MOVE Philadelphia

Let's Talk About Sects

MOVE Philadelphia made headlines in 1978, when police and MOVE members ended up in a prolonged siege and a gunfire exchange that left a police officer dead. They hit the headlines again in 1985, when a confrontation with the authorities became even more deadly after an explosive device was dropped on their property. The events led many to understand the organisation as a Black liberation group who were the victims of a racist system. The latter is hardly debatable, but credible stories from a multitude of former members portray MOVE as never truly being about Black liberation at all. Instead, they characterise it as a cult.

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If you or someone you know is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia, or find your local crisis centre via the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

Links:

• What the survivors of MOVE deserve — by Kevin Price, Leaving MOVE blog, 22 October 2021
• Help Maria Start Over After MOVE — GoFundMe fundraiser for Maria Hardy, formerly Maria Africa, to help with general life expenses
• Help June (Pixie) and kids resettle in hiding — GoFundMe fundraiser for June Stokes, formerly Pixie Africa, and her children to help with general life expenses
• The Invention of John Africa — by Kevin Price, Leaving MOVE blog, 15 September 2021
• Move: An American Religion — by Richard Kent Evans, Oxford University Press, 2020
• Who was John Africa? — by Craig R. McCoy, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 12 January 1986
• Murder at Ryan's Run — podcast series about MOVE Philadelphia, 2021

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