Hood Huggers International

This was a wonderful tour and I highly recommend it to everyone. It was a real eye opener. Dewayne is so knowledgeable and informative. This tour was the most memorable part of our trip to Asheville. Thank you Hood Huggers!!

I am very glad I found the Hood Huggers Tour on Visit Asheville's site, when I travel I like to see & do the things the locals do and I definitely learned about the African American History of Asheville which I gained a strong appreciation for. Having traveled to other well cultured destinations, I've learned "everything that glitters isn't gold", and while Asheville has many good things going for it there are many communities that still need & deserve a lot of support. I strongly recommend doing this tour when in Asheville!

So much of American history has failed to include both the contributions of the Black community as well as the harms that have come to Black people through unfair government and social policies. This tour underscores and celebrates the ongoing resilience of our Black communities in Asheville as well as providing missing historical information about the influences of Black artisans and educators in East Asheville. I highly recommend this experience for groups as well as individuals. It was excellent.

Great tour! Would recommend if you want to learn about the AA history of Asheville, VA. It was a true honoring of the ancestors. Thank you -

Informative and insightful. Dewayne is very knowledgeable both about Asheville history and with current developments plus we learned about Pierce's grandfather's role in early days and had a delightful song/dance too. The Burton Street tour is fascinating for anyone who wants to understand Asheville history particularly as it regards racial inequality/discrimination and how the neighborhood is working together to improve this community.

This tour was enlightening, humbling, and very special. To learn about African American history in Asheville’s context was eye-opening as a local, and I hope to take what I learned on this tour and educate myself and others on the importance of truly seeing everyone and treating them with compassion, value, and love. Our tour guide, Daniel, was so kind and welcoming. His smile radiated passion for what he does and it was obvious the heart he has for his community. I highly recommend these tours and Daniel as a tour guide!

Hood Huggers tours should not be missed! (And should be a requirement for anyone living in Asheville) I went on both the Eagle Street and Burton Street tours with a group from my church this week. Both tours were incredible. DeWayne is an excellent tour guide who engages people of all ages in the experience. Beyond the history that is shared on the tour, he also has a wealth of information to share about current policies and projects happening. I cannot recommend these tours enough!

A great tour for both visitors and residents to experience. It was the most engaging tour I've ever been on, educating me not only on Black history in Asheville but encouraging me to think about how I can leave the tour and support the Black community. And it opened with a performance from an amazing local artist, Virtuous - a concert and tour all in one!

While visiting Asheville for a long weekend from Washington, D.C., booking a Hood Huggers tour was one of the best things we did. Led by Mr. Dwayne, the tour is an hour and a half learning about the Burton Street Community, a historically Black neighborhood in West Asheville and the victim of gentrification and highway expansions. Hood Huggers was created to serve as a champion for the 1912 neighborhood and its long-time residents. My wife, eight-year-old daughter, and I booked a Sunday morning tour. Since it was just us, he gave us the option to walk it or take his little shuttle. Mr. Dwayne gave us the background on the area before Mr. Cotton, the grandson of the man who founded the neighborhood, joined us with a book of photos. After a drive, we ended at the Peace Gardens and Market, a sacred space for the community.

This is a great tour about the history pertaining Asheville NC . You can really learn a lot of information and also help the community by participating in this tour. Our tour guide was extremely nice knowledgeable in the information that was provided was priceless. I highly recommend. I hope you enjoy your experience as much as I did.

Took an amazing tour with Dewayne. He was able to make our tour memorable and explain how much the neighborhood has changed and what gentrification has done to the neighborhood. We also were able to speak with a descendant of the Buffalo soilder ( Mr Cotton) - there were soo many interesting stories about his family history as well as a bit about him playing for a band and various motown artist. Please check this tour out if you are ever in the area and want learn about this town in Ashville!

Very interesting tour to learn about the history of the area, the culture and much more!

Our Solidarity circle joined one of Dwayne's tours. What a gem he is! I am so grateful for the work he is doing to both educate about past on ongoing systemic harms and encourage action and support. Thank you so much for doing this work. It's so important and powerful. Looking forward to doing another one at an another location.

Informative and insightful. Dewayne is very knowledgeable both about Asheville history and with current developments plus we learned about Pierce's grandfather's role in early days and had a delightful song/dance too. The Burton Street tour is fascinating for anyone who wants to understand Asheville history particularly as it regards racial inequality/discrimination and how the neighborhood is working together to improve this community.

My wife and I decided to celebrate our 4th anniversary in Asheville this go around over Memorial Day weekend. As a Vegan I was excited to visit Asheville for its culinary greatness. I like to get all sides of a story so to speak and when I saw the Hood Huggers tour I figured it would be a great way to learn about Asheville's black history and how gentrification is currently affecting black Asheville. DaWayne Barton does an excellent job bringing Asheville's black history to life through statistics, spoken word, and visuals. DaWayne also shows the ramifications of gentrification and how it is not giving everyone in Asheville a piece of the tourist pie. One of the highlights is the community garden! I would highly recommend this tour for anyone that wants to go off of the beaten path and experience Asheville beyond the cuisine and other typical tourist attractions!

Deeply impressive! A colleague and I recently took a group of teenagers on a Hood Hugger tour of Burton Street. DeWayne was engaging, informative, and downright impressive. The kids were talking about it for days. This is a MUST SEE for anyone who is visiting Asheville, anyone who is new to Asheville, or anyone who was born and raised in Asheville or the broader WNC region.

Dwayne is an amazing teacher, engaging students and adults alike.

An incredible experience, learning about the history of Asheville, definitely a MUST if you are in the area.