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Wednesday, May 02, 2018

MoCo Council candidates to testify in support of Moses African Cemetery at HOC today

Candidates for the Montgomery County Council will testify in support of the Moses African Cemetery this afternoon, Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission headquarters at 10400 Detrick Avenue in Kensington at 4:00 PM. The desecrated cemetery is hidden on the HOC's Westwood Tower property on Westbard Avenue in Bethesda.

Any interested person may also testify this afternoon, as the candidates will be speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, which is open to all who sign up. Candidates speaking today will include Robert Dyer; Shruti Bhatnagar; Brandy Brooks; Craig Carozza-Caviness; Bill Cook; Hoan Dang; Ana Sol Gutierrez; Ashwani Jain; Will Jawando; Jim McGee; and Dalbin Osario.

“This demonstration of solidarity with the African community by ten candidates seeking public office represents a historical first,” said Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Social Justice Ministry Chair at Macedonia Baptist Church in Bethesda. “Historically, county politicians have been lined up in unison against African-American interests. This is a significant first in that after centuries of hostility toward people of color we have broken through intergenerational prejudices, and all of these candidates recognize our ancestors’ basic humanity.”
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“Moses African Cemetery should rightfully be conveyed into the safekeeping of Macedonia Baptist Church,” Coleman-Adebayo said. “Our church is the only surviving institution of that once thriving African community and the only institution among an array county government and private businesses that did not actively participate in the dismantling of the African community, the disenfranchisement of our people and the desecration of Moses Cemetery. After at least a century of betrayal by those in county government and their private partners, the county cannot be trusted—and HOC cannot be trusted—with the preservation of our history and the sanctification of Moses African Cemetery.”
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:49 AM

    Daily reminder: The supposed cemetery was owned by a Black benevolent society and sold more than 50 years ago. The Church should take it up with that seller, not the current owner.

    If the cemetery was so important, they wouldn't have sold it. The Church has had 50 years to buy it back. Why didn't they care?

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  2. Anonymous6:28 AM

    So do you not admit there is at least some correlation between the fact that some neighbors wish reduce the scale of the proposed development, and the so called protection of this supposed cemetery, apparently buried under a parking lot and abandoned by the original church. Why wasn’t this issue of scared ground raised in the last 50 years, and now only comes to light now that some feel the proposed development is too large. Is this not just another way to try to prevent, reduce or slow down development? If not abandoned graves, maybe there are tiny shrimp under that parking lot as well...

    I don’t understand why people who wish to disagree with a point of view, often resort to these type of measures, instead of making a cohesive and thoughtful argument during the entitlement process, and then living with the results of the consensus. Screaming trumped-up charges because they seem to want the world frozen in amber, and to keep things like the good old days...

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  3. Roald7:03 AM

    It's good to see a large swath of candidates standing with the church.

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  4. Anonymous12:27 PM

    I will 100% not vote for any candidate who hands out flyers at the Bethesda metro, and when you say I am not interested, they force you to take a flyer hoping it gets left on the metro for someone else. Obviously your candidate does not care about the environment if your trying to force me to take something I don't want.. Talking about you Brandy Brooks campaign guy in a navy suit with a black undershirt on. Also, Navy on top of black looks awful.

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