MOVE or the MOVE Organization is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded by John Africa. MOVE was described by CNN as "a loose-knit, mostly black group whose members all adopted the surname Africa, advocated a "back-to-nature" lifestyle and preached against technology." The group lives communally and frequently engages in public demonstrations related to several issues.
Since their founding in 1972, their actions have attracted attention of the Philadelphia Police Department. A major incident occurred in 1978, when the police raided their Powelton Village home. This raid resulted in the death of one police officer and the imprisonment of nine group members, now known as "The MOVE 9." After this, the group relocated further west to a house at 6221 Osage Ave.
In 1985, the group made national news when police dropped a bomb on the Osage house from a helicopter in an attempt to end an armed standoff. The explosion ignited a fire in which 11 people died, including five children and the group's leader, John Africa. Only two occupants survived, Ramona, an adult and Birdie, a child. In addition, 65 homes were destroyed as the entire block burned.
Read more about MOVE: Origins, 1978 Shoot-out, 1985 Bombing, 2002 Murder of John Gilbride, Current Activities, References in Music
Famous quotes containing the word move:
“If you chance to live and move and have your being in that thin stratum in which the events that make the news transpire,—thinner than the paper on which it is printed,—then these things will fill the world for you; but if you soar above or dive below that plane, you cannot remember nor be reminded of them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If you join government, calmly make your contribution and move on. Don’t go along to get along; do your best and when you have to—and you will—leave, and be something else.”
—Peggy Noonan (b. 1950)
“A letter with it
discloses, in its words and between them,
a life opening, fearful, fearless,
thousand-eyed, a field
of sparks that move swiftly
in darkness....”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)