MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy

Former Philadelphia Daily News reporter Linn Washington takes us through his memories of May 13th, 1985, as police use everything in their arsenal to remove MOVE from their Philadelphia headquarters. The attempted eviction culminates in the dropping of a bomb on MOVE’s rowhouse, sparking a fire that killed 11 MOVE members — five of them children — and destroyed 61 homes in Philadelphia.

The City of Philadelphia tries to evict MOVE from their Osage Avenue headquarters. As neighbors evacuate the block, former Inquirer reporter Maida Odom and former NBC10 photojournalist Pete Kane stay behind to tell the story. We follow Maida and Pete as they watch police prepare to remove MOVE from their rowhome by any means necessary.  

MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy is a production of Temple University Klei...

MOVE relocates to Cobbs Creek, a predominantly Black middle-class neighborhood in Philadelphia, disrupting life as its residents know it. Former neighbors recount the rising tensions between MOVE and the residents of Philadelphia’s 6221 Osage Avenue, as MOVE employs new disruptive tactics — including a bullhorn, vermin, and a bunker — in their fight to free imprisoned members.

MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy is a produc...

Conflict between MOVE and the Philadelphia Police escalates. Former Daily News reporter Linn Washington and civil rights activist Walt Palmer take us through the events leading up to the 1978 Powelton Village shootout, and the incarceration of the MOVE Nine. 

MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy is a production of Temple University

Klein College's Logan Center for Urban Investigative...

In 1970s Philadelphia, John Africa thinks he has a solution to the problems plaguing the city — extreme back-to-nature living. He founds MOVE, and the organization begins its fraught relationship with Police Commissioner — and eventual Mayor of Philadelphia — Frank Rizzo. 

MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy is a production of Temple University

Klein College's Logan Center for Urban Investigativ...

On May 13th, 1985 the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb on the home of MOVE, a Black-led back-to-nature group in West Philadelphia. The fiery bomb and its aftermath killed 11 people including 5 children. It destroyed 61 homes and left 250 people homeless. Reporter Linn Washington has covered MOVE for more than 50 years. He weaves us through the tangled story of a cult-like leader, desperate nei...