M&T Bank clears out like clockwork on Norfolk Ave. in Bethesda (Photos)

M&T Bank executed a masterfully-choreographed exit from its 7920 Norfolk Avenue branch yesterday. Signage was removed, and the contents of the bank packed up in moving trucks. Customers are being directed to the bank's 4800 Hampden Lane branch, beginning today.

Religious leaders decry HOC inaction on Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda

Advocates for the Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda had arguably their best lineup of speakers yet before the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission yesterday, in their ongoing struggle to restore sanctity to the hidden, desecrated graveyard on the Westwood Tower property. Religious leaders from Macedonia Baptist Church, several other area churches, and the Archdiocese of Washington joined candidates and residents in criticizing the HOC's ongoing inaction and silence on the cemetery.

"I want to thank you for turning your back on small groups of citizens who came month after month [to HOC meetings]," Bethesda resident Lynn Pekkanen told commissioners. "You have formed the great civil rights action going on in Montgomery County right now." She noted that cemetery advocates have had great difficulty getting responses to their information queries from HOC. "I was given not one page," she said, but predicted that formal public information requests will soon bear fruit in revealing the inner workings of the HOC. "The veil of secrecy is finally being pierced."

In a powerful speech, Emmanuel Lutheran Church Pastor Derek Solberg expressed surprise that such an injustice could be happening in a wealthy county with a progressive reputation. He placed the Moses African Cemetery fight in the context of his previous ministry in a Northern Philadelphia community "isolated by local government, steeped in oppression, and locked in despair. On a daily basis, I heard and saw the impact of systemic oppression and injustices on the community there, and witnessed the day to day suffering of the community...It changed my outlook on life and the world."

"I was surprised that this is an issue," Solberg continued, "in a county that has more and more recent trend toward progressive thinking...that this request to honor an ancestral cemetery would even be in question. But here we are. And it strikes me that there are similarities between what I experienced in Northern Philadelphia, and what is happening here. Rather than embracing and supporting Macedonia as one community - one that is rich, unique and diverse - it seems instead that the County seeks to isolate them, to themselves, while prohibiting them from sharing the church's story."

Like many speakers, Solberg emphasized that Macedonia and the descendants of those buried in the cemetery have a strong and growing community support. "Whatever the decision is, this community is not alone."

County Council candidate Lorna Phillips Forde declared the cemetery fight has exposed a "diversity deficit" in Montgomery County. "We are duty-bound to uncover, discover, and protect places that tell the story of African-American history. The truth of the past needs to be known, needs to be accessible, and needs to be shared."

That truth currently lies under up to 60 feet of fill dirt and asphalt, alongside and behind Westwood Tower in Bethesda. "Our movement continues to grow," Macedonia Baptist Church's Social Justice Ministry Director Marsha Coleman-Adebayo said. "We are hoping at some point the HOC will find its moral core. It is immoral to allow a parking lot to sit atop a burial ground." Her husband, MBC Pastor Segun Adebayo, told the commission that "my culture teaches me that there is no division between life in this realm and the other. These people [buried in the cemetery] are living there. If you don't have a plan, give it to us. We have a plan."

Council candidate Jim McGee said the HOC's inaction renders them "complicit" with the racial injustices that have led to the cemetery crisis. He drew a comparison with the possibly-deliberate obscuring of the final resting place of Nance Legins-Costley, the first American slave to legally win her freedom (her attorney was future Republican president Abraham Lincoln).

At-Large Council candidate Hoan Dang said commemoration of the cemetery and the lost River Road community are relevant to the current time. "The story of their perseverance is vital to inspiring" those facing similar obstacles today, he said.

"I stand here to decry this County, and this nation's white supremacy," said the Rev. Claire Matheny of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Kensington, adding her support for the establishment of "a memorial and a museum."

Will Jawando, running for an at-large seat on the Council, observed that councilmembers appoint the HOC. "So I hope to see you all real soon," he added, drawing laughter from the crowd. As the son of a Nigerian immigrant, Jawando noted he comes from the same part of Africa as the slaves buried in the Moses cemetery. "Those that rest under that parking lot may be related to me. So this is personal." He noted that Loudoun County is doing a better job of actively protecting its historic cemeteries. "We failed here on that."

Resident Patricia Kolesar simply asked the commissioners to consider, "What would Jesus do?"

