Sharing: Bethesda African Cemetary Coalition calls for full boyCott OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY’S BLACKROCK JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
Instead join: BETHESDA AFRICAN CEMETERY COATION (BACC) at “The People’s Juneteenth” on June 19th
Date: Thursday, June 19, 2025
Time: 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Place: 5201 River Road, Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, MD — The Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC) is calling on the public to boycott the Montgomery County Government’s Juneteenth celebration at BlackRock Center for the Arts on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 12901 Towns Common dr, Germantown, Maryland due to the County’s ongoing hypocrisy, anti-Black governance, and racial violence.
The public is urged to instead attend The People’s Juneteenth hosted by BACC on Thursday, June 19, 2025, from 2:30 – 5:00 PM at 5201 River Road, Bethesda, MD.
“We will not participate in our own erasure and oppression. We will not stand beside the same government officials who destroy our ancestors’ graves, assault our children, and incarcerate members of our family” said, BACC President, Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo.
JUNETEENTH Speakers and community contribution: Nkechi Taifa - National Reparations Leader, Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo - President, BACC, Robert Stubberfield - DSA/BACC, Nancy Wallace - Green Party candidate, Kristen Logan - Attorney Rothwell and Figg, Zakia Sankara-Jabar - Racial Justice Now!, Andy Ellis, Green Party candidate for governor, David Mott, Poor People's Campaign, Rosie Saah, PSN, Ethiopian Dance Troupe, Martha Peterson, African Dance, Baba Mosi, UNIA and drummers, Poetry by Lady G, Dr. Karen Wilson Ama-Echifu and Freedome Nsaroma Lee-El Said (songs for the struggle & peace) Rev. Segun Adebayo, Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church.
Nigerian, Ethiopian and Haitian food. Pizza donated by River Road Ledo. Snacks by Tacoma Park- Silver Spring Coop.
FREE ICE CREAM BY Ben and Jerry - Silver Spring
FREE ACUPUNCTURE, Yao Shan Center for Chinese Medicine, Dr. Diane Gioioso
Walt Whitman High School Drumline
THIS IS WHO IS RESPONSIBLE:
Montgomery County’s leadership, County Executive Marc Elrich, the Montgomery County Council, Congressman Jamie Raskin, and Governor Wes Moore have all enabled or remained silent as harm is committed against Black communities in their jurisdictions.
Governor Wes Moore
Recently vetoed the Maryland Black Reparations Study Bill betraying his public image as a racial justice advocate.
Has refused to intervene in the ongoing desecration of Moses African Cemetery, even as his administration allocates funding that supports its destruction.
Congressman Jamie Raskin
Has ignored repeated appeals for federal protection of Moses African Cemetery and refuses to meet with local Black leaders and descendants.
His office claims to “honor history,” while that history is being bulldozed in his own district.
County Executive Marc Elrich and the Montgomery County Council
Despite repeated public outcry and legal challenges, they have allowed the development of a self-storage facility atop Moses African Cemetery, where kidnapped and enslaved Africans, including Civil War veteran Pvt. H.H. Brown, are buried.
They publicly perform racial justice while funding and protecting the systems that brutalize Black residents.
COUNTY LEADERSHIP CELEBRATES JUNETEENTH WHILE…
Burying Our Ancestors Under Concrete
Moses African Cemetery is being paved over with a self-storage facility, a spiritual and cultural atrocity. Our ancestors’ graves are being desecrated while County leaders plan parades and concerts.
Allowing Violence Against Black Children
In June 2025, a 6-year-old Black autistic boy was physically assaulted in a Montgomery County Public School. The elected officials have offered no public apology, no systemic accountability, and no support for the family.
Permitting Abuse of Black Women in County Shelters
Black women in County-funded shelters face emotional abuse, retaliation, and unsafe conditions. Those who speak out including survivors and advocates have been criminalized, banned, slandered, and silenced.
Fueling Mass Incarceration and Foster System Violence
Black Marylanders are 71% of the state’s prison population.
In Montgomery County, Black children are 46.4% of youth in foster care, despite being only 21.8% of the child population.
Black poverty in the County remains around 11%, with Black families making up the majority of the homeless population.
Offering No Justice for Black People Killed by Police
From Bishop Jones-Daniel in 2024 to others over the last 15 years, the County has a pattern of unpunished police violence against Black residents.
BOYCOTT BLACKROCK JUNETEENTH — DO NOT CELEBRATE WITH OUR OPPRESSORS
The County’s Juneteenth celebration at BlackRock Center for the Arts is a sham performance of inclusion. It is a distraction from the realities of state-sanctioned abuse, erasure, and violence carried out under this same leadership.
We demand that all artists, vendors, speakers, and community members refuse to participate in this mockery of Black liberation.
Join BACC in uplifting truth, honoring our ancestors, and organizing for justice. Our celebration will not be managed by those who betray us it will be by the people, for the people.
JOIN THE BLACKROCK PICKET LINE
Saturday, June 21, 2025
12:00 PM until 3PM
BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, MD