Among those buried under up to 60' of asphalt and fill dirt are former slaves who were brought from Benin, and members of Macedonia Baptist Church at 5119 River Road, where Saturday's program will begin at 2:30 PM. The king and all who attend will then march across River Road to the cemetery, where a special ceremony will take place. The public is invited to attend.
Artifacts of slavery in Montgomery County, which - contrary to contemporary assumptions - was a hotbed of Confederate sympathy during the Civil War era, will be on display at the event. The owner of the nearby Loughborough plantation where many of those buried here were enslaved would travel behind enemy lines wearing a Union uniform, and then switch into his Confederate uniform to join the fight against the Union. Many of the top families of Montgomery County, whose names still label major roadways and landmarks across the county, had members who did the same.
Speakers expected to appear include Ms. Ada Brown, President of Roots to Glory (which is coordinating the king's tour); Dr. Laurel Hoa, Co-Founder: Showing Up for Racial Justice - Montgomery County; archivist Dr. Tim Willard; historian Amy Rispin. Dr. Eric L Williams of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture; Dr. Judith Belton, Executive Director, Sandy Spring Slave Museum; Macedonia Baptist Church Pastor, the Rev. Segun Adebayo; and Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition.
"King Toffa is making history on Saturday," Coleman-Adebayo said. "The slave trade broke important bonds between Africans and African-Americans. King Toffa's leadership is designed to start the healing process."
"Montgomery County should be ashamed that King Toffa's ancestors are lying in a desecrated burial ground," Dr. Laurel Hoa of SURJ said. "The County must insist that Moses African Cemetery is conveyed to Macedonia Baptist Church, the only institution that has not betrayed this community."
The existence of the now-hidden cemetery had been covered up by Montgomery County officials and previous property owners for decades. After being brought to light in 2011 in my testimony before the Montgomery County Council, Planning Board, and National Capital Planning Commission, and being located in 2014 with the help of eyewitnesses to its desecration, the cemetery and its fate have been a source of major controversy since the passage of the 2016 Westbard sector plan. That highly-unpopular plan, the passage of which broke 3 laws, envisioned a parking garage being built atop the graves.
After a powerful activist campaign by Macedonia Baptist Church and supportive residents and organizations - and ultimately the establishment of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition - the garage plan was halted. But new owners Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County and County elected officials have not yet responded to calls to restore and memorialize the cemetery and the black community that once existed in that area of River Road. Expect tomorrow's speakers to weigh in on that, and the role of United Bank in the HOC acquisition, among other topics.
Photo courtesy Roots to Glory
32 comments:
"Artifacts of slavery in Montgomery County, which - contrary to contemporary assumptions - was a hotbed of Confederate sympathy during the Civil War era"
Wrong. Montgomery County was unionist. You should look up the atrocities your rebel friends committed in the county.
Did your Montgomery County ancestors own slaves, Robbie?
So let me ask again. Who originally sold the cemetery to developers, and why aren’t they being held responsible if the graves were not properly removed? You seek to hold new owners responsible for something that was 100% out of their control, and as far as I know, were unaware that graves existed.
I would agree that if graves exist, they should be relocated, at the expense of the original cemetery land owners, or from private donations. But to expect the current land owners to simple give up their property development rights to create an on-site shrine or monument seems unfair too me.
6:35: I have encountered no ancestor who owned slaves in any of my research so far.
6:25: You fell for the revisionist story. Now look at real history and find out what really happened. Maryland had to be under virtual occupation by Union forces to keep it from seceding. Lincoln snuck through Baltimore in disguise to reach Washington - that's how "Unionist" Maryland was.
What an sniveling opportunist you are to take a ceremonial event like this to fuel your unfounded conspiracies and attacks on those you feel have done you wrong.
Shameful.
You want to show "respect" for these people? Then talk about their lives, their families, their accomplishments. Celebrate their lives.
Anything else is using their plight for your own benefit.
"King Toffa IX of Benin"
This is incorrect. Benin is a presidential democratic republic. His title pertains only to the city of Porto-Novo, which contains less than 3% of the country's population, and Toffa is only a figurehead. There has been no actual monarchy in that city since 1976.
Kind of like Robert Dyer claiming to be "the Mayor of Bethesda".