Pastor Segun Adebayo thanked faith leaders and community members in the HOC lobby after the public comment portion of the meeting concluded. The ever-growing turnout of supporters gives "credence to the fact that we are not alone," he said. "God promised us He would never leave us or forsake us. We will prevail because our cause is just, and we are doing the right thing."

Bethesda construction update: The Halal Guys (Photos)

It was last October when I first broke the news that The Halal Guys was opening a Bethesda location. Work is now finally progressing on the interior of the space at 4915 Elm Street, next to My Eye Dr. We're that much closer to the arrival of the famous White Sauce in downtown Bethesda. It only took 28 years, folks.

Sneak peek: The Big Greek Cafe in Bethesda (Photos)

We have a burgeoning Greek cafe battle in downtown Bethesda. Thelo Greek Cafe has been delayed in opening at 8009 Norfolk Avenue, and now The Big Greek Cafe at 4806 Rugby Avenue is accelerating towards its own opening. Both have colorful, Greek-themed interiors.

But Big Greek Cafe isn't a new standalone concept like Thelo Greek Grill - the local chain already has outposts in Silver Spring, Rockville and North Bethesda. The new Bethesda location will also offer the popular $5 Gyro Wednesdays promotion Big Greek Cafe is perhaps best known for.

Bethesda construction update: JBG Smith's 4747 Bethesda Avenue (Photos)

JBG Smith's trophy Class A office building, 4747 Bethesda Avenue, is now towering high above the street. When complete, it will rise 15 stories above Bethesda Row, with a 7000 SF restaurant, fitness center, rooftop terrace with an indoor/outdoor lounge and fire pit, and a conference and event space. 4747 Bethesda is scheduled for delivery next year.

Will Montgomery County government adopt the Starbucks policy?

Montgomery County Planning Board chair
Casey Anderson surrounded by armed police
officers, called in as members of
Macedonia Baptist Church attempted to deliver
a petition during a peaceful protest last year

Montgomery County government has a Starbucks problem. County officials in the executive office, County Council, Planning Board and Housing Opportunities Commission have repeatedly called the police to confront black church leaders and protesters exercising their First Amendment rights in County government spaces. Now that the question of white people calling the police on black people has become a national hot topic, will Montgomery County government address one facet of its institutional racism by adopting the Starbucks policy of no longer calling the police?

Police confront Macedonia Baptist Church Pastor Segun Adebayo
and Social Justic Director Marsha Coleman-Adebayo at the
HOC in October 2017

Wait, did this really happen? Did white County officials really call the police on African-Americans who were simply exercising their First Amendment rights? Take a look for yourself in the following reports, for just a few of the instances:

Planning Board, February 2017

Office of the County Executive, April 2017

County Council office, May 2017

Housing Opportunities Commission, October 2017

As an activist in the County for over a decade, I have attended many public meetings and hearings, and the police were never summoned to confront or remove a white speaker or protester.

In "progressive" Montgomery County, the peaceful struggle over the Moses African Cemetery has proven to us "just how low the bar is for white Americans to sic law enforcement on black people," in the words of Mother Jones magazine. "Getting law enforcement involved is an extreme response that tends to escalate conflicts," Brandon E. Patterson wrote for the magazine in May. "For black people, that call to law enforcement can have dire consequences. That’s why it’s especially egregious when white people use 911 like a personal grievance hotline, summoning officers for something as minor as a black person arguing with restaurant staff—or because our behavior makes the caller uncomfortable, or because they think we might be up to no good."

Such frivolous calls to police are "rooted in an effort to preserve racial hierarchy by showing that black people can be removed at any time," Vox reported, quoting writer Tressie McMillan Cottom: “'At millions of places, in a billion different interactions across the country ... a white person is doing all the daily management of white spaces and places,' she wrote."

Callers may "feel that the police are there to work as their personal racism valets and remove black people from the situation," Morgan State University professor Jason Johnson told NPR last month.  "The role of the police is as law enforcement. They're supposed to be the last resort. You're supposed to ask questions, attempt to communicate and resolve things as a functional citizen. So of course, we shouldn't be calling the police on a regular basis."

Johnson, and others, have advocated the idea that callers in such cases should be fined. That may be called for, when our fabulously qualified and talented Democratic, "progressive" officials are unable to "communicate and resolve things as functional citizens."

