
When I got out at 31, April 28th, 2018, I came home with a plan this time. I was in Asheville, just out of prison.
Social Justice
Rob Thomas: My Story - Part Four
Part Four
From the time my parents lost their house in Shiloh, around the age of seven, until I got out of prison at the age of 31, those are all dark years.
Social Justice
Rob Thomas - My Story - Part Three
Part Three
I went to Asheville Middle from 6th to 8th grade. I was a quite, shy kid who had straight A's...Then I went to Asheville High, but I didn't graduate.
Written & Spoken Word
With Fire and Sword: The Battle of Kings Mountain, 1780
by Wilma Dykeman
There, on an early October afternoon 5 years after the beginning of the Revolution, [occurred] a confrontation that marked a turning point in the war.
Social Justice
Rob Thomas: My Story - Part Two
Part Two
"So I looked around, I knew what was around me, and I saw that drug dealers had a lot of respect. They had what I felt like I wanted..."
Social Justice
Rob Thomas: My Story - Part One
Part One
"I was born May 25th, 1987, here in Asheville, North Carolina, I think at St. Joseph's Hospital. My parents were actual high school sweethearts..."
Social Justice
My Story - Mary Othella Burnette
Mary Othella Burnette
"I was born into a small, close-knit African American community of the Swannanoa Valley..."
Social Justice
Darin Waters on Wilma Dykeman and Neither Black Nor White - Part Two
Video of Dr. Waters' 9/29/13 talk on Wilma Dykeman as Journalist - Part Two
"For me, the work that Wilma Dykeman and her husband did represents an effort to force the Southern region at that time to face itself."
Social Justice
Darin Waters on Wilma Dykeman and Neither Black Nor White - Part One
Video of Dr. Waters' 9/29/13 talk on Wilma Dykeman as Journalist - Part One
"It was her passion that enabled her to be so productive over the course of her lifetime."
Environmental Integrity
Water Energy (Hydroelectric Power) - The Basics
The Basics
In 2020 about 66% of Washington state’s electricity came from hydropower.
Environmental Integrity
Wind Energy - The Basics
The Basics
Currently, there are utility-scale wind plants in 41 states that have created more than 100,000 jobs for Americans.
Environmental Integrity
Solar Energy - The Basics
The Basics
The amount of sunlight that strikes Earth's surface in one hour and a half is enough to handle the entire world's energy consumption for a full year.
Written & Spoken Word
Moby Dick - Chapter Two
Chapter Two as read by Rick Kisner
"Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air..."
Written & Spoken Word
Moby Dick - Chapter One
Loomings
"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse..."
Written & Spoken Word
Zora Neale Hurston - Part Two
Sharon Jones on Hurston's autobiography: Dust Tracks on a Road
"I was born in a Negro town," wrote Hurston on the first page of her autobiography. "I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town."
Written & Spoken Word
Zora Neale Hurston - Part One
Sharon Jones on Hurston's Life and Achievements
Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison called Zora Neale Hurston "One of the greatest writers of our time," yet she died in a Florida welfare home.
Environmental Integrity
The River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina - Part Two
Who revived the French Broad River?
"The Wilma Dykeman Greenway opened with a month of celebrations in 2021 that began on Earth Day and ended on May 20, its namesake's birthday."
Environmental Integrity
The River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina - Part One
Who killed the French Broad River?
"By the 1950s, Asheville's rapid population growth turned the French Broad River into an open cesspool in the form of floating sewage..."
Environmental Integrity
The Economic Impact of the French Broad River Watershed
A Study by the French Broad River Partnership
"We set out to measure the economic impact of the French Broad River in Western North Carolina..."
Written & Spoken Word
Alice in Wonderland - Chapter Three
A Caucus-race and a Long Tale
Now on the bank, Alice receives a history lesson from a mouse. Alice's story of her Dinah cat causes all the other animals to run away.
Social Justice
Hillbilly – a 2018 documentary film
How does contemporary America view poverty and rural identity?
"Poverty that has a white face definitely gives a lie to the whole idea of the American dream, democracy, so we push white poverty into the hills."
Environmental Integrity
Renewable Energy - A Primer
Types and Benefits of Renewable Energy
Renewable energy generates about 20% of all U.S. electricity, and that percentage continues to grow.
Environmental Integrity
What Good are Wild Turkeys?
Joe Hutto's Illumination in the Flatwoods: A Season Living Among the Wild Turkey
"One of the most interesting and gratifying aspects of this project is observing the absolute joy that these birds experience in their lives..."
Written & Spoken Word
John Muir - The Wild Gospel of Nature
A video narrated by Chris Highland
"Contemplating the lace-like fabric of streams outspread over the mountains..."
Written & Spoken Word
John Burroughs: In Love with the Earth
A video narrated by Chris Highland
"I find something akin to poetry and religion in the shows of day and night, and in my excursions to fields and woods."
Social Justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks - Part Three
1964 speech on “The American Dream” at Drew University, Madison NJ
"And that is another thing about this philosophy..."
Social Justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks - Part Two
1964 speech on “The American Dream” at Drew University, Madison NJ
"The third thing that must be done, in order to make The American Dream a reality..."
Social Justice
Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks – Part One
1964 speech on “The American Dream” at Drew University, Madison NJ
On February 5, 1964, Drew University proudly hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a convocation speaker.
Environmental Integrity
Economic Value of Wilderness - Part Four
Wilderness provides more than its fair share of clean water
Wilderness areas in the eastern US rank highly in the importance of their watersheds to our drinking water supply.
Social Justice
Immigration - 1946 film from Encyclopedia Britannica Films
This post-World War II video is worth watching to remind us how we are a nation of immigrants.
This 10-minute film from 1946 - made for instruction - plays surprisingly well in 21st century America.
Written & Spoken Word
Alice in Wonderland - Chapter Two
The Pool of Tears read by Lorraine Montgomery
"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice..."now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was!"
Environmental Integrity
The Economic Value of Wilderness - Part Three
Societal Relevance of Wilderness Lands
Find out how younger generations value wilderness differently from baby boomers.
Social Justice
The Trail of Tears - Part Two
Forced Removal of the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee culture thrived for thousands of years in the southeastern United States before European contact.