‘Black bodies are not for sale’: the battle over an African American cemetery

Activists fight to stop further development on historic Maryland burial site beneath an apartment complex

For 63-year-old Nanette Hunter, the fight over the Moses Macedonia African cemetery in Bethesda, Maryland, is a personal one.

Hunter is a direct descendant of people interred in the Maryland cemetery, a burial site used for formerly enslaved people. The site itself is buried by an apartment complex and parking lot and is embroiled in a legal battle that could have national implications.