Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition

The Coalition seeks to stop the desecration of Moses African Cemetery and honor the ancestors whose resting place has been disturbed and whose history has been erased. BACC seeks to preserve the rich history of the resistance movement organized by the African maroon community on River Road and its survival strategies that provide important road maps for future generations. BACC does this by rigorously engaging in public education, legal strategies ,community organizing and advocacy. Our long term goal is to create a living memorial, museum and community organizing center, a space in which historical struggles will inform the strategies of future generations on how to fight domination. We are a coalition made up of organizers, advocates and community members. We are multi-ethnic, multi-generational, and interdisciplinary. More on us here: https://bethesdaafricancemeterycoalition.net.

BACC is looking for community members- high school students and adults- that are interested in organizing for justice, preserving Black history, leading creative storytelling and community outreach to volunteer with us!  The volunteer projects are dependent on the interests of the community member. There is much flexibility and liberty of projects and responsibilities. Some possible volunteer projects include storytelling, outreach and base building-this means increasing our base of participation of young people in BACC. Storytelling volunteer projects for the '25-'26 year are: "How to Desecrate a Cemetery": telling the contemporary story of how the County has funded and erased the Moses Cemetery and the River Road community or "A Vision for Moses", beginning the participatory planning process of a creating memorial for Moses Cemetery. Both will include speaking to Moses and River Road descendants, BACC members and creating a multimedia storytelling campaign! Both will include creating content for social media and our newsletter. Volunteers, if interested, are encouraged to attend our weekly actions in Bethesda in front of Moses(5210 River Road) at 4pm on Wednesdays, join online for our weekly meetings on Thursdays at 6pm and at least once a month meet for in-person outreach.