New Push To Free The ‘Move 9’ And Upcoming Conference Announced

By Michael Z. Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Aug 26, 2016 - 1:12:01 PM

PHILADELPHIA—Recently, at the African-American Museum the MOVE organization held an afternoon program outlining a new push to free members of their community and announced planning for a spring conference to be held next year.

MOVE was a radical movement dedicated to Black liberation and a back-to-nature lifestyle. It was founded by John Africa, and all its members took on the surname Africa.

On May 13, 1985 a massive police operation was launched in Philadelphia after Wilson Goode, the city’s first Black mayor, abdicated his authority over the police force permitting its commanders to first rain a 10,000 bullet fusillade, before executing a helicopter bombing of the group’s headquarters. When MOVE members realized that their house was on fire, some tried to escape the inferno, but then, police opened fire on them, driving some of them back into the house and death. Ramona Africa is the only adult survivor of the vicious attack.

Years earlier, in the hot summer of 1978 under the direction of the infamous Mayor Frank Rizzo a blockade of the immediate neighborhood of the MOVE compound was implemented in order to prevent food and supplies from reaching the group, which consisted of men, women and children thus forcing the members out of the house under a questionable eviction plan by the city.

The blockade lasted several weeks, during which time residents of a roughly two square-block area had to show identification to reach their homes. Several hundred members of the police department were involved in the action.

Row houses in Philadelphia burn after officials dropped a bomb on the MOVE house in this May 1985 photo from files. Ramona Africa, the lone adult survivor of the May 13, 1985 fire, and two other MOVE members sued the city of Philadelphia, and the former police and fire commissioners for financial damages in what was the first trial in court to address the MOVE bombing. Photos: AP/Wide World photos

After the failure of the blockade on August 8, 1978 long before the advent of the Black Lives Matter movement the Philadelphia Police Department laid siege to MOVE headquarters located in the Powelton Village section of the city. In full SWAT armament the police department implemented what must have been the most violent eviction in the city’s history. As MOVE members hid in the basement to avoid police bullets, cops flooded the basement with firehoses. Then a single shot hit Officer James Ramp in the back of the head killing him. According to reporter Paul Bennet who was at the scene the shot came from across the street. All hell broke loose as the police fired into the MOVE home. Several members were arrested and the home was razed by the city destroying all forensic evidence.

Nine MOVE members were convicted of third degree murder. Two have since died under questionable circumstances according to MOVE spokesperson Ramona Africa. The MOVE organization has long stated the police officer was killed by friendly fire as they had no weapons.

“August 8, 2016 will officially mark 38 years since innocent MOVE Members have been unjustly jailed in Pennsylvania State Prisons. The position of the MOVE organization and supporters of MOVE has not changed and that position is our family is innocent and we want them home and will not stop fighting until they are home,” Ms. Africa stated.

“In 1998 our sister, Merle Africa, died in prison under mysterious circumstances. In 2015 our brother Phil Africa died in prison under mysterious circumstances. From the period of 2008 to as recent as June of 2016 all of our people have been denied parole on what seems to be a questionable bias issue, especially since their prison conduct has been exemplary,” she said.

Photo showing the neighborhood where the compound of the radical group MOVE was located which was destroyed by fire in Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 14, 1985.

The remaining seven incarcerated MOVE member are Chuck Africa, Michael Africa, Debbie Africa, Janet Africa, Janine Africa, Delbert Africa, and Eddie Africa. In May of 2015 supporters of the MOVE 9 put together a petition aimed at United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch demanding an investigation into the wrongful ongoing imprisonment of the incarcerated members. “We are asking for the support of this petition,” Ms. Africa stated at the Aug. 7 program.

The organization will host a conference entitled “Ona Move!” at the Universal Audenreid Charter High School May 5-7, 2017 in Philadelphia. For conference information visit www.onamove.com. Final Call staff contributed to this report.

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