Letter Writing Campaign – Stop the Desecration!
Choose one or more officials to send letters to:
- Choose “Share your opinion on legislation” to reach the contact form.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy
- To contact John McCarthy, fill out the form on the linked page or email him directly at jcarth52@gmail.com.
- To contact Montgomery County Council members, follow the link above to find their email address and directly email the letter below to the members of your choosing.
Click on your chosen official’s name (above) to get to their contact page. From there, fill in your information. When you are asked for issue of concern or topic of message, choose “Civil Rights,” “Human Rights,” or “Congressional Issues.” Then copy and paste the letter below into the message box. Feel free to personalize – and make sure to sign your name at the end!
Dear [official’s name]:
As a member of the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, I’m becoming increasingly concerned that Montgomery County officials have been working hand-in-glove with developers to desecrate the sacred land that is Bethesda’s Moses Cemetery.
We all know that kidnapped Africans were first enslaved and then, during Jim Crow, exploited and terrorized by the Klan, private developers, and County officials to build the wealth of of our county, even as they destroyed the once-flourishing Black community along River Road in Bethesda. Moses Macedonia African Cemetery contains the remains of this community.
Less than two miles south of my congregation on River Road, you can see a deep hole behind McDonald’s which a developer dug next to McDonald’s, and where Bethesda’s African Americans buried their ancestors. The hole constantly fills with water. And so, the county’s Parks & Planning Commission has allowed the developer to run pipes across another section of Moses Cemetery to drain the water into the Willett Branch. Both P&P and the developer are breaking the law that prohibits damaging a cemetery. And our State’s Attorney, John McCarthy, is doing nothing about it.
Mr. McCarthy, County Council, our County Executive and developers wash each others’ hands at Moses Cemetery, while Mr. Elrich complains, “I can’t do anything,” as he first agrees to meet with citizens like us and then repeatedly cancels because P&P refuses to attend. Towns across the country, from New York to Los Angeles, are listening to descendants of Black communities destroyed by politicians and developers, and helping repair the damage.
Anything you can do to remind our County officials that they should serve us, and not the developers, will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
[name, address, county, state, congressional districts]
Are you interested in a phone campaign? Sign up below to be on the list of volunteers. This will be running in early 2022.