Nine - Histoire de la communauté Move

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Chapitre-2-Le-Contexte

- Police Brutality -

MOVE never let the threat of being taken to jail interfere with planned demonstra-tions. Only a pre-selected group, which excluded pregnant women and breast-feeding mothers, would plan to get arrested if the cops started trouble.

Yet events soon proved that police harrassment was not limited to demonstrations alone.

Late in the evening of May 9, 1974 two pregnant MOVE women, Janet and Leesing Africa, were taking a short walk to the corner store to get something to eat. They were stopped and questioned by police officers who became abusive and slammed Janet stomach-first against a police car. The two were subjected to very rough handling and jailed overnight without food or water. Both women lost their babies due to miscarriages. MOVE immediately began demonstrating at the 18th District police station where the incident occurred.

 

By 1975, clashes between MOVE and the police reached increasingly brutal pro-portions, though the city denied its role in any abusive handling. Members at demonstrations were getting beaten bloody on a regular basis, yet MOVE's deep commitment only led to more determined protests. On April 29, 1975 a MOVE demonstration against ill-treatment of jailed members at the police ad-ministration building led to several arrests. Alberta Africa, who was pregnant, was dragged from a holding cell, held spread-eagle by four officers and repeat-edly kicked in the stomach and vagina by a matron named Robinson, suffering a miscarriage as a result.

 

Despite police violence against MOVE individuals who had not even been born, many MOVE mothers did bear children, and did so naturally, without drugs or medical assistance, in accordance with JOHN AFRICA's teachings. Sue Africa, in spite of several police beatings throughout her pregnancy, had a son, Tomaso, born at the 33rd Street headquarters on August 4, 1975. Janine Africa's baby, Life Africa was born March 8, 1976 but murdered by police less than a month later. (Tomaso was later murdered by the city May 13, 1985.)

 

  • ©Temple University Archives
  • ©Temple University Archives
©Temple University Archives ©Temple University Archives

A Move supporter being arrested (1978)

Rizzo’s police attacking students during a demonstration (Nov - 17th 1967)

 

 

Move… Who they are ?

"Video / 6 min / Couleur" ©2011 - "In Prison My Whole Life" de Marc Evans

 

 

Writing

According to the book "20 years on the Move"

Translation : Claude GUILLAUMAUD for "Just Justice"

Legends Photos : Béatrice KOULAKSSIS and Nadège ARNAULT

 

Production

David JOYEUX (development)

and Jonathan LERE (webdesign)

Drowings of Move 9 : Tinted Justice Collective

 

Web hosting

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Thanks to Ramona Africa and the Move family