Hood Huggers International
Rebuilding Affrilachia Through Art, Environment and Social Enterprise
Walking Tours
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Specialty Tours
New Project, Blue Note Junction!
Hood Huggers International, Peace Gardens & Market, and partner organization Asheville Creative Arts are building a one-of-a-kind health and business incubator within the community to be called Blue Note Junction: an Urban Microfarm, Community and Creativity Hub. This new hub will be a one-stop experience where visitors will be able to buy-local, learn about history, invest in regenerative practices, visit the sauna, take in a show, and support multiple BIPOC owned businesses.
Now available for purchase! The CAP Playbook is a powerful vision for creating a sustainable, inclusive, and economically empowered culture in historically marginalized communities. The book presents a collage of life experiences, opportunities, threats, disappointments, actions, successes, visions, and dreams encountered along the journey toward restoration and helping a community unify and draw strength from its ongoing resilience.
Mission and Vision
Using Hood Huggers International as a vehicle for his community engaged social enterprise work, founder DeWayne Barton pursues the vision of “Rebuilding Affrilachia” projects in and around Asheville, NC. Affrilachia refers to African Americans living in Appalachia. The term was originally coined by Frank X Walker in reference to the region of Appalachia, a mountain range stretching over thirteen states along the East Coast of the U.S. from Mississippi to New York. Affrilachia is an ever-evolving cultural landscape poised to render the invisible visible, and contains a population that needs and deserves economic investment to ensure its visibility and thriving future.