The Africas VS. America

Introducing: The Africas VS. America

To those that remember, it’s known simply as the bombing of West Philly. In the spring of 1985, the City of Philadelphia became the first in U.S. history to drop a bomb on a family of American citizens. The attack killed 11 people, including five children, and the ensuing fire set a neighborhood to ruins. The targets that day? A family of Black radicals known collectively as MOVE, who found themselves ensnared in a city — and nation’s — domestic war on Black Liberation. Over seven episodes, host Matthew Amha investigates the events that culminated in the MOVE bombing, and the long afterlife of a forgotten American tragedy. Through intimate conversations, The Africas VS. America offers an unseen look into the MOVE's origins and dynamics while looking ahead to the group's uncertain future.

Episode 7: Elegy

After a commission finds that city officials and police were negligent in their actions on May 13, 1985, a reeling city looks to heal, and surviving members of the Africa family redouble efforts to free the MOVE 9. Two senior members are released from prison having served more than 40 years. They now have reservations about the MOVE organization. A rift in the family opens up. By the end of 2020, all remaining MOVE 9 are free. Delbert dies only months after his release, and the family now turns its focus to the future. The descendents of MOVE remind us the fight for liberation continues. The Africas VS. America is nominated for a Webby! Vote for the series here.For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

Episode 6: Hellfire

In 1983, the City of Philadelphia elects its first Black mayor as successor to Frank Rizzo. Woodrow Wilson Goode inherits Rizzo’s fight against MOVE, but he also represents a moment of hope for Black Philadelphians who believe his election could be a harbinger of progress for a city beset with racial strife. Instead, Mayor Goode’s administration unleashes a torrent of violence never before seen in American history in an effort to neutralize MOVE once and for all.For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

Episode 5: The System on Trial

The MOVE 9 are catapulted into the international spotlight, facing more than 900 years between them for the death of Officer James Ramp — a crime for which they maintain their innocence. Central to the case is a former Black Panther and Vietnam vet named Delbert Africa, who will become a symbol of police brutality in Philadelphia. As all of this is happening, MOVE’s mysterious leader John Africa is on the run from local and federal authorities. When he’s finally found and brought up on charges, John Africa opts to represent himself in court, and an old friend takes the stand against him.For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

Episode 4: The Commissioner’s Gambit

Complaints from neighbours about MOVE’s lifestyle lead to increasingly violent clashes with police. One confrontation turns deadly, and by 1978, relations between MOVE and city authorities have reached a crisis point. The MOVE home in residential Powelton Village becomes the scene of a two-months-long starvation blockade, and the site of a stand-off with police that will end in blood, gunfire, and the arrest of nine members of MOVE, collectively charged with murder for the death of an officer.For transcripts of this series, please visit here.