Episode 3: Center of the Ring

The fight of the century is unfolding in Sugar Land. Should the bodies be moved so construction could continue, or should they be reburied where they were found? Alliances are made and broken, Reginald Moore leads a coup, and in the end, one side claims a clear victory.

Transcript 

Related 

Part 1 of a series of reports detailing research into the skeletal biology of the New York African Burial Ground, edited by Michael L. Blakey and Lesley M. Rankin-Hill.

Source: Howard University and the U.S. General Services Administration

Update from archeologist Reign Clark to the Texas Historical Commission 10 Sept 2018. Clark said his team had found the names of six people who were "almost undoubtedly buried" at the Sugar Land 95 cemetery.

Source: Fort Bend County District Clerk

Internal Fort Bend ISD emails from Oct 2018 detailing the real and estimated costs incurred by the district related to the cemetery discovery.

Source: Obtained from Fort Bend ISD under the Texas Public Information Act

Email exchange between court-appointed Master in Chancery Michael Elliot and Fort Bend ISD’s lawyers in late 2018, in which Elliot requests information about the Sugar Land 95.

Source: Fort Bend County District Clerk

Open letter dated 4 Feb 2019 from local elected officials to Fort Bend ISD’s Board of Trustees asking them to allow the bodies to remain where they were found.

Source: The Houston Chronicle

Email dated 22 Aug 2019 from Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Charles Dupre to the board of trustees saying he met with Fort Bend County Judge KP George, who expressed that the county would accept too much risk if they took over the cemetery without court approval.

Source: Obtained from Fort Bend ISD under the Texas Public Information Act

Opinion issued by Justice Evelyn V. Keyes of Texas First District Court of Appeals in Oct 2019 directing Judge Shoemake's to vacate his appointments of Scott West and Michael Elliot and dismiss Fort Bend ISD’s case.

Source: Fort Bend County District Clerk

Report filed by Fort Bend ISD Police Officer Robbie Hilliard III, who issued Reginald Moore a trespassing citation at the James Reese Career and Technical Center on 27 Nov 2019.

Source: Obtained from Fort Bend ISD under the Texas Public Information Act
ABOUT

The Sugar Land podcast is a production of Dot Productions and The Texas Newsroom, a public radio journalism collaboration that includes NPR, KERA in North Texas, Houston Public Media, KUT in Austin, Texas Public Radio in San Antonio and other stations across the state.
Co-hosts: Brittney Martin and Naomi Reed
Editor: Rachel Osier Lindley
Executive Producer: Brittney Martin
Engineer and Sound Designer: Jacob Rosati
Fact Checker: Billy Brennan
Audio Editor: Bennett Smith
Music: JaRon Marshall
Recording Engineer: Jake Perlman
Producer: Rafa Farihah
Managing Editor of The Texas Newsroom: Corrie MacLaggan
Website: Alan Bouzek
SUPPORT

The podcast and website were completed with the support of a grant from Columbia University's Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights with funding provided by Arnold Ventures and a grant from the Convict Leasing and Labor Project.
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