Loudoun Freedom Center

"If people cannot respect the dead, they’ll never respect the living."

- Pastor Michelle C. Thomas

Sometime between March 15th and March 20th, vandals desecrated the African American Burial Ground for the Enslaved at Belmont, the final resting place of over 100 formerly enslaved African Americans.

And, as of June 2020, it is also the final resting place of Fitz Alexander Campbell Thomas -- the first African American person who was born free to be buried in this cemetery, the beloved 16 year old son of Pastor Michelle C. and Delroy Thomas.

Vandals smashed flower pots, threw wreaths into a nearby pond, and cut and burned works of art left behind by those who visit the souls that were laid to rest here after they were forced to sacrifice their labor and their lives to build America. We are compelled to honor and elevate the lives and legacy of those taken from their homes during the slave trade, but these recent acts prove that -- even in death -- these beautiful souls who never tasted freedom still have not been allowed the dignity of resting in peace.

The Loudoun Freedom Center, the non-profit 501(c)3 organization which owns and cares for the African American Burial Ground for the Enslaved at Belmont, will work to repair the destruction and set up a network of surveillance and fencing in order to secure the site and protect it from further damage.

At the burial ground, Pastor Michelle has hosted countless public and private school field trips and teacher continuing education days over the years. The stories and challenges of the formerly enslaved must continue to be elevated today, even while we are still on the journey to freedom.

Our ask is that our community contributes to this fund as a way of coming together to preserve and protect the history of those who had been forgotten. In this way, we continue to give a voice to their lives and to the lessons they have for all of us. We will continue to plant the seeds of reconciliation, peace, and understanding. We must unite over their sacrifice so that it may not be in vain.

Let us all rededicate ourselves, to honoring the lives of the formerly enslaved -- and of our dear Fitz Alexander Campbell Thomas -- and to perservering along the journey to freedom for all people.

This burial ground is dedicated to their struggles, their lives, and their legacies. The trail is dedicated to their Journey to Freedom, even if all that we can do is offer them, at the very least, freedom in their final resting place.

Links to local media coverage, followed by photos of the destruction: