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Brutal Aftermath of Police MOVE Bombing Still Resonates

Published

10 years ago

May 27, 2015

Row houses in Philadelphia burn after officials dropped a bomb on the MOVE house in this May 1985 photo from files. Ramona Africa, the lone adult survivor of the May 13, 1985 fire, and two other MOVE members sued the city of Philadelphia, and the former police and fire commissioners for financial damages in what was the first trial in court to address the MOVE bombing. (AP Photo)

by Askia Muhammad
Special to the NNPA from The Final Call

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) – More than 30 years have now passed since the worse abuse of police authority in modern American history.

On May 13, 1985 a massive police operation was launched in Philadelphia after Wilson Goode, the city’s first Black mayor, abdicated his authority over the police force permitting its racist commanders to first rain a 10,000 bullet fusillade, before executing a helicopter bombing of the headquarters of a radical, Black naturalist organization known as MOVE.

Armed Philadelphia police offi cers man a rooftop as the sky is illuminated by the fl ames from a neighborhood in West Philadelphia, Pa., that burned after police dropped a bomb on a building occupied by members of MOVE, May 13, 1985.

The fire caused by the attack incinerated six adults and five children, and destroyed 65 homes and two city blocks. Despite two grand jury investigations and a commission finding that top officials were grossly negligent, no one from the city government was criminally charged.

MOVE was a radical movement dedicated to Black liberation and a back-to-nature lifestyle. It was founded by John Africa, and all its members took on the surname Africa.

Ramona Africa is the only adult survivor of the vicious attack. In 2010 she told “Democracy Now!” what happened. “In terms of the bombing, after being attacked the way we were, first with four deluge hoses by the fire department and then tons of tear gas, and then being shot at—the police admit to shooting over 10,000 rounds of bullets at us in the first 90 minutes—there was a lull. You know, it was quiet for a little bit.

“And then, without any warning at all, two members of the Philadelphia Police Department’s bomb squad got in a Pennsylvania state police helicopter and flew over our home and dropped a satchel containing C4, a powerful military explosive that no municipal police department has. They had to get it from the federal government, from the FBI. And without any announcement or warning or anything, they dropped that bomb on the roof of our home.”

Linn Washington is a journalist, a former columnist for The Philadelphia Tribune and a Temple University journalism professor, who has covered MOVE for nearly 40 years. “The bullets were so intense that they were raining from the sky like hail—and then, later in the afternoon, to see a bomb dropped on a house occupied by children. And then the very callous decision of the authorities to let the fire burn was just unreal. It’s a sight and a memory that I can’t get out of my mind,” he said.

When MOVE members realized that their house was on fire, some tried to escape the inferno, but then, police opened fire on them, driving some of them back into the house to die.

In this May 15, 1985 file photo, people sort through debris on Osage Avenue in Philadelphia, after a blaze destroyed scores of homes in the area. The fire started when police dropped a bomb onto the house of the group MOVE, and it spread throughout the area.

The scars which provoked the MOVE tragedy go back to the heavy-handed, Gestapo-like police tactics of former Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo, who led a 1978 attack on a MOVE compound which resulted in the jailing of nine members who received jail sentences totaling hundreds of years according to Mr. Washington.

“What generally gets overlooked is that the roots of what happened in 1985 were planted in the extreme police brutality that was rampant in Philadelphia in the 1970s under Frank Rizzo,” Mr. Washington told The Final Call. “Rizzo essentially ramped up police brutality in Philadelphia that existed for decades, going back to the 19-teens.”

In addition, MOVE suffered from a bias against them which White anti-government communes at the time did not face. And their lifestyle—believing that no creatures, not even rats, roaches, or other vermin should be killed—conflicted with their neighbors in an urban setting. Their lifestyle would have been far more compatible in a rural setting, Mr. Washington said.

MOVE members even harassed neighbors who sought to exterminate vermin on their property, setting up a confrontation with the city administration which had to deal with complaints from neighbors who had grown tired of the intransigence shown by MOVE. On Christmas day 1984, Mr. Washington recalls, loud speakers were set up on the roof of their compound, and for 24 hours they blared loud music which some neighbors found insufferable.

But the neighbors there on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia, were just as poorly served by the Goode administration as was MOVE, Mr. Washington said. “The neighbors felt that the punishment (meted out against MOVE) far exceeded the crimes. Let’s understand, at that point, the neighbors were then crime victims—the crimes that were committed by the city government. Their homes were burned to the ground because of negligence, incompetence and callousness on the part of city government,” Mr. Washington continued.

“The raid itself, the whole conception of the raid, gave no respect for the property owned by Black people. And now, many of the neighbors are experiencing, I wouldn’t know how properly to characterize it, but it’s a psychological condition, where they really feel bad. They’re blaming themselves for what happened with the children, with the death of the adults, and the devastation they endured on the 13th of May 1985.”

City officials ignored the neighbors and even entreaties from MOVE itself, as the confrontation approached. “In the hours before the shootout, there were efforts to reach a negotiated settlement, but the city administration, Wilson Goode refused to even listen to that,” Mr. Washington said.

“I actually ran into the right hand man of (MOVE founder) John Africa, and he was trying to reach Mayor Goode, and he was in the company of a prominent Civil Rights activist from West Philadelphia and a former judge—a guy named Robert Williams—who was the Democratic candidate for District Attorney. All three of them were on the phone trying to reach Goode, and Goode’s city hall office wouldn’t put them through to Goode, so they subsequently called the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court at that time, a Black man named Robert Nix. Nix called Goode’s office and Goode’s office wouldn’t even put the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in touch with Goode.

“They were trying to negotiate. At that point, MOVE was just asking for a promise to have the 1978 matter re-examined. So there were many efforts to try to avoid what happened that day, but at some point the city just got recalcitrant and moved ahead with a militarized situation that led to death and destruction.”

Mayor Goode had apparently surrendered to following the prevailing police and judicial hostility to MOVE. In one instance, for example, when MOVE members followed court orders and moved to Richmond, Va. following the 1978 confrontation, Philadelphia police actually went to Richmond where they arrested the members for moving out of the city, even though they were complying with a court agreement.

In another instance, MOVE members were denied parole from prison and ordered into anger management sessions, even though the members involved had already been certified by the prison as anger management counselors, Mr. Washington recalled.

The gross mistreatment of MOVE also helped radicalize journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, earning him the ongoing hostility of the police and courts, which eventually led to his 1982 conviction—in a trial which Amnesty International and other human rights observers have declared to be grossly unfair—for murdering a Philadelphia police officer. Mr. Abu-Jamal steadfastly maintains his innocence, and remains imprisoned and in declining health while receiving what his supporters insist is inadequate medical attention. His sentence was commuted to life without parole, when the Supreme Court overturned the sentencing phase of his trial. Afraid that a new sentencing trial would open up the guilt-phase of the trial to possible appeals, prosecutors opted to commute his sentence.

In a commentary—part of his ongoing series of commentaries which began when he was on death row, Mr. Abu-Jamal reacted to the 30th anniversary of the MOVE bombing.

“Why should we care what happened on May 13th, 1985? Because what happened then is a harbinger of what’s happening now all across America. I don’t mean bombing people—not yet, that is. I mean the visceral hatreds and violent contempt once held for MOVE is now visited upon average people, not just radicals and revolutionaries like MOVE.

“In May 1985, police officials justified the vicious attacks on MOVE children by saying they, too, were combatants. In Ferguson, Missouri, as police and National Guard confronted citizens, guess how cops described them in their own files. ‘Enemies.’ Enemy combatants, anyone? Then look at 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland. Boys, men, girls, women—it doesn’t matter,” Mr. Abu-Jamal said in his commentary, broadcast by Prison Radio.org.

“There is a direct line from then to now. May 13, 1985, led to the eerie robocop present. If it had been justly and widely condemned then, there would be no now, no Ferguson, no South Carolina, no Los Angeles, no Baltimore. The barbaric police bombing of May 13, 1985, and the whitewash of the murders of 11 MOVE men, women and children opened a door that still has not been closed. We are today living with those consequences,” he concluded.

“His conviction is clearly an overreach,” Mr. Washington said. “As a reporter he became increasingly radicalized by the injustice that he saw MOVE experiencing—the 1978 shootout, the conviction of those persons in a long and ugly and incredibly corrupt trial.

“One MOVE member was beaten to a pulp, live on television. Three or four police officers were eventually put on trial. The district attorney took a year to be able to find out who the people were. They put them on trial. They brought in a jury from out of town to make sure the rights of the police officers were recognized. Then after the prosecution put on its case, the judge issued a directed verdict of acquittal, freeing the police officers, even before the defense put on one witness,” Mr. Washington said.

Ironically, MOVE is larger, stronger, and more widely embraced in Philadelphia, nationally, and even internationally, than they were in 1985, Mr. Washington noted. Their new headquarters is barely distinguishable from the homes of the neighbors surrounding them, and with an increased number of children, their ranks have swollen to perhaps 100 members.

