I support the historic designation of the Moses African Cemetery on River Road in Bethesda, MD. I urge you to designate this burial ground as historic and ensure the preservation of the final resting place of the bodies of 1st generation freed enslaved persons and their descendants.
Why is this important?
Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda, MD is the final resting place of the bodies of 1st generation freed enslaved Africans and their descendants. In the 1960s this cemetery was desecrated and paved over by developers who forcibly displaced the once-thriving African American community on River Road. New development plans threaten to permanently desecrate this sacred ground. The people buried there deserve dignity and respect, as they were denied it in life and are now denied it in death. We are calling on the county to designate this land as historic, which would bring legal protections from planned development and ensure its preservation. Black lives matter in life and in death, and this historic wrong must be made right.