6:40: I'd like to know the answers myself. We now know that Dr. Tauber knew it was not only a cemetery, but a black cemetery. His architect illegally relocated about 12 bodies encountered in the building footprint to a black cemetery elsewhere in the County, which is how we know he knew the specifics of what they were doing.
So, did Tauber tell Capital Properties? Did CP tell Equity One?
Did Tauber plow under the grave markers when he purchased the property? If not, who did?
Now that we know it's there, we still have to do the right thing regardless of past mistakes and crimes committed by others.
6:42: You sound totally unhinged - there's nothing remotely like what you describe in this article. Please seek professional help, and stop trolling on my news site.
Anyone else have to google the Kings country to see if this wasn't a Coming to America knockoff?
6:42 says the cemetery is "unfounded conspiracies and attacks".
Wow...everyone else agrees that the cemetery exists and an atrocity occurred in the past. Most reasonable people are trying to find a way forward to respect the cemetery.
This isn't a conspiracy theory!
MoCo history as Westbard proudly welcomes its first proud royal visitor!
The "Save The Cemetery" group seems to consist only of the Coleman-Adebayos and five old white people.
I guess you're too white to understand. There's about 20% of us unhinged people in the county.
Only white people are reasonable.
Blacks are always victims needing bailouts.
Only an atrocity when you didn't want something built.
Wonder if Dyer will be sharing some Zombie Skittles with the King?
Will Robbie take King Toffa to meet the Burger King?
Daily reminder: the alleged cemetery land was owned by a Black benevolent association. They sold it about 50 years ago fair and square. Any complaints should be taken up with the original seller, not the latest owner.
If the current protestors want to buy the land at market rate, I'm sure the County would be open to it. How much have they offered? $0. They just want a handout. It's fiscally irresponsible for the county to just give away this land.
9:06: Reminder: Virtually nothing is known about that sale and its circumstances. All successive owners are under scrutiny for what they knew and when, and whether they disclosed the cemetery when they each sold the property. You can't possess bodies in this country or any other. The Hague would like a word with you - why don't you have a seat over there?
So if "nothing is known", how come you are so certain about everything, Dyer?
"The Hague would like a word with you - why don't you have a seat over there?"
The ICC is not Chris Hansen's Kitchen and they have zero jurisdiction over this controversy.
Odd to see you become such a Globalist, though.
6:41
Baltimore profited from the slave trade so was cheering for the Confederacy, but Montgomery County and Western Maryland were pro-Union.
Wonder if Dyer realizes that Dr Tauber was a victim who purchased this land from Black Benevolent Association before cemetery searches were required before purchasing. Lets also remember that Dr Tauber was a victim of the holocaust who came to this country with nothing and died a billionaire.
As opposed to Dyer who was born a millionaire yet has never had his own home or any job.
@9:06 Plenty is known about the purchase. It's recorded in the land records sitting in Rockville. If there was an issue with documentation, that's a matter for the title insurer.
Note even the protesters are not contesting the sale, since the sale by the benevolent society was conducted fair and square.
My black cat is buried in my backyard. Am I no longer allowed to sell my land?
10:42 AM - No, you only have to remove the grave marker and commemorative statue.
10:41: The commenter didn't question the sale, he was demanding additional information about the sale, none of which is answered in land records.
10:03: If he was a victim, why did he pave over a black cemetery for a parking lot?
10:01: Wrong! For example, the Montgomery Sentinel newspaper still published today was a pro-Confederate newspaper. Like the rest of the state, Montgomery County was occupied by Union forces. They were literally camped out nightly in the Westbard area, for instance. Kind of like saying the Chinese people are pro-Communist dictatorship - they don't have much choice. Many prominent MoCo residents were on the Confederate side, kind of like Sen. Robert Byrd a hundred years later or Governor Northam in the 1980s.
@ 10:03 AM - Actually the correct terminology is "Holocaust survivor". "Holocaust victim" refers only to those who died.
You need to correct your #FakeNews.
Toffa is not "the king of Benin". Benin is a republic and has been since its independence from France in 1960 (previously called Dahomey).
None of Toffa's ancestors were buried in Moses Cemetery.
Today's $64,000 Question:
Did you attend the event with King Toffa IX at Macedonia Baptist Church, Robbie?
When is Joffe Jaffer arriving from Zamunda?
"@ 10:03 AM - Actually the correct terminology is "Holocaust survivor". "Holocaust victim" refers only to those who died."
Actually the correct terminology is "inconvenienced by the Holocaust".
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