MOVE (Philadelphia organization)

This article is about the organization MOVE. For Move, see MOVE (Philadelphia organization) (disambiguation).

MOVE is an organization formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1972 by John Africa and Donald Glassey. MOVE was described by CNN as "a loose-knit, mostly black group whose members all adopted the surname Africa, advocated a 'back-to-nature' lifestyle and preached against technology." The group came to international attention after an attempt in 1985 by the Philadelphia Police Department to enforce outstanding arrest warrants for four members resulted in the police dropping a bomb containing C-4 and Tovex from a helicopter onto rooftop bunkers at MOVE's residence at 6221 Osage Avenue.

1978 incident

They lived collectively in a house owned by Donald Glassey in the Powelton Village section of West Philadelphia. Their actions brought close scrutiny from the Philadelphia police. In 1978, an end was negotiated to an almost year-long standoff with police, but MOVE failed to relocate as required by the court order. When the police later attempted entry, Philadelphia Police Officer James J. Ramp was killed and several people, including six other Philadelphia police officers and six Philadelphia firefighters were injured.

Seven of the nine MOVE members who were found guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting death of a police officer in 1978 were due for parole hearings in April 2008.

1985 incident

Subsequently, MOVE moved to a new location, a row house on Osage Avenue, in 1985. Again, they were viewed as a public nuisance. On May 13, 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department attempted to clear a building in which the MOVE members lived. The police tried to remove two wood-and-steel rooftop bunkers by dropping a four-pound bomb made of C-4 plastic explosive and Tovex, a dynamite substitute, onto the roof. The resulting explosion caused the house to catch fire, igniting a massive blaze which eventually consumed almost an entire city block. Eleven people, including John Africa, six other adults and four children, died in the resulting fire. Mayor Wilson Goode soon appointed an investigative commission, the PSIC or MOVE commission, which issued its report on March 6, 1986. The report denounced the actions of the city government, stating that "Dropping a bomb on an occupied row house was unconscionable."

In a 1996 civil suit in U.S. federal court, a jury ordered the City of Philadelphia and two former city officials to pay $1.5 million to a survivor and relatives of two people killed in the incident. The jury found that the city used excessive force and violated the members' constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

References in music

Songs that mention the MOVE Organization include:

• Be Careful Tonight by Beru Revue
• "City of Soul" by Australia's Eurogliders
• Operation M.O.V.E. by Leftöver Crack
• M.O.V.E. by Fifth Column
• "M.O.V.E." by The Micranots
• Mumia's Song by Anti-Flag
• No Justice, No Peace by Aus Rotten
• "Philadelphia" by Atom and his Package
• Proper Propaganda by Dilated Peoples
• Save a City... by Mischief Brew
• Stonez of Christ (featuring Jus Allah) by Jedi Mind Tricks
• Sunset on 32nd by Strike Anywhere
• Watermelon City by Elizabeth Alexander on the DJ /rupture album Special Gunpowder
• My Skin is My Sin by Ice Cube
• Old Guards, New Methods by VERSE
• Rain of Terror by The Last Poets

The Roof is on Fire, by Rock Master Scott and the Dynamic Three, is commonly assumed to have been inspired by this incident, but the single predated the MOVE bombing by a year. The song's chorus eerily predicted the sight of the MOVE house, its roof on fire and billowing smoke, and was used as a rally during the ensuing protests near the site of the bombing.

See also

• John Africa
• Green Anarchism
• Anarcho-primitivism

Further reading

• Discourse and Destruction: The City of Philadelphia versus MOVE, Robin Wagner-Pacifici, University of Chicago Press, 1994
• Move: Sites of Trauma (Pamphlet Architecture 23); Johanna Saleh Dickson; Princeton Architectural Press, 2002
• The Bombing of Osage Avenue, Toni Cade Bambara
• Attention Move! This is America, Margot Harry, Banner Press, ISBN:0916650324
• Let it Burn!, Michael Boyette & Randi Boyette, Contemporary Press, 1989

External links

Pro-MOVE

• Official MOVE website
• "John Africa's MOVE Organization"
• "25 Years on the MOVE"
• MOVE on a political support website
• "A Basic History of the 1985 MOVE Bombing: Rogue Police and Weak Leadership"

Anti-MOVE

• Blog of MOVE critic and former member Tony Allen
• MOVE news media archive on anti-cult site RickRoss.com
• MoveOrganization.com, presenting a history critical of the orgnization

News media

• Mindfully.org's scan of a New York Times story on the bombing
• A 1996 New York Times article recounting the story of the bombing and the ensuing trial
• Alice Walker's Thoughts about MOVE and the bombing

Primary sources

• Report of the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission (AKA the "MOVE Commission")