The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition is one of many community voices seeking to ensure that the scandals and past actions of the Montgomery County Planning Board and Planning Department are fully investigated. Such investigations have so far been swept aside in the County Council's announcement that it had received the resignations of all five board commissioners, and would be moving quickly to appoint an all-new board. It is in the best interest of the Council and many of its campaign donors that such investigations never take place - in fact, it's just such protective actions by the Council that are among the many benefits those donors expect to receive in exchange for those checks. BACC announced today that it will be holding a protest at the County Council Building at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville this Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 12:00 PM.
Many of the planning scandals have strongly impacted members of the African-American community in Montgomery County, such as Farm Road and BACC's primary issue, the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda. The cemetery was desecrated by workers building Westwood Tower in the late 1960s, and the rest of the graves were paved over for the building's parking lot. Westwood Tower's current owner, the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, sought several years ago to build more apartments and a parking garage on top of the graves.
After backing off under pressure from the community, HOC most recently has attempted to sell the property to private developers for $50 million. A Montgomery County judge has temporarily blocked that sale, and Maryland Court of Appeals decision on the matter is pending. The Montgomery County Planning Department attempted to cover up the cemetery issue during the Westbard sector plan process, which included the Westwood Tower property. BACC refers to this and several other of the (known) scandals related to the planning realm in Montgomery County in its announcement for Wednesday's protest.
"Black people are not for sale!" the protest announcement reads. "We demand a halt in the [Planning Board appointment] process until a thorough, third party investigation is conducted on the racism, sexism, corruption and illegal activities that have taken place at the Planning Board."
I don't support the whiny church protestors who have never made an offer to buy the alleged cemetery property, but there is some funny business going on with the planning board appointments.
ReplyDeleteThere is a process to follow to replace members who leave before their term is over. The Council is ignoring this, and instead using a state process designed for the case of terrorism when an entire group needs to be replaced. But... there's been no terror attack.
Who offers to buy back what was stolen. Black people are not for sale is a great slogan. I have read a good bit about this story, and I still don't know what happened.
ReplyDeleteI believe that prior events in our known and accepted Montgomery County history indicates that some shady stuff took place that deprived these deceased Black folks of their right to peace. Getting buried in a church cemetery is still a big deal. It was back then too. Go somewhere else to build.
I know that it's a slippery slope, but GD, I'm mad at developers right now.
Who offers to buy back what was stolen. Black people are not for sale is a great slogan. I have read a good bit about this Black cemetery story, and I still don't know what happened.
ReplyDeleteI believe that prior events in our known and accepted Montgomery County history indicates that some shady stuff took place that deprived these deceased Black folks of their right to peace. Getting buried in a church cemetery is still a big deal. It was back then too. Go somewhere else to build.
I know that it's a slippery slope, but GD, I'm mad at developers right now.
The alleged cemetery property was owned by a Black benevolent society 50+ years ago. They sold it back then. It's changed hands numerous times since then. They should take matters up with the original seller, not the current owner.
ReplyDelete