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Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas Honors California Women in Construction with State Proclamation, Policy Ideas

“Women play an important role in building our communities, yet they remain vastly underrepresented in the construction industry,” Smallwood-Cuevas stated. “This resolution not only recognizes their incredible contributions but also the need to break barriers — like gender discrimination.

Published

1 hour ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), center, is shown with other guest speakers at the Sacramento Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction brunch held at the State Capitol on March 6, 2025. On the left is Jennifer Todd, LMS General Contractors Founder and President. To Todd’s right is Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, from Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey.

By Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌, California‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Media‌

To honor Women in Construction Week, Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 30 in the State Legislature on March 6. This resolution pays tribute to women and highlights their contributions to the building industry.

The measure designates March 2, 2025, to March 8, 2025, as Women in Construction Week in California. It passed 34-0 on the Senate floor.

Authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-San Leandro), another bill, Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 28, also recognized women in the construction industry.

The resolution advanced out of the Assembly Committee on Rules with a 10-0 vote.

The weeklong event coincides with the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC) celebration that started in 1998 and has grown and expanded every year since.

The same week in front of the State Capitol, Smallwood, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), and Assemblymember Maggie Krell (D-Sacramento), attended a brunch organized by a local chapter of NAWIC.

Two of the guest speakers were Dr. Giovanna Brasfield, CEO of Los Angeles-based Brasfield and Associates, and Jennifer Todd, President and Founder of LMS General Contractors.

Todd is the youngest Black woman to receive a California’s Contractors State License Board (A) General Engineering license. An advocate for women of different backgrounds, Todd she said she has been a woman in construction for the last 16 years despite going through some trying times.

A graduate of Arizona State University’s’ Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in 2009 Todd created an apprenticeship training program, A Greener Tomorrow, designed toward the advancement of unemployed and underemployed people of color.

“I always say, ‘I love an industry that doesn’t love me back,’” Todd said. “Being young, female and minority, I am often in spaces where people don’t look like me, they don’t reflect my values, they don’t reflect my experiences, and I so persevere in spite of it all.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 11.2% of the construction workforce across the country are female. Overall, 87.3% of the female construction workers are White, 35.1% are Latinas, 2.1% are Asians, and 6.5% are Black women, the report reveals.

The National Association of Home Builders reported that as of 2022, the states with the largest number of women working in construction were Texas (137,000), California (135,000) and Florida (119,000). The three states alone represent 30% of all women employed in the industry.

Sen. Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and the California Legislative Women’s Caucus supported Smallwood-Cuevas’ SCR 30 and requested that more energy be poured into bringing awareness to the severe gender gap in the construction field.

“The construction trade are a proven path to a solid career. and we have an ongoing shortage, and this is a time for us to do better breaking down the barriers to help the people get into this sector,” Rubio said.

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Report Offers Policies, Ideas to Improve the Workplace Experiences of Black Women in California

The “Invisible Labor, Visible Struggles: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Workplace Equity for Black Women in California” report by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI), unveiled the findings of a December 2024 survey of 452 employed Black women across the Golden State. Three-fifths of the participants said they experienced racism or discrimination last year and 57% of the unfair treatment was related to incidents at work.

Published

2 hours ago

March 24, 2025

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By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

Backed by data, a report released last month details the numerous hurdles Black women in the Golden State must overcome to effectively contribute and succeed in the workplace.

The “Invisible Labor, Visible Struggles: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Workplace Equity for Black Women in California” report by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI), unveiled the findings of a December 2024 survey of 452 employed Black women across the Golden State. Three-fifths of the participants said they experienced racism or discrimination last year and 57% of the unfair treatment was related to incidents at work.

CBWCEI President and CEO Kellie Todd Griffin said Black women have been the backbone of communities, industries, and movements but are still overlooked, underpaid, and undervalued at work.

“The data is clear,” she explained. “Systemic racism and sexism are not just historical injustices. They are active forces shaping the workplace experiences of Black women today. This report is a call to action. it demands intentional polices, corporate accountability, and systemic changes.”

The 16-page study, conducted by the public opinion research and strategic consulting firm EVITARUS, showcases the lived workplace experiences of Black women, many who say they are stuck in the crosshairs of discrimination based on gender and race which hinders their work opportunities, advancements, and aspirations, according to the report’s authors, Todd Griffin and CBWCEI researcher Dr. Sharon Uche.

