Black Mayor Wilson Goode Dropped A Bomb on the Move House in Philly: Black Bourgeois Leaders Represent the Rulers Not Regular People
skep...@aol.com
Never Forgive, Never Forget
Revolutionary Worker #1057, June 4, 2000
By dawn, May 13, 1985 hundreds of police armed with automatic weapons
had surrounded 6221 Osage Avenue, the home of Philadelphia's radical
MOVE organization. Police Commissioner Sambor shouted through a
bullhorn: "Attention, MOVE! This is America! You have to abide by the
laws of the United States!" In the hours that followed, Philadelphia's
police wrote an ugly new chapter in America's history of brutalizing
and murdering Black people.
Over many years Philadelphia's power structure earned itself a
reputation for brutal treatment of radical and revolutionary Black
movements. In 1966 the Philadelphia police, under their notorious
chief Frank Rizzo, raided four meeting places of the civil rights
organization SNCC, planting dynamite in one of the locations to
justify further repression. In 1970 Rizzo's men raided three offices
of the Black Panther Party. Many people still remember with anger how
Philly police beat the arrested Panthers, then forced them to strip
off their clothes and line up naked in public.
In the 1970s then-Mayor Rizzo attacked a new organization, MOVE, that
was emerging from Philadelphia's Black community. MOVE refused to
respect present-day America and its prevailing values. Its members
openly defied official power and tirelessly preached against a system
they considered utterly corrupt and destructive of life on this
planet, particularly through the use of modern technology. And when
threatened and confronted by the authorities, they did not back down.
From its beginning, MOVE has exposed the rulers of this society for
the liars, racists and murderers that they are.
Confrontations escalated between MOVE and the Philadelphia power
structure. MOVE members were constantly arrested and harassed. In late
1977 the police launched a siege of the MOVE house in the neighborhood
called Powelton Village. After ten months of continuous conflict, 600
police attacked MOVE's house. Gunfire erupted. MOVE members were
brutalized and arrested. Nine MOVE members were railroaded to long
prison sentences--supposedly for killing a cop who most likely died
from police gunfire. In 1981 the authorities attacked Mumia Abu-Jamal,
a well-respected radio reporter and MOVE supporter. Mumia was shot,
beaten, and framed for murder by the police.
In the face of all this repression, MOVE continued to fight to free
Mumia and its imprisoned family members called the MOVE 9. After MOVE
moved into a new house on Osage Avenue, police agents worked with
conservative elements in the surrounding community to create a new
confrontation with MOVE.
On May 13, 1985, after months of planning, the police moved into Osage
Avenue. For hours the police pounded the MOVE house with thousands of
bullets. Then, at 5:25 in the afternoon, a police helicopter dropped a
bomb onto MOVE's roof---packed with C-4 military explosive provided by
the FBI. The explosion ignited a firestorm. The MOVE house burned, and
flames spread to the surrounding row-houses. Firefighters were ordered
to let the fire burn.
The whole surrounding block of homes--61 houses in all--were
destroyed. Over 200 people were suddenly homeless. It was a hard
lesson for neighborhood residents who had collaborated with the police
against MOVE.
Only two MOVE family members survived: Ramona Africa, age 30, and
Birdie Africa, age 13. Intense police sniper fire stopped the other
MOVE members from escaping. Several were shot. Those forced back into
the burning building died in the flames.
In 1985, Ed Rendell and Lynne Abraham provided legal cover for this
attack by providing last-minute warrants to the police. Ed Rendell is
the former mayor of Philadelphia (and current head of the Democratic
Party National Committee), and Lynne Abraham is the city's district
attorney. Both are actively involved in pushing for the execution of
the revolutionary prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
*****
Six adults and five children died in this infamous police massacre of
May 13, 1985:
Conrad Africa, age 36
Thomaso Africa, age 9
Theresa Africa, age 26
Katricia "Free" Dotson, age 14
Raymond Africa, age 50
Zenetta Dotson, age 13
Rhonda Africa, age 30
Delicia Africa, age 11
Frank James Africa, age 26
Phil Africa, age 11
Vincent Leapheart, age 54
"The message is supposed to be one of invincibility and utter
brutality. But even this act itself shows their inner and ultimate
weakness. Why are the rulers so threatened by a group of unrepentant
Black rebels in a handful of communal compounds?"
Revolutionary Worker, May 20, 1985
"Those who carried out and sanctioned this massacre obviously fear
such a rebellious spirit and are aware of its infectious quality and
how rapidly it can spread, especially among this society's most
downtrodden. For all its horror, then, the MOVE massacre points to a
future without such horrors. It therefore must be learned from, and
the eleven who fell on that spring day in the city of the Liberty Bell
must be honored and not forgotten."
Margot Harry, author of
"Attention, MOVE! This is America!"
Vladimir
>15 Years Since the Police Bombing of MOVE
Ha ha ha.
John Africa and his MOVE animals were raping children and literally
living in feces.
Cops should have taken action sooner.
skep...@aol.com
> On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:45:46 -0800 (PST), "skepti...@aol.com"
>
> <skepti...@aol.com> wrote:
> >15 Years Since the Police Bombing of MOVE
>
> Ha ha ha.
>
> John Africa and his MOVE animals were raping children and literally
> living in feces.
>
> Cops should have taken action sooner.
Vladimir is not an individual poster. He is a group of cops, or he is
part of a Pentagon team or skin heads working for the govt.
delibertely spreading racism in support of the US government.
Nobama
Don't know about that but the children at the MOVE compound were
emaciated, starving, dehydrated, and covered in shit.
The neighbors were terrified of John Africa's tribe.
MOVE made David Koresh's Waco compound look like Disneyland.
skep...@aol.com
> On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:41:54 -0800 (PST), "skepti...@aol.com"
>
> - Show quoted text -
Your words are just lies made up by pigs and posted by the police.
Nobama
Pigs, that's exactly how that pack of MOVE murderers lived. And they
called themselves "environmentalists." Gotta luv it.
If ol' Frank Rizzo had had his way, the sty would have been
cleaned-out much sooner.