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[Back to index of May 2008 articles] Action in Montgomery By Lucy Chumbley More than 1,000 members of Action In Montgomery packed into an auditorium at the University of Maryland’s Shady Grove Campus on April 2 to urge members of the Montgomery County Council to fund the renovation of four local community centers. The centers – Scotland in Potomac, Plum Gar in Germantown, Ross Boddy in Sandy Spring and Good Hope in Silver Spring – are all in historically African American neighborhoods and have been badly neglected for decades, said Moorosi Mokuena, a member of the AIM strategy team. “In May, the County Council will vote on the final budget and we want our centers to be in that budget,” Mokuena said, addressing council members Roger Berliner, Valerie Ervin, George Leventhal and Mike Knapp. “County Council representatives are the ones who can vote yes or no, and AIM, we are looking forward to hearing their responses tonight.” AIM, an interfaith organization which represents 32 local congregations, including several Episcopal churches in the Diocese of Washington, is asking the county to earmark $29.7 million for the renovations. Five votes are needed to make this happen, and the four council members present each gave assurances of their support. “Some have said that we ought to leave the politics to the politicians – uh uh,” said AIM strategist Larry Froehlich, introducing a program that included music from several church choirs, a cheer from the Plum Gar Cobras squad (“S-C-A-R-E, we don’t scare”) and testimony from community members of all ages who have benefited from the centers’ programs. “We believe that democracy works better when more people are engaged.” “Accountability is a fundamental AIM value,” he continued, explaining that despite promises made by County Executive Isiah Leggett, the renovations had not been funded, with only Plum Gar receiving partial funding. “If you’re frustrated at what has happened, if you’re indignant, if you’re angry about what has happened, it’s time to let our county officials know about it,” he said. At that, the assembled AIM members began to chant, “No more waiting! No more waiting!” as the council members smiled down uncomfortably from the podium. “Thanks, AIM, for holding feet to fire,” Berliner said, when it was his turn to speak. “We will honor our commitment to you and to these children and this community.” The April 2 rally was AIM’s largest action to date, and followed a series of rallies at the community centers themselves. A final push for support included teach-ins at the centers and an action at the council offices on April 8, prior to a public work session to discuss the budget. AIM members also plan to turn out in force on May 15, the day the council votes on its final budget. AIM’s past actions have included “get out the vote” efforts and attention-raising rallies around the issues of affordable housing, an immigrant center and all-day kindergarten. The “Save Our Community Centers” initiative is one that “floated up out of all these meetings people have in their church basements – what concerns them, what makes life difficult,” said the Rev. Jeff MacKnight, rector of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Bethesda. “There are some beautiful community centers in, like, Potomac, and then there are these four that are really derelict, and they’re historically African American,” he said. “It’s not just inequitable, but it’s a vestige of something that we need to be rid of. It’s been a history lesson to learn about these communities.” The Ross Boddy center, which has seen no significant renovations since the 1950s, was originally built as an all-black school during the days of segregated education. The gym at the Scotland center, built on land given to the county by the community, is so small that there’s only room to play 3 on 3 basketball, hampering the team’s practices. Good Hope is small and ill-equipped, and most of the Plum Gar facility is in a trailer. The Sunday before the University of Maryland rally, a member of the Scotland AME Zion Church came to speak to St. Dunstan’s mostly Caucasian congregation about the Scotland center. The visit began a relationship between the two parishes that MacKnight hopes will continue. “We’re hoping we could maybe do some further things between the churches, like exchange our choirs,” he said. More than 70 members of the Episcopal churches of Ascension, Silver Spring, Transfiguration, Silver Spring and St. Mark’s, Fairland – AIM’s newest member congregation – also turned out for the rally. “Once people come, they’re very likely to come back, because it’s a good experience and they get kind of jazzed,” MacKnight said. “We must do our part,” said the Rev. Pearl Selby, pastor of Oak Grove AME Zion Church, in her closing call to action. “We must show our county officials that they will gain political power by supporting us.” Selby also stressed the need for persistence and perseverance – to stay engaged in order to see the projects through. “Tonight I believe it is our appointed time,” she said. “We have waited and waited and waited. Through good times and bad, we have waited, and now we will wait no longer. It’s time to begin.” Lucy Chumbley is the editor of Washington Window, the newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. [Back to index of May 2008 articles]
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