Joel Burgess

jburgess@citizen-times.com

Isaac Coleman, a lifelong social justice advocate positioned to become the first African-American ever on Buncombe County's top governing body, has advanced-stage cancer, friends and political associates have said.

Coleman, 72, is staying in Charlotte where he's getting medical treatment, Gene Bell, Asheville Housing Authority CEO and a 20-year friend, said Monday. Coleman did not respond to a text message asking if he would be willing to talk about his condition.

Bell said he planned to visit Coleman this week and that he has stage IV cancer. That is the most advanced form of the disease, meaning it has spread to other organs.

City Councilman Keith Young, a former county commissioner candidate and recently elected council member, has worked with Coleman through an empowerment group for young African-Americans, HoodTalk.

Young called him "a close mentor" and said he wanted to respect Coleman and his family's privacy at this time.

"My heart goes out to all of them," he said.

Coleman lost in a three-way March 15 Democratic primary for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners District 1 seat. There have been other black commissioner candidates before, but none have won.

Local Democrats say Coleman remained in a position to join the board if District 1 commissioner and Democratic board vice chairman Brownie Newman were to win his Nov. 8 general election bid for chairman. Newman would leave his District 1 seat and local party officials would decide who would fill the remaining two years of his four-year term.

Buncombe County Democratic Party Chair Kathy Sinclair said that "without a doubt" Coleman was being talked about as a top choice.

Sinclair noted Coleman's long history as an activist starting as a "Freedom Rider" in the 1960s and working as a local party officer and backer of causes including living wages, clean water and a successful children's reading program.

"His work and dedication have positively affected the lives of us all and for that we say, 'thank you," she said. "His Democratic family wishes him the best."

In the 1960s, Coleman, a Lexington, Kentucky, native, worked to politically organize African-Americans, leading to his arrest and in one case the fire-bombing of his house in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Later, he was a member of the Mississippi Freedom Party, a populist party that challenged the then white-only Mississippi Democratic Party.

In 1971 he moved to Asheville and worked as a city housing inspector for 27 years and later for five years as an Asheville Housing Authority housing manager.

Politically, he served as county Democrats' second vice chairman, later gaining a seat on the state party's executive committee.

Among the long list of causes in which Coleman has been involved are the establishment of Just Economics, now the go-to organization for living wage standards; Clean Water for North Carolina; and Read to Succeed, a tutoring program that works to boost child literacy levels and is "the most successful reading program that we have in Asheville," said Bell, a former school board chairman.

In 2014 he was selected as an "Asheville Living Treasure," a prestigious regional award given for lifelong accomplishments.

HoodTalk bringing fresh attention to racial issues