Monday, September 27, 2021

Tavis Smiley weighs in on Bethesda cemetery controversy


Broadcaster Tavis Smiley is the latest prominent figure to weigh in on the controversy over the desecrated Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. He interviewed the Rev. Dr. Segun Adebayo, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church on River Road, and Dr. Marcia Coleman Adebayo, head of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition on KTLA in Los Angeles. Both organizations are among the plaintiffs suing Montgomery County's Housing Opportunities Commission over the HOC's intent to sell the Westwood Tower property that includes the majority of the cemetery site to Charger Ventures. The suit alleges the HOC did not inform the descendants of those buried there - some of whom are also plantiffs in the case - of their its intent to sell as required by law.

Like many locally and nationally who hear of the cemetery history and more recent fight over it, Smiley was stunned that the County, HOC and other parties would persist in attempting to further develop the property after knowing a black cemetery was on the site. "Why are they continuing to plow forward, to push forward with their plans anyway, although they know now full well it is a burial ground?" Smiley asked. "Once you discover that, that should be the end of these things, to me."

"What is the government of Montgomery County saying or doing about this?" Smiley queried Coleman Adebayo. She accused County Executive Marc Elrich of writing letters urging others to ignore Coleman Adebayo, and "calling me all kind of vicious names." Elrich was previously one of the only elected officials to support cemetery advocates when he was on the County Council in 2017 and 2018, when the now decade-long controversy boiled over in multiple protests that garnered media attention.

Montgomery County's government has "locked arms with the developer against the community. We don't have one member of the County Council that has stood up to say this is wrong to sell the bodies of these Africans. We do not have friends in local government."

Coleman Adebayo said the County was trying to "erase not only the youth, but the ancestors of black people." Noting that "developers literally run Montgomery County," she recalled the history of the black community on River Road that was founded by former slaves from the Loughborough plantation. That community "basically was wiped out through developers and the coalition between developers and local government" by the late 1960s, and the only remnants left are the church and the cemetery.

"Montgomery County has been clear about the fact that it will control black bodies, both alive and dead," Coleman Adebayo added. She said Maryland ranks number one in America in the incarceration of young black men. The desecration of the cemetery during the construction of Westwood Tower in the late 1960s, and the belligerence of the County government in blocking all efforts to conduct investigations or restore it, are an extension of that racial bias, she argued. "This is a hate crime. We're talking about criminal activity."

Smiley praised the Adebayos' success in winning a temporary restraining order against the sale. A possible preliminary injunction against it is being argued in a Montgomery County Circuit Courtroom today. Their initial victory was remarkable, Smiley said, because "communities of color rarely prevail in court fights with multimillion dollar corporations."

Coleman Adebayo first came to prominence as a whistleblower who fought the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and won. That was also how Smiley first became aware of her activism and historic victory over the EPA. "I feel sorry for the folks and the developers who are trying to take over this cemetery," Smiley said. "She's in the history book. She is a warrior."

Smiley said the Moses African Cemetery battle is "one of those David vs. Goliath fights," and is "starting to make bigger news on the national scene." As the segment concluded, Smiley told listeners, "This is a fight that all of us have a vested interest in, whether our ancestors were buried in this plot or not, whether you've ever been to Maryland or Bethesda or not. If they can do it to them, they can do it to you, they can do it to us, so I am pulling and praying for your success on Monday and beyond, as you fight to save this precious and sacred burial ground."

Photo via Twitter

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:24 PM

    How does Smiley feel about the decision of the original owner, a Black benevolent society, to sell the land in the first place? If it was so important, then the blame lies with them for selling it, not with the latest in a long series of owners.

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  2. Anonymous2:30 PM

    I’ll ask again. Why did the original owners of the cemetery sell the land to the county without removing their buried ancestors? Don’t they bear the weight of this disrespect for their ancestors? Aren’t they responsible to move graves? Of course I believe any graves found during future construction should be respectfully moved to another location, at the expense of the original cemetery owners, or their descendants.

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  3. Anonymous4:28 PM

    I'm curious if anyone in the Bethesda cemetery voted in the 2020 election. What, I can't ask that?

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  4. Anonymous9:01 PM

    The "original sin" of Westbard is being papered over by the developer and the county council.
    There should be a memorial museum on site so we can learn from history.

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  5. Anonymous5:07 AM

    Sharpton is getting his Lear Jet and track suit ready. He'll be landing at DCA soon.

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  6. Anonymous7:32 AM

    4:28 Agree but not only in Maryland but in Georgia and Arizona too
    Trump Won

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  7. @4:28 PM I'm curious as to why you think voting preference has anything to do with this situation. Your sounding like one of those election deniers that can't figure out the winner of a lopsided horse race.

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  8. Anonymous10:53 AM

    Funny how the "stolen" votes only happened in states with Republican governors. Clearly Republicans can't be trusted and should all be voted out for this vast and insidious conspiracy that somehow can't be uncovered no matter how many times the votes are scrutinized!

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  9. Anonymous2:07 PM

    @8:33 AM: Who said anything about voter preference here? Why, did you expect the votes to go a certain way? You have more dodges than a used car lot.

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  10. @2:07AM You and @4:28 PM are the ones who can't seem to digest the fact that the 2020 election is OVER, DONE, and apparently you're such sore losers you regurgitate it at every turn. Perhaps you should try not driving a course with only right turns, you might get somewhere besides nowhere.

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  11. Anonymous5:56 AM

    @7:51 AM: You didn't answer the question. We both know why.

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