Seeking Truth and Justice podcast presents a compelling two-part interview featuring Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, President and CEO of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC), in conversation with Lawrence Lucas.

Known nationally for her landmark environmental justice and whistleblower case against the EPA, Dr. Coleman-Adebayo brings decades of activism, scholarship, and moral clarity to this conversation.

Before leading the fight to protect the Bethesda African Burial Ground, Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo became nationally known for her courageous battle against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where she served as a senior policy analyst.

Dr. Coleman-Adebayo explains why the struggle is about far more than land. It is about memory, dignity, truth, and restoring humanity to ancestors whose lives and deaths were systematically erased from public consciousness.

During her tenure at the EPA, Dr. Coleman-Adebayo raised serious concerns about environmental and human rights abuses connected to a U.S.-based mining operation in South Africa. After reporting those concerns internally and externally, she became the target of retaliation, discrimination, and a hostile work environment.

Refusing to remain silent, Dr. Coleman-Adebayo filed a historic lawsuit against the EPA and, in 2000, won a landmark federal jury verdict on the basis of race and sex discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Her case ultimately inspired the creation and passage of the federal No FEAR Act (Notification and Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act) — the first civil rights and whistleblower protection law of the 21st century. Signed into law in 2002, the No FEAR Act requires federal agencies to be held financially accountable for violations involving discrimination and retaliation against employees.

This deeply important discussion also examines the fight to preserve the Bethesda African Burial Ground, where hundreds of formerly enslaved Africans and free Black residents dating back to the 1800s are believed to be buried beneath present-day residential and public property in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The interview also highlights the recent historic legal decision by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Karla N. Smith, who denied the Housing Opportunities Commission’s motion to dismiss the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition’s lawsuit — allowing the case to proceed toward discovery and trial.

This is not simply an interview — it is a masterclass in courage, resistance, truth-telling, and the power of standing firm against institutional injustice.

Produced by Gary Johnson Media in partnership with JusticeForBlackFarmers.com and BlackMenInAmerica.com.