People around the world commemorated May 13th – – the day 36 years ago that Philadelphia Police dropped C-4 military explosives on 6221 Osage Avenue — the house that was home to the MOVE Family. Eleven people, including five children, were brutally murdered and, a community was destroyed. What resulted was “a day that will live in infamy.” Ironically, May is also the month that an incendiary device was dropped on the Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the Tulsa Massacre of 1921.
For those who don’t really know–founded in Philadelphia in the 1970s by John Africa, MOVE is a revolutionary organization of predominately Black people that stands against systemic racism, injustice, and oppression of all people, that promoted environmentalism and animal rights decades before it was popular.
After the bomb was dropped and the Philadelphia Fire Department allowed the house to burn, MOVE family members who tried to escape were prevented from leaving by gunshots from police sharpshooters. Little Birdie Africa and Ramona Africa are the only ones who managed to escape. After the death of Birdie years later, Ramona is now the only survivor of the massacre. No one was ever held responsible for this heinous massacre that occurred under the direction of W. Wilson Goode, Sr., Philadelphia’s first Black mayor. MOVE Family member Pam Africa said they have not heard from Goode since his “apology” last year.
On Thursday, May 13th, the MOVE Family and supporters held a commemorative vigil at Osage Avenue and Cobbs Creek Parkway the near site of the 1985 massacre. Dressed in white, the contingent left Osage Avenue and marched to West Philadelphia’s Malcolm X Park where a rally against government-sanctioned tyranny and a commemorative vigil was held. As the group marched, they carried posters and called the names of the 11 victims. “Call their names! Rhonda Africa, Theresa Africa, Frank Africa, Conrad Africa, John Africa, Tree Africa, Delisha Africa, Netta Africa, Little Phil Africa, Tomaso Africa, Raymond Africa.”
To make things worse, last month it was revealed that the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office had given the remains of several MOVE victims to University of Pennsylvania anthropologist Alan Mann for identification, even though that’s the job of the medical examiner. They were stored in a cardboard box at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for decades and were recently used in an online forensics course at Princeton University. This is a continuation of the history of white institutions worldwide putting Black bodies on display and using them for “research.” People of African descent are continually disrespected in life and death.
The families of the victims were never told of the existence of their loved ones’ remains. Penn and Princeton have issued weak apologies to the MOVE Family. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley recently informed the family that the remains of those victims were given to a funeral home for cremation. Farley was immediately asked to resign by Mayor James Kenney after that confession.
However, on Friday, May 14, in a meeting at the Medical Examiner’s Office, the family was informed that the remains were not cremated. In a press statement, Kenney said, “The Medical Examiner’s Office staff notified the Managing Director’s Office that a box labeled MOVE was located in a refrigerated area at their office. After comparing the contents of the box to an inventory of bone specimens and fragments from 2017, they appear to be the remains thought to have been cremated four years ago.” He also said the remains will be returned to the family once an investigation is completed.
But Pam Africa said, “We don’t believe a word the city says and have launched our own investigation into this wicked deed and the conspiracy to destroy MOVE going back to 1977.” She also said it’s not clear if Farley really resigned, as reported. Clearly, there is a cover-up going on with the Medical Examiner’s Office, Farley, and the city. Why the lies? What’s the real truth? Africa said the MOVE Family will issue a statement in the near future. Stay tuned.
Joe Piette and Mobilization4Mumia contributed to this report.
