New petition requesting historic designation of threatened African-American cemetery in Bethesda

Community supporters of Macedonia Baptist Church and the Moses African Cemetery on the site of Westwood Tower in Bethesda are petitioning for the hidden graveyard to be designated historic, to protect it from development plans. A plan to build a parking garage and apartment building on top of the graves has supposedly been put on hold by the County Housing Opportunities Commission, but in reality, there is nothing preventing them from reversing that decision at any minute. In fact, the commissioners never even voted on that matter, making the declaration completely non-binding.

Regular readers of this site are well-versed in the facts about the cemetery, its history, and previous desecration in the late 1960s during construction of Westwood Tower.

But if you are new to the controversy, have questions, or simply want to show your support for the church and descendants of those buried in the Moses cemetery (who include some of the first African slaves freed after Maryland Emancipation, only to find themselves in death again the property of a white business enterprise worth billions of dollars), there is a potluck luncheon scheduled for this Monday, January 15, 2018, from noon to 3:00 PM, at Macedonia Baptist Church, located at 5119 River Road in Bethesda. Please bring a dish to share during the lunch.

You can sign the petition by clicking here.