There was an important editorial by Clarence B. Jones in the Metro section of the Washington Post yesterday about black cemeteries, which strangely cannot be accessed through Google. Jones was an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Here is a quote from the print edition:
"African-Americans were segregated even in death, often buried in off-the-beaten-path black cemeteries that, over the years, received little funding and fell into disrepair...These neglected cemeteries are often hidden from public view. People need to recognize that this is a problem that exists in too many places, perhaps even in their own communities, and mobilize others to learn about the problem and act to fix it. It requires a partnership between government, philanthropists, businesses, communities and nonprofits. Most of all, it requires a commitment to reclaim these fading pieces of our nation's heritage before they are lost forever."
Tuesday night is a chance, especially for those who - understandably - have been unable to attend the daytime protests during work hours, to exhort our elected officials to make that commitment.
55 comments:
Wouldn't it be hilarious if the Westbard developer loses and then just shuts down all their property and suddenly residents have nothing there but empty buildings. They deserve it.
Good article.
Friday's Opinions page:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/black-cemeteries-are-crucially-important--and-all-too-often-neglected/2017/05/19/5d6a98e0-31bd-11e7-9534-00e4656c22aa_story.html?utm_term=.a7be02e29889
You're welcome.
And the best part is that the Post's article doesn't mention Robert Dyer's crusade ar all.
Yes please let's halt a great development in a dumpy part of town because of word of mouth and a possible cemetery with graves that can easily be moved and already have a terrible location. Ridiculous ...
A dumpy part of town! Hahaha! I suggest you get out a little more and find out what that really means, 5:18.
Besides the trail and plant shops and Whole Foods, it's a dump.
I live right next to the development and agree with 5:18 - it's dumpy as all get out right now and I would love to see a Bethesda Row type of experience near here.
6:29 AM Yep, upgraded shopping center would be nice.
But the current plan has too much density and not enough green space/parks.
And the cemetery's existence is an inconvenient truth.
8:09 AM, Beep Beep, might want to reheat that news since it has already covered it...
Free lunch...perfect for an unpaid intern!
"strangely cannot be accessed through Google"
Yeah, even Google is in on the conspiracy.
smh wow.
Odd how "Rugby" uses the exact same talking points as Robert Dyer. It's almost as if...
...they are the same person!
5:04: Many developers would love to come in and build a new shopping center, which would have widespread support. 3000+ new people and cars in a block-and-a-half space...not so much.
5:17/5:56/6:29: Hello, Regency Centers. "Graves that can easily be moved." Racist much?
Green space? It is surrounded by a massive trail with lots of park spots! You're nuts.
Why would anyone want to be buried in Westbard? Let's find a much nicer place for those bones.
"...in a block and a half space"
My God, not this bullshit talking point again.
9:34: "Massive trail?" A thin ribbon of asphalt with green on either side. "Park spots?" What's that? The only park in the vicinity is Little Falls Stream Valley Park, a chunk of which was given away to developer EYA, to boot.
There are no parks now, and a few postage-stamp size ones proposed in the plan. Sad!
9:36: Our resident Robert 'Exalted Cyclops' Byrd fan checks in again.
9:41: I invite anyone to go and look down Ridgefield from Westbard to River, and then down Westbard to the intersection at Park Bethesda, et voila, 1 and a half blocks.
But the emails!
Dyer @ 9:46:
1) Do you understand the difference between distance and area?
2) Even the distance is more than that.
"Green space? It is surrounded by a massive trail with lots of park spots! You're nuts."
This is called "burying the lede". LOL
9:53: Yes, I do. The Westwood shopping center encompasses one block. Ridgefield between Westbard and River is half-a-block. Math is a wonderful thing.
"The Westwood shopping center encompasses one block."
By your definition, Montgomery Mall would also be "one block".
"Park spots"
This could be a new phrase for the Planning Board.
"You aren't getting a park, but you'll get "park spots": 2 square feet of wonderful grass."
Westbard Avenue between Ridgefield and The Residences at the Capital Crescent Trail* is three standard city blocks (.125 miles each), not "one block". And if you used the blocks of Manhattan or the Woodmont Triangle (.05 miles each), it would be eight blocks.
Also, using that very short stretch of Ridgefield to define the width of the property is deceptive - the property is much wider than that farther down.
*No longer "Park Bethesda", Mr. Self-Proclaimed Expert on All Things Westbard.
10:23AM "Self Proclaimed"
Interesting choice of words.
I think Robert should prove he actually graduated college with how stupid he sounds all the time. I refuse to believe that UMD actually gave someone this stupid a degree.
There's book-learning and there's common sense. One doesn't guarantee the other.
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
Robert again is having a hard time understanding blocks. The other week he didn't understand how a parking garage 2 Woodmont Triangle blocks was close to Starbucks/Tastee Diner.
SAD indeed Robert. Perhaps walk Bethesda sometime it will help you understand the distances better than Google Maps and save you a few precious quarters in parking.
how cum no covrage of maryland (ur alma mattor) valediktorian dropping out?
http://www.barstoolsports.com/barstoolu/university-of-maryland-valedictorian-says-he-failed-all-his-classes-on-purpose-and-dropped-out-of-school-2-weeks-before-graduation/?_branch_match_id=387664116258628426
#Skooped #UrAnFagit
Purple line ruling came out
12:00: Yes, read my report:
http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2017/05/judge-not-intimidated-by-trump-style.html
I sense you just linked a reheated article to your blog.
