BY GLOVA SCOTT
PHILADELPHIA - Over the May 12 weekend, several protests
and commemorations took place here to mark the 10th
anniversary of the police assault on the MOVE house.
On May 13, 1985, in the mostly Black neighborhood of West Philadelphia, hundreds of heavily armed cops prepared to arrest seven adults on various weapons violations and other charges. Area residents were forced to evacuate or face arrest if they stayed. But 10,000 rounds of ammunition did not force MOVE members to surrender. So Philadelphia city police dropped a bomb at 5:27 p.m. on the house at 6221 Osage Ave. It was meant to blast open a rooftop bunker so that tear gas could be used to force MOVE (American Christian Movement for Life) members out.
Instead, the roof caught on fire. Philadelphia police commisioner Gregore Sambor, together with Fire Commissioner William Richmond, decided to let the fire keep going. Hours later, 63 homes were burned to the ground, leaving 250 people homeless and 11 MOVE members dead, including 5 children. The attack was approved by the first Black mayor of Philadelphia, Wilson Goode.
The city maintains ownership of the house at 6221 Osage Ave. Three shifts of cops, 24 hours a day, sit in the house to prevent MOVE members from moving back in.
On Friday, May 12, 40 people gathered for a protest at city hall sponsored by the August 8 Justice for MOVE Committee. Later that evening, some 50 people attended a memorial service organized by the American Friends Service Committee. Featured speakers were Ramona Africa, the lone adult to survive the assault on MOVE, and three members of the MOVE Tragedy Ad Hoc Commission, including Rev. Paul Washington, a well-known Black rights activist.
The MOVE Commission, appointed by Mayor Goode, published a 1,600-page report in 1986 accusing the mayor, police commissioner, managing director, and fire commissioner of being "grossly negligent." The commission urged that charges be filed. There was a grand jury investigation. But no public officials were ever indicted. Africa served seven years in prison on riot and conspiracy charges.
On May 13, MOVE held a six-hour speak-out at the 1199C hospital workers union hall. About 200 people attended. Participants came from as far away as Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., as well as from across Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. A representative from a human rights group in Belgium attended.
Africa has been speaking around the country, building support for the release of nine MOVE members still in jail. "We didn't deserve what happened to us 10 years ago. This is not just a MOVE issue. What happened to MOVE can happen to anybody. And more people are beginning to question the government," she said.