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Mike Africa Jr., legacy director of MOVE Activist Archive and son of original MOVE members, has launched the MOVE Curriculum to educate Philadelphia students about the 1985 bombing of the organization’s Osage Avenue compound. The program will be implemented in 59 classrooms across the city, Africa Jr. said.
Africa Jr. helped design the four-week curriculum, along with Tiferet Ani, Krystal Strong and Philadelphia teachers.
Nearly 40 years after the bombing, the course intends to educate younger Philadelphians about the event’s history, Africa Jr. said. However, the lessons do not address any present controversies surrounding allegations of abuse within the organization.
What is MOVE and what happened
John Africa founded MOVE in Philadelphia in 1972. The organization leaned in on Black revolutionary and environmentalist ideologies.
Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, MOVE stood at odds with the Philadelphia Police Department, resulting in armed confrontations. A 1978 standoff between police and MOVE members resulted in an officer’s death.
On May 12, 1985, police attempted to arrest MOVE members in their West Philly rowhome. After a daylong standoff and shoutout between law enforcement and the organization, police dropped a bomb on 6221 Osage Ave.
The bombing killed 11 people and displaced 61 families.
A worker transports the remains of a body found within the debris of the house of the MOVE compound in West Philadelphia, May 15, 1985. (AP Photo/George Widman, File)
The “On A MOVE” program
The curriculum includes 20 lessons and incorporates materials from MOVE’s family archive. Some teachers have already begun to implement the lesson plans.
In addition to the MOVE bombing, students will learn about why the organization exists and the challenges it faced, including opposition by former Philadelphia mayors Frank Rizzo and Wilson Goode.
Mike Africa Jr. said the curriculum is intended to educate students about the historical event and the context surrounding it. He spoke to the significance of creating a program to inform young Philadelphians about the history of the bombing, but also said the lessons don’t glorify MOVE.
“There’s no time in the history of America, even with all the challenges that Americans have dealt with, that a bomb was dropped on one singular group,” Africa Jr. said. “It was important for us to create a curriculum that to tell that history.”
Timothy Welbeck, director of the Center for Anti-Racism at Temple University and professor of Africology and African-American studies, said that it is “incredibly important” for cities such as Philadelphia to discuss and contextualize historical events like the MOVE bombing.
“I think there is a strong benefit from those who directly experienced it to help teach and shape the understanding of an experience like the MOVE bombing and why it still matters today,” Welbeck said.