“We wanted to look at how Black women are experiencing the workplace where there are systematic barriers,” Todd Griffin told the media during a press conference co-hosted by Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media. “This report is focused on the invisible labor struggles of Black women throughout California.”

The aspects of the workplace most important to Black women, according to those surveyed, are salary or wage, benefits, and job security.

However, only 21% of the survey’s respondents felt they had strong chances for career advancement into the executive or senior leadership ranks in California’s job market; 49% felt passed over, excluded from, or marginalized at work; and 48% felt their accomplishments at work were undervalued. Thirty-eight percent said they had been thought of as the stereotypical “angry Black woman” at work, and 42% said workplace racism or discrimination effected their physical or mental health.

“These sentiments play a factor in contributing to a workplace that is unsafe and not equitable for Black women in California,” the report reads.

Most Black women said providing for their families and personal fulfillment motivated them to show up to work daily, while 38% said they were dissatisfied in their current job with salary, supervisors, and work environment being the top sources of their discontent.

When asked if they agree or disagree with a statement about their workplace 58% of Black women said they feel supported at work, while 52% said their contributions are acknowledged. Forty-nine percent said they felt empowered.

Uche said Black women are paid $54,000 annually on average — including Black single mothers, who averaged $50,000 — while White men earn an average of $90,000 each year.

“More than half of Black families in California are led by single Black women,” said Uche, who added that the pay gap between Black women and White men isn’t forecasted to close until 2121.

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Five Years After COVID-19 Began, a Struggling Child Care Workforce Faces New Threats

Five years ago, as COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures began, most early educators continued to work in person, risking their own health and that of their families. “Early educators were called essential, but they weren’t provided with the personal protective equipment they needed to stay safe,” said CSCCE Executive Director Lea Austin. “There were no special shopping hours or ways for them to access safety materials in those early and scary months of the pandemic, leaving them to compete with other shoppers. One state even advised them to wear trash bags if they couldn’t find PPE.”

Published

2 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

UC Berkeley photo.

UC Berkeley News

In the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic alone, 166,000 childcare jobs were lost across the nation. Significant recovery didn’t begin until the advent of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Child Care Stabilization funds in April 2021.

Today, child care employment is back to slightly above pre-pandemic levels, but job growth has remained sluggish at 1.4% since ARPA funding allocations ended in October 2023, according to analysis by the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at UC Berkeley. In the last six months, childcare employment has hovered around 1.1 million.

Yet more than two million American parents report job changes due to problems accessing child care. Why does the childcare sector continue to face a workforce crisis that has predated the pandemic? Inadequate compensation drives high turnover rates and workforce shortages that predate the pandemic. Early childhood educators are skilled professionals; many have more than 15 years of experience and a college degree, but their compensation does not reflect their expertise. The national median hourly wage is $13.07, and only a small proportion of early educators receive benefits.

And now a new round of challenges is about to hit childcare. The low wages paid in early care and education result in 43% of early educator families depending on at least one public support program, such as Medicaid or food stamps, both of which are threatened by potential federal funding cuts. Job numbers will likely fall as many early childhood educators need to find jobs with healthcare benefits or better pay.

In addition, one in five child care workers are immigrants, and executive orders driving deportation and ICE raids will further devastate the entire early care and education system. These stresses are part of the historical lack of respect the workforce faces, despite all they contribute to children, families, and the economy.

The economic impact was equally dire. Even as many providers tried to remain open to ensure their financial security, the combination of higher costs to meet safety protocols and lower revenue from fewer children enrolled led to job losses, increased debt, and program closures.

Eventually, the federal government responded with historic short-term investments through ARPA, which stabilized childcare programs. These funds provided money to increase pay or provide financial relief to early educators to improve their income and well-being. The childcare sector began to slowly recover. Larger job gains were made in 2022 and 2023, and as of November 2023, national job numbers had slightly surpassed pre-pandemic levels, though state and metro areas continued to fluctuate.

Many states have continued to support the workforce after ARPA funding expired in late 2024. In Maine, a salary supplement initiative has provided monthly stipends of $240-$540 to educators working in licensed home- or center-based care, based on education and experience, making it one of the nation’s leaders in its support of early educators. Early educators say the program has enabled them to raise wages, which has improved staff retention. Yet now, Governor Janet Mills is considering cutting the stipend program in half.

“History shows that once an emergency is perceived to have passed, public funding that supports the early care and education workforce is pulled,” says Austin. “You can’t build a stable childcare workforce and system without consistent public investment and respect for all that early educators contribute.”

The Center for the Study of Childcare Employment is the source of this story.