– The
MOVE Organization is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group
that preached revolution and advocated a return to nature lifestyle. They
lived communally and vowed to lead a life uninterrupted by the government,
police or technology. They were passionate supporters of animal rights and
members adopted vegan diets. Members also adopted the surname “Africa.” Often
times they would engage in public demonstrations related to issues they deemed
important.
– MOVE
did, however, have a past with the police. Since inception in 1972, the group
was looked at as a threat to the Philadelphia Police Department. In 1978,
police raided their Powelton Village home and as a result, one police officer
died after being shot in the head. Nine MOVE members were arrested, charged
with third-degree murder and sent to prison. They argued that the police
officer was shot in the back of his head on his way into the home, challenging
the claim that he was shot by members inside the house. Eventually the group
relocated to the infamous house on 6221 Osage Street.
– There
are differing reports about the group and how troublesome they actually were.
According to AP, neighbors complained about their house on Osage, which was
barricaded with plywood and allegedly contained a multitude of weapons. It has
been said that the group built a giant wooden bunker on the roof and used a
bullhorn to “scream obscenities at all hours of the night,” which angered those
living in nearby row houses. Eventually, they turned to city officials for
help, which put into motion the events of May 13, 1985.
– On
that day armed police, the fire department and city officials gathered at the
house in an attempt to clear it out and arrest MOVE members who had been
indicted for crimes like parole violation and illegal possession of firearms.
When police tossed tear gas canisters into the home, MOVE members fired back.
In turn, the police discharged their guns.
–
Eventually a police helicopter flew over the home and dropped two bombs on the
row house. A ferocious blaze ensued.
–
Witness and MOVE members say that when members started to run out of the
burning structure to escape a fiery death, police continued to fire their
weapons.
– The
fire department delayed putting out the flames. After the blaze, they claimed
they didn’t want to put their men in harms way, as MOVE members were still
firing their guns. But MOVE members and witnesses say the wait was deliberate.
– In
the end 11 people, including MOVE’s founder John Africa, were dead. Five
children died in the home.
– This
is the only child survivor (see picture below). His name is Birdie Africa but
it was later changed to Michael Ward. He ran out of the burning house naked and
covered in flames. He survived his third-degree burns and went on to live a
normal life, although he was forever with the lifelong burn scars on his
abdomen, arms and face.
BIRDIE
AFRICA THEN
BIRDIE AFRICA (NEE, MICHAEL
WARD), AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH
Michael
Ward was found dead on Friday, Sept. 20, 2013 in the jacuzzi aboard a cruise
ship in the Caribbean. He was on vacation with his family. Initial autopsy
reports say he drowned.
– In
the end, no one from the city government was charged criminally.
RAMONA AFRICA, THE ONLY ADULT
SURVIVOR OF THE 1985 BOMBING
RAMONA Africa's burn scars are
not the only reminders for her of the day she fled the raging fire that killed
most of her family on May 13, 1985.
She was the only adult to
escape the home with her life. Her anger and bitterness over that day still
burn as deeply as the flames that engulfed six adults and five children inside
the MOVE house at 6221 Osage Ave.
"Despite the grief and the
shock, what got me through was my bitterness," she said recently of her
recovery in the days following the bombing.
Africa served seven years in
prison on riot charges stemming from the 1985 confrontation. She later sued the
city and pocketed part of a $1.5 million civil-rights judgment.
1985: Africa, who was then and
still is the group's spokeswoman, was often seen in front of the Osage home,
yelling into a bullhorn calling for the release of MOVE followers who were
convicted of killing a police officer during a shoot-out between police and
members in 1978.
Quote: "MOVE will destroy
the entire Democratic Party, the police, the mayor and the image and economy of
Philadelphia."
Today: Africa still lives in
Philadelphia, where she said she continues to uphold MOVE's causes and beliefs
just as she had when she joined in the early '80s.
She said the group's priority
is still the "unrelenting fight for our brothers and sisters who've been
in prison since 1978." The surviving MOVE members in prison come up for
parole later this year, she said.
Meanwhile, she travels around
the world - she's been to Cuba, South Africa and several European countries, -
spreading the message of John Africa.
"[The [police bombing]
made me very serious about the revolution," she said during a recent
interview.
So the scars from the
second-degree burns that cover more than 15 percent of her body will remain
unrepaired, she said.
"I need to be reminded
about what happened," she said. "I'm not trying to cover it up.
Because of the strength of my beliefs, this doesn't bother me that much. I use
the burns as a teaching tool."
RAMONA AFRICA THEN
RAMONA
AFRICA NOW
In
Philadelphia's Clark Park, MOVE members Pam Africa (left) and Ramona Africa.
MOVE LEADER JOHN AFRICA
MEMBERS OF MOVE
THE MAYOR WILSON
GOODE, AND POLICE COMMISSIONER GREGORE
SAMBOR, WERE THE
BRAINTRUST DECIDING TO DROP THE BOMB.
IN ALL FAIRNESS TO
MAYOR GOODE, IT WAS THE COMMUNITY'S CONTINUED COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE MOVE
ORGANIZATION'S DISRUPTIVE PRESENCE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT LED TO HIS ACTIONS.
THE NEIGHBORS COMPLAINED ABOUT THE UNSANITARY PRACTICES THAT THE GROUP
CONDONED, AND THEY DEMANDED THAT MAYOR GOODE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. WHAT THEY
DIDN'T COUNT ON WAS THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD BEING SET ON FIRE.
THE SIEGE ON MOVE
THE DROPPING OF THE
BOMB
THE BEGINNING
THE POLICING
MORE READING REFERENCES
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