The River Road ‘Maafa’ and The Little White Church on the Hill

The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) is fighting to protect Moses Cemetery in Maryland, a historic burial ground for formerly enslaved Black people that was partially destroyed and developed into apartments and parking lots in the 1960s. Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, a church leader at the nearby Macedonia Baptist Church, founded BACC after discovering that development plans threatened the sacred site where church members and Civil War veterans from the U.S. Colored Troops are buried. In August 2024, the Maryland Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling confirming Moses Cemetery as a historic Black burial place with human remains likely still interred beneath the Westwood Tower Apartments.