Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition continues fight to preserve former burial ground

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church held a Juneteenth event Monday in Bethesda to raise awareness of a years-long dispute over a former African-American cemetery near a site on River Road. 

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition says they are fighting to end the "desecration" of the former Moses African Cemetery. 

The site once served as a burial ground for enslaved people, and was later used by an African-American community after the civil war. 

On Monday, coalition members gathered at the site off River Road to mark Juneteenth and call for action to preserve the site. They're demanding a full accounting of the remains that were moved. 

During the event, the names of those once buried at the Moses African Cemetery were read aloud three times as ceremonial water was placed on the ground. 

Record keeping has been poor, but in the 1950s, the cemetery was sold. The graves were moved, and the area was paved for parking lots and driveways for new buildings.

Members of the Macedonia Baptist Church said they want a full inventory of the graves and the bones that were moved and they're calling on local leaders to block construction at the site. 

"If we don’t stay together, we cannot win. But the good news is if we stay together, the people always win!" said Marsha Coleman-Adebayo with the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition. 

"Our ancestors, whom we had cried tears when we’d heard the story, they thought they were resting in this place," added Mama Yaa, another member of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition.

Montgomery County officials dispute that any human remains have been identified at the site. The Bethesda Shelf Storage Company is currently planning to build a facility on the land and has posted billboards on a security fence stating that it has determined there are no graves there — a point the BACC strongly disagrees with.