1:53: You're thinking of the small and slightly-failing magazine, which reheats my stories on nearly a daily basis.
Which stories did they "reheat" recently? Certainly not the Purple Line ruling, or yesterday's closure of the Bethesda Metro station.
10:48: Looks like your "book-learning" wasn't enough - Earth is named after the goddess Gaia.
4:46: Lina's opening, Foulger-Pratt 220 E. Middle Lane development, new Rockville Japanese steakhouse, moving Wilson Store building, Minuteman Press moving, Red Bandana bakery, Quincy's for sale (over 2 weeks later), school security has sex with student, Dog Haus, Westfield buys Sears store, Tastee Diner agrees to sale for $7M, etc., etc.
CalTech says differently
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/ask/68-How-did-Earth-get-its-name
"All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. The name Earth is an English/German name which simply means the ground. It comes from the Old English words 'eor(th)e' and 'ertha'. In German it is 'erde'. The name Earth is at least 1000 years old."
As does LiveScience
http://www.livescience.com/32274-how-did-earth-get-its-name.html
We can agree to disagree and I won't even return the insult, no matter how deserved it may be.
On this day in 1934, notorious criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police while driving a stolen car near Sailes, Louisiana.
3:52: CalTech got it wrong - Earth is a translation of the goddess names Terra Mater and Gaia, in Rome and Greece, respectively.
Well, I'll agree to disagree.
Since you won't, you can continue to be wrong.
Gaia was the personification of mother earth and the mother of the Titans. She bore the seas. Many Neopagans worship Gaia.
Beliefs regarding Gaia vary, from the belief that Gaia is the Earth to the belief that she is the spiritual embodiment of the earth.
Since neither one of us was there at the time, and no one documented why or how, there really is no way to know for sure.
"CalTech got it wrong - Earth is a translation of the goddess names Terra Mater and Gaia, in Rome and Greece, respectively."
You don't have the slightest idea of what you just said.
Dyer, do you have any sources for your claims? Anna posted two for hers.
6:22: Yes, I do. It's too bad your education didn't include the classics. Do you realize that the same gods have different names in other languages, such as Greek vs. Latin? By Jove!
6:10: How can I be wrong, when the Earth is named after a Greek and Roman goddess?
G. Money, I had no idea you were this ignorant about the basics of Greek and Roman culture. "Plato was an important philosopher." "Do you have any sources for that claim?!" - G. Money
6:56AM - I'll take that as a "No."
"Yes I do" is not a bibliography.
6:10 - Because you don't know it was.
Hey, I was willing to agree to disagree. You're the one insisting your way is the only way.
Let's see that absolute proof. In your 6:53AM comment, you *say* you have it.
So let's see it. Let's see where it says your way is 100% correct.
Go ahead. Show us.
I'm new to the area and curious, do these neighborhoods fighting the development actually really care about cemeteries being built over or is this just because it's a development they don't want so close to them?
its pretty well known its the latter. but its convenient since you can't obviously say it since they just call you a racist.
cemeteries get moved, not just AfAm ones. There are ways to do it respectfully and honor the remains.
dyer are you a flat earther?
@11:29 @4:05
Welcome to the area @11:29.
Contrary to @4:05's wild assertion ... it's pretty well known that Westbard residents act as one, they stand in solidarity with their friends and neighbors (like the Macedonia Baptist Church), and Westbard residents have integrity without sanctimony. Contrast this upstanding behavior with that oozing from Rockville -- that is, Council and planners have been desperately clawing at the moral high horse -- and failing.
Westbard residents are routinely slandered as racist NIMBYs; but no matter. We know who we are as individuals and as a community. MoCo has never seen residents act in lock-step solidarity.
You'll have to forgive @4:05 for spouting the Council/planners talking points; it's all they've got.
Are there other instances of cemeteries having been built on in this area? Do westbard residents fight against those instances as well?
@3:22 If you have information about additional cemeteries, please do pass it along. We are not personally aware of other Westbard cemeteries.
3:22: I sense you may be with the developer here, with your skepticism of your new "neighbors" being stronger than your skepticism of the $4 billion out-of-state development firm - but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
There are several family cemeteries within a square mile of the one we are talking about now, but no one has tried to build on them yet. Furthermore, I have been talking about this particular cemetery since 2011. At that time, the specific location of the cemetery was unknown, but I warned the Council, the Planning Board and the NCPC that we should be determining where it was to avoid this very situation. Regency Centers/Equity One had not even bought the land yet in 2011, much less proposed a redevelopment plan.
3:22 here. Certainly not with developers.
Just seems like these neighbors wouldn't normally really care about an issue like this unless it was so close to them. I may venture to guess cemeteries are built over all the time, and this is the only instance which they are about. Makes sense, of course, it affects them understandably.
11:54, isn't that the definition of NIMBY?
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