Move 9 Film and Discussion this Thursday

MOVE is a radical black collective based in Philadelphia, a group who advocate a
'back-to-nature' lifestyle and preach against technology. The MOVE 9 have been in
prison since 1978, following a police attack on their home. In 1985 the US
government dropped a bomb on it, killing 11 people, including 5 babies. The 1978
attack followed years of police brutality against MOVE. The police opened fire and
one officer was killed by a single bullet fired from above street level. MOVE were
all in the basement, which filled with nearly six feet of water from water cannons.
Adults bringing their children out to safety were brutally beaten before the cameras
and arrested.

Nine of MOVE were charged with murder for the death of Officer James Ramp. Within a
few hours of their arrest, their home was demolished by city officials who were
legally obligated to preserve all evidence. The judge convicted all nine of third
degree murder (while admitting that he didn't have 'the faintest idea' who killed
Ramp) and sentenced each of them to 30-100 years in prison.

The eight surviving prisoners are due for parole this year after 30 years in prison.
However five have recently been denied parole because they have not shown remorse
for their alleged ‘crime’ and the remaining parole interviews have been postponed
indefinitely.

MOVE is asking for support by writing to local media and raising awareness of their
situation worldwide. Please join us to call for their release.


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If you have time/want to read more....

'The MOVE Organization is a family of strong, serious, deeply committed
revolutionaries founded by a wise, perceptive, strategically minded Black man named
JOHN AFRICA. The principle of our belief is explained in a collection of writings we
call 'The Guidelines,' authored by JOHN AFRICA. ... JOHN AFRICA taught us that Life
is the priority. Nothing is more important or as important as Life, the force that
keeps us alive. All life comes from one source, from God, MOM NATURE, MOMA. Each
individual life is dependent on every other life, and all life has a purpose, so all
living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human
beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy
and strong, life must have clean air , clear water and pure food. If derived of
these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, 'die.'


'The MOVE 9 are innocent men and women who have been in prison since August 8, 1978, following a massive police attack on us at our home in Powelton Village
(Philadelphia). This was seven years before the government dropped a bomb on MOVE,
killing 11 people, including 5 babies. The August 8, 1978 police attack on MOVE
followed years of police brutality against MOVE and was a major military operation
carried out by the Philadelphia police department under orders of then-mayor, Frank
Rizzo, whose reputation for racism and brutality is well known ... During this
attack, heavy equipment was used to tear down the fence surrounding our home, and
cops filled our home with enough tear gas to kill us and our babies, while SWAT
teams covered every possible exit. We were all in the basement of our home, where we
had 10 thousand pounds of water pressure per minute directed at us from 4 fire
department water cannons (for a total of 40 thousand pounds of water pressure per
minute). As the basement filled with nearly six feet of water we had to hold our
babies and animals above the rising water so they wouldn't drown. Suddenly shots
rang out (news reporters and others know the shots came from a house at 33rd and
Baring St., not our home, because they actually saw the man shooting) and bullets
immediately filled the air as police through-out the area opened fire on us. Officer
James Ramp, who was standing above us on street-level and facing our home, was
killed by a single bullet that struck him on a downward angle. This alone makes it
impossible for MOVE to have killed Ramp, since we were below street level, in the
basement. MOVE adults came out of the house carrying our children through clouds of
tear gas, we were beat and arrested. Television cameras actually filmed the vicious
beating of our brother Delbert Africa (3 of the 4 cops that beat Delbert went to
trial on minor charges). Despite the photographic evidence, the trial judge (Stanley
Kubacki) refused to let the jury render a verdict and himself acquitted the cops by
directed order. Nine of us were charged with murder and related charges for the
death of James Ramp. Within a few hours of our arrest, our home (which is supposed
to be the 'scene of the crime' and therefore evidence) was deliberately destroyed,
demolished, by city officials when they were legally obligated to preserve all
evidence, but we were held for trial anyway. We went to trial before Judge Edward
Malmed who convicted all nine of us of third degree murder (while admitting that he
didn't have 'the faintest idea' who killed Ramp) and sentenced each of us to 30 -
100 years in prison. '