MOVE still looking for Philadelphia justice
Robert Zaller
Issue date: 8/22/08 Section: Ed-Op
The subject of MOVE is the third rail of Philadelphia politics. MOVE was, at its inception, nonviolent; its members got their livings in the wage-earning economy; it was drug-free. In the larger context of the 1960s and 1970s, it was one of many communal movements around the country that rejected a society regarded as poisoned by racism, imperialism and corporate-engendered consumerism.
In Mayor Frank Rizzo's Philadelphia, MOVE's confrontational style were none too welcome. Had MOVE bought its property in some rural locale, its lifestyle - communal living, unisex uniforms with summer nudity, natural defecation by infants, composting of garbage, providing shelter for animal strays - might not have attracted immediate attention. But part of Africa's self-professed mission was to challenge the System, the era's shorthand term for a hegemonic authority that had corrupted human relations and polluted the planet.
The problem in MOVE's case was that rotting garbage, unvaccinated strays and vermin infestation was a different issue in a crowded city than in an Appalachian retreat. When an unrelenting auditory barrage was added to this, MOVE soon appeared to be, in the words of one critic, "the neighbors from hell."
Three major confrontations between MOVE or MOVE sympathizers and the city police involved fatalities: the city's shootout with MOVE members in the Powelton compound Aug. 8, 1978, which resulted in the death of police officer James Ramp; the encounter Dec. 9, 1981 involving Mumia Abu-Jamal and police officer Daniel Faulkner, which left Abu-Jamal wounded and Faulkner dead; and the infamous bombing of MOVE's Osage Avenue house May 13, 1985, which left 11 MOVE members dead, among them Africa.
The first and last of these confrontations were the result of lengthy standoffs between MOVE and the city. From March 1978, when Rizzo ordered water and electricity to the MOVE house cut off, a state of siege existed, with checkpoints, sandbags and police snipers at the ready. Months of tense negotiation followed, including intercessions from the Carter administration. They ended with an attack by hundreds of police, including a 90-second exchange of gunfire in which Officer Ramp was killed.
In Mayor Frank Rizzo's Philadelphia, MOVE's confrontational style were none too welcome. Had MOVE bought its property in some rural locale, its lifestyle - communal living, unisex uniforms with summer nudity, natural defecation by infants, composting of garbage, providing shelter for animal strays - might not have attracted immediate attention. But part of Africa's self-professed mission was to challenge the System, the era's shorthand term for a hegemonic authority that had corrupted human relations and polluted the planet.
The problem in MOVE's case was that rotting garbage, unvaccinated strays and vermin infestation was a different issue in a crowded city than in an Appalachian retreat. When an unrelenting auditory barrage was added to this, MOVE soon appeared to be, in the words of one critic, "the neighbors from hell."
Three major confrontations between MOVE or MOVE sympathizers and the city police involved fatalities: the city's shootout with MOVE members in the Powelton compound Aug. 8, 1978, which resulted in the death of police officer James Ramp; the encounter Dec. 9, 1981 involving Mumia Abu-Jamal and police officer Daniel Faulkner, which left Abu-Jamal wounded and Faulkner dead; and the infamous bombing of MOVE's Osage Avenue house May 13, 1985, which left 11 MOVE members dead, among them Africa.
The first and last of these confrontations were the result of lengthy standoffs between MOVE and the city. From March 1978, when Rizzo ordered water and electricity to the MOVE house cut off, a state of siege existed, with checkpoints, sandbags and police snipers at the ready. Months of tense negotiation followed, including intercessions from the Carter administration. They ended with an attack by hundreds of police, including a 90-second exchange of gunfire in which Officer Ramp was killed.
is a member of the 
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
J. J. Hohenstein
posted 8/22/08 @ 9:32 AM EST
Professor Zaller you need to grow up.
MOVE was a health hazard and hypocritical. The were back to nature but had electric bull horns and the biggest hoagie consumers in the neighborhood. (Continued…)
Post a Comment