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Bethesday MD: Storage Units Built on Black Soldiers' Graves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition  Dr. Marsha-Coleman Adebayo - 240-731-9577 This Memorial Day: Montgomery County Builds Storage Units on Black Soldiers’ Graves Bethesda, MD. 05/26/25 Memorial Day is meant to honor the fallen. But in Montgomery County, Maryland, Black veterans lie buried beneath a parking lot and a high-rise apartment building. Now, a self-storage facility is being built over them. At Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda, Black soldiers like Pvt. H.H. Brown, a U.S. Colored Troops veteran, was laid to rest with dignity by the River Road community a once-thriving Black settlement post emancipation.Their service to this nation is undeniable. Their sacrifice is recorded. But their graves have been paved over, built on, and desecrated with the full knowledge and permission of County and the State of Maryland.  The apartment complex known as Westwood Towers sits directly atop the graves of these men, women, and children. A parking lot ...
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Old City Hall: Tonight's panel on the struggle for Racial Unity in 1880s Richmond

 A good friend and historian, Chris Graham, just posted this nice bit of background for the laying of the cornerstone of the spanking new Richmond city hall building in 1887: about the man who gave the speech and his apologies to Whites for the burden of slavery in the wake of the crushing of an attempt at Black and White labor and political unity. I love context, it gives the chatter mill around a controversy (or a seemingly non-controversy) a little grist and grit.  Tonight, 6:30 pm at VMHC, Coming Together Virginia will host a panel,  " Richmond City Hall: The Untold Story ,"  Tickets are $20. Registration: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/akgzv2y The 1880s were a bubbling cauldron of struggles over the racial character of Richmond's society and future of Reconstruction's progress toward creating a multiracial society. Jim Crow would win that battle and hold it for the next 100 years, but every victory for the side of unity and equity contributed t...

Updates & Announcements for January 13, 2025

Updates & Announcements A service of  THE VIRGINIA DEFENDER   newspaper.  Editorial Board: Ana Edwards & Phil Wilayto Jan. 13, 2025 Jan. 13, 2025  - On this day in 1968, country singer/ songwriter Johnny Cash recorded the album “Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison” in front of an audience of some 2,000 prisoners at California's Folsom Prison. His music was noted for its focus on the working poor and social and political issues. Cash, who typically wore black clothes and had a rebellious persona, became known as the “Man in Black.” Virginia Defender Ana Edwards opens the rally held Jan. 8 at Capitol Square. Speaking at the rally were Delegates Michael J. Jones (second from left) and Holly M. Seibold (to Jones’ right.)  Photo by Phil Wilayto Prison Justice activists demand ‘Shut Down Red Onion!’ The temperature was freezing and a municipal water crisis had many people scrambling to find bottled water, but more than 50 people still showed up at Virginia’s Cap...

Updates and Events: May 17, 2024

Headlines from the latest edition of Updates & Announcements: HUNDREDS OF VCU GRADS WALK OUT ON GOVERNOR YOUNGKIN PROTESTERS MARCH ON VIRGINIA-ISRAEL ADVISORY BOARD PALESTINE SUPPORTERS AGAIN PACK RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL, DEMANDING A CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION AS ASSAULT ON RAFAH INTENSIFIES, ‘GENOCIDE JOE’ PREPARES TO SEND ISRAEL $1 BILLION IN TANK AMMO, TACTICAL VEHICLES & MORTAR ROUNDS ANTI-GENOCIDE ACTIVISTS DELIVER OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR TIM KAINE VCU CALLS IN COPS AGAINST PEACEFUL PROTESTERS - Monday, April 29, 2024: Pro-Palestine protesters stand firm after VCU, city and state police broke up their tent encampment. Minutes after this photo was taken, the police - unprovoked - attacked the protesters. Many people were hit with chemical substances, several were injured and 13 were arrested. See photo above by Ana Edwards. VCU BOWS TO YOUNGKIN PRESSURE ON RACE LITERACY COURSES Click here to read the full edition !

May 2 Webinar about the Odessa Massacre

 The Odessa Solidarity Campaign, launched in 2016 by the Virginia Defenders, will host a webinar at noon EST on THURSDAY, May 2, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Odessa Massacre.  That atrocity took place a few months after the 2014 right-wing coup that overthrew the elected president of Ukraine and replaced him with a pro-U.S, pro-EU, pro-NATO regime. On May 2, in Odessa, a mob led by openly fascist organizations drove opponents of the coup into the House of Trade Unions, set it on fire and murdered at least 42 people. The massacre has never been properly investigated and no one has ever been punished for the crime.  Join us to take a deep look into the reality of the Ukrainian state today and who is really responsible for the present war. 1:15 pm UPDATE: Stay tuned for the recording from the  Facebook live stream  of this informative webinar. 

Winter 2024 issue of The Virginia Defender is Out!

THE WINTER 2024 EDITION OF THE VIRGINIA DEFENDER … … is now on the streets! and online at  virginiadefender.org . HIGHLIGHTS: The Red Onion Hunger Strike Fact Sheet on Kevin “Rashid” Johnson Uhuru 3 headed to trial Jermaine Doss denied parole for 4th time The roots of the “Crisis at the Border” The Defenders’ take on Richmond’s plans for Shockoe Bottom Richmonders demand City Council call for ceasefire in Gaza Virginians demand Senators Kaine & Warner stop voting to fund Israel & much more!

Autumn 2023 Edition of The Virginia Defender!

The Autumn 2023 edition of The Virginia Defender is now on the streets. Find it online at virginiadefender.org . Featuring: A 7-page report on the People’s Tribunal on Virginia’s Prisons, Jails & Detention Centers 3 pages on Palestine A photo essay on the Day of the Dead Ceremony at Richmond’s La Milpa Restaurant & Market Update on the ongoing struggle to properly memorialize Shockoe Bottom & more!