Asheville & Buncombe County to Honor Dr. King’s Legacy

44th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County will celebrate 44 years of keeping Dr. King’s dream and legacy alive over the weekend of January 18–20, 2025.

The weekend kicks off with the annual community Prayer Breakfast at 8 a.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2025 at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville. Tickets to the Prayer Breakfast are $30. Other events include the historic Candlelight Service on Sunday evening, January 19, 2025, and the Peace March & Rally on Monday, January 20, 2025, the official King holiday.

“This year’s events are especially meaningful as we come together to celebrate Dr. King’s dream and reflect on the power of resilience and community in the wake of Hurricane Helene,” said Dr. Oralene Anderson Graves Simmons, president of the MLK Association. “We are honored to welcome Governor Josh Stein as a special guest during this year’s festivities.”

Jonathan McCoy
Jonathan McCoy

Prayer Breakfast Keynote Address

Jonathan McCoy, Director of the Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (CDEI) and Instructor of History at Mars Hill University (MHU), will be the keynote speaker at the Prayer Breakfast. McCoy is the son of Rev. William and Joan McCoy of Durham, NC. His father was a chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and served at prisons in PA, CA, IL, and North Carolina. Along with his mother and brother Michael, he attended many services alongside the incarcerated men—experiences that shaped and reinforced his belief in the value and need for servant leadership and social justice.

In Durham, Jonathan graduated from Northern High School in 1987. He earned a football scholarship to Mars Hill College (now Mars Hill University) where he was a member of the Residential Living staff, and, in his senior year, was the first African American elected president of the Student Government Association.

Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Arts in both History and in Political Science, graduating in 1992. In 2000, he earned his MA in History from NC State University. He then taught at-risk students and coached football, wrestling, and track in the Durham County and Wake County Public School, returning to Mars Hill to teach in 2018.

As an educator, Jonathan centers his work on helping students in their efforts to strengthen their self-awareness through developing a transformational mindset rooted in critical thinking, communication, and cultural consciousness that empowers positive engagements. In 2020 he was named director of MHU’s CDEI. In this role, he has built on his approach to teaching by working with campus and community partners to create united sustained equity grounded in diverse initiatives.

Jonathan is the interim pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Mars Hill, NC. He is active in several area organizations, as the Vice President of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County, and chair of their Community Outreach Providing Empowerment (COPE) Program. He is also a board member of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, a leadership team member of the Madison County Racial Justice Coalition, and a member of the Madison County Rotary Club. Since 2002, he has been married to Dr. Audrey K. Martin, Associate Director of the SERVE Center at UNC-Greensboro.

Mayor Preston Blakely
Mayor Preston Blakely

Candlelight Service on January 19, 2025

The Keynote Speaker for the Candlelight Service at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Asheville will be Mayor Preston Blakely of Fletcher, NC. Blakely was elected mayor of Fletcher in November 2021, becoming one of the youngest mayors in the country at age 27. In addition to his local public service, he was appointed to the Statewide Task Force for Racial Equality in Criminal Justice by former Governor Roy Cooper.

Blakely is a graduate of UNC-Greensboro, where much of his civic involvement took root. The grandson of civil rights legend Oralene Simmons, and son of Asheville business owners Jonathan and Namurah Blakely, he grew up surrounded by people who hoped, one way or another, to change the world—or at least the corner of it where they lived in the towns, cities, and counties of North Carolina. When he started college, he didn’t know what his future might hold, yet by his sophomore year, he had chosen a double major in Political Science and African American & African Diaspora Studies.

In line with his undergraduate work, he interned with NC State Senator Terry Van Duyn of Asheville and then with NC Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-12). He then returned to WNC to pursue a masters degree in Public Affairs at Western Carolina University, while working as a graduate assistant in Cullowhee’s Public Policy Institute. In an interview with The Urban News shortly after he earned his MA, he expressed interest, though not passion, about running for public office.

“I’d love to be an elected public official one day, federal, state, or local. I’d love to influence policy. I can’t say exactly what I want to do, because there are so many ways to do it. I want to own my own business … be a politician … be an administrative officer … teach African American history. It’s hard: I want to do everything in the world.”

But within a few years, he had thrown his hat into the ring for a town council seat in Fletcher, which he won handily, and two years after that, ran for mayor and won by an almost 3-1 margin—in a town that the 2020 US census identifies as 90% White.

The MLK Association welcomes all to attend. The Candlelight Service is open to all at no cost.

Schedule of Events

Prayer Breakfast – Saturday, January 18, 2025, beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Crowne Plaza Resort, 1 Resort Dr., W. Asheville. Details at mlkasheville.org/activities/prayer-breakfast.

Candlelight Service – Sunday, January 19, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church Street, Asheville. Details at mlkasheville.org/activities/candlelight-service.

Peace March and Rally – Monday, January 20, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at St. James A.M.E. Church, 144 Hildebrand Street, Asheville. Peace March starts at 12:30 p.m. from St. James A.M.E. Church to rally at Pack Square Park. Details at mlkasheville.org/activities/peace-march-rally.


About The Martin Luther King Association of Asheville & Buncombe County

The MLK Association of Asheville & Buncombe County works year-round to celebrate Dr. King’s Legacy through its Community Outreach Providing Empowerment (COPE) Initiative. Each April, the MLK Association recognizes high-achieving area middle and high school students who demonstrate exceptional leadership, intellect, and community engagement. Scholarship recipients are awarded funding to attend the university of their choice. For more information, visit mlkasheville.org, or contact Dr. Oralene G. Simmons at (828) 777-0284, [email protected].

 

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