Can we expect the County Council to adopt a Starbucks policy that County government should no longer call the police simply because African-Americans are peacefully protesting or attempting to deliver a petition? And one that would fine County officials who violate it? 

Don't bet on it. The Council has yet to even acknowledge or condemn the calls to law enforcement that came from their own, and multiple other, County government officials in the Moses African Cemetery controversy. They also have not criticized Anderson, or asked him to step down as chair of the Board.

Religious leaders to demand HOC convey Moses African Cemetery to Macedonia Baptist Church

Local religious leaders will descend on the monthly meeting of the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission this Wednesday, June 6, 2018 at 4:00 PM to demand commissioners convey the Moses African Cemetery on the Westwood Tower property in Bethesda to Macedonia Baptist Church. The HOC acquired the property and desecrated cemetery for $20.5 million in January.

Leaders scheduled to appear include the Rev. Katie Romano Griffin of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, the Rev. Claire Matheny of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, and the Rev. Segun Adebayo, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington will send statements to be read into the record, and Muslim imams will reportedly participate in the event, as well.

About 500 people are buried in the historic cemetery, which was desecrated during the construction of Westwood Tower in the late 1960s, and then paved over with a parking lot. The HOC headquarters is located at 10400 Detrick Avenue in Kensington.

Bethesda construction update: 7900 Wisconsin (Photos)

Both tower cranes are now in place at the construction site of JBG Smith's 7900 Wisconsin project. In other news from the site, JBG Smith has hired Hanscomb Consulting to provide project management services during construction. 7900 Wisconsin will include 322 apartments, 21,600 SF of ground-floor retail space, and an 11,000 SF two-level park/plaza.

Thelo Greek Grill opening suspense continues

Work on the Greek-themed interior at
Thelo Greek Grill in Bethesda continues

The twice-delayed opening of Thelo Greek Grill at 8009 Norfolk Avenue is now expected to take place sometime this month, according to a sign posted in the window. However, the new restaurant's liquor license hearing isn't until July 5. Would they open without the ability to sell beer and wine in June? Stay tuned.

Pepco grid fails again in Westbard area of Bethesda

It was another embarrassing episode of "Third World Power" for Pepco this morning, in the Westbard area of Bethesda. Just 13 days after the last power outage, which itself was only the latest of several in early 2018, power went out again in the area between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue - three times in one morning!

The third-world experience began with a power outage around 6:45 AM this morning. Five minutes later, power was restored. At 6:52, power began to fluctuate wildly, straining all electronics and appliances in the affected homes and businesses. Around 7:00, power went entirely out again, only to come back on at 7:02. Power surges and several brownouts then occurred, further damaging appliances. A third full power outage hit at 7:05. About five minutes later, power was restored, and - so far - has remained at normal levels.

441 customers were affected by the outages and brownouts, according to Pepco. The Exelon-owned utility has taken no action to address what are clear grid problems in the Westbard area. Something is wrong with Pepco's equipment, and it has to be fixed. Weather conditions were entirely normal during this morning's outages, which has been the case earlier this year, as well.

Clocks must be reset, and damages tallied, for the umpteenth time in 2018. This level of service and reliability is completely unacceptable. The Montgomery County Council has failed to act once again, busy raising your taxes this week instead of holding Pepco accountable for the repeated outages in Bethesda.

Community restaurant space available for lease in Bethesda

The ground floor restaurant space at 7770 Norfolk formerly home to Community is now available for lease. It's a prime spot and high-traffic location in the burgeoning Woodmont Triangle neighborhood, facing Veterans Park. There were high hopes for the upscale diner concept here, but it remains a location with great potential for the right restaurateur, chain or concept. And with the bonus of potential "room service" delivery business, for well-off tenants living in the luxury apartments upstairs.

Imagination Bethesda canceled

Bethesda Urban Partnership has canceled Imagination Bethesda, a children's street festival that had been scheduled to take place today, June 2, 2018, between 10:00 AM and 3:00 PM.  As of 6:00 AM this morning, The Weather Channel predicts scattered thunderstorms from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, with more widespread storms to follow after 3:00 PM. The threat of thunderstorms will continue until 3:00 AM tomorrow morning, according to The Weather Channel.

Bethesda construction update: Brightview Bethesda (Photos)

Progress continues at the construction site of Shelter Development, LLC's Brightview Bethesda assisted living apartment building, located at 4907 Rugby Avenue. Donohoe is the construction contractor on the project.