Nine, l’histoire de la communauté Move

Chapter 1

The Move organization

The MOVE Organization surfaced in Philadelphia during the early 1970's. Characterized by dreadlock hair, the adopted surname "Africa," a principled unity, and an uncompromising commitment to their belief, members practiced the teachings of MOVE founder JOHN AFRICA.
read more
Chapter 2

The Context

Throughout the 1970's, Frank Rizzo was the premier figure in Philadelphia government. He started as a street cop and rose through the ranks, eventually serving as Police Commissioner from 1967-71.

read more
Chapter 3

August 8, 1978

On Tuesday, August 8th, hundreds of cops in flak jackets and riot helmets surrounded the 33rd Street location at dawn and ordered MOVE to surrender.

read more
Chapter 4

Mumia Abu Jamal

One of the few media people to accurately report on MOVE and make a serious effort to understand the organization was Mumia Abu-Jamal, a highly regarded Philadelphia journalist and president of the local chapter of the Association of Black Journalists.
read more
Chapter 5

May 13, 1985

Between 6:00 and 7:30 am, police flooded the area with tear gas and fired over 10,000 rounds of ammunition at the house knowing there were women and children inside.
read more
Chapter 6

On A Move !

As several MOVE members became eligible for parole, the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole issued a special stipulation that any potential MOVE parolee agree not to associate with other MOVE members as a condition of being released.
read more

Chapitre-2-Le-Contexte

- Beating The Courts -

By confronting the judicial system as an organized, coordinated group not afraid to go to jail, MOVE was able to run circles around the procedures and expose the fallacy of justice.

Ignoring the status and elevation of judges, MOVE remained seated when the order "All rise!" was given, and never addressed the judge as "your honor." They also rejected plea bargain offers and public defenders.

In the early years defendants who were released on bail and given a court date would often send a brother or sister member to the trial if they couldn't make it themselves. Most judges at that time couldn't tell MOVE members apart and sentenced the apparent "defendant" who would be taken into custody and held for the duration. The original defendant, often arrested again before his or her sentence expired, would just give police the name of another member, leading the system into ever deepening confusion over who was who.

During a trial, MOVE attacked the legitimacy of the court, demonstrating contra-dictions in such concepts as the presumption of innocence, freedom of religion, and the right to free speech. When defendants refused to blindly submit to a judge's arbitrary dictates, they were either ejected from the room, bound and gagged, or cited for contempt. MOVE spectators were often cited for contempt, too. Sheriffs proved to be just as brutal as the city's cops, at times beating MOVE members in the very presence of judges. All these incidents only generated more cases, and as time went on, MOVE's practice of appealing at every opportunity further compounded an already overwhelming caseload.

By 1976 literally hundreds of MOVE cases were clogging Philadelphia's justice system. Court administrators realized that in a typical MOVE case the city was spending thousands of dollars to prosecute what had often started out as a trivial, trumped-up misdemeanor charge. To save money, the courts began to dismiss MOVE cases in wholesale lots.

During the summer of 1976, MOVE began concentrating on setting up chapters in other states and refrained from further demonstrations. To provide a healthy environment for the children, MOVE secured a mortgage on a 96-acre farm in Virginia. Meanwhile, Frank Rizzo resented a group of self-proclaimed revolution-aries wreaking havoc in the courts and exposing his brutal police department. And with no more demonstrations, there were none of the usual opportunities to harass and arrest MOVE.