40 Years Later: Philadelphia Mourns MOVE Bombing Anniversary, Black Liberation Group Attacked By Police

Cities all around America have perpetrated shameful acts of violence against Black people that will never be forgotten. For the city of Philadelphia, one of its most infamous hate acts took place on May 13, 1985, when the Philadelphia Police Department dropped a bomb on a house on Osage Avenue in an attempt to destroy the Black liberation group known as MOVE. According to 6 ABC, that reckless and racist attack took the lives of 11 people, five of whom were children: Tree Africa, Netta Africa, Little Phil Africa, Delisha Africa, and Tomasa Africa, alongside adults John Africa, Rhonda Africa, Frank Africa, Raymond Africa, Conrad Africa, and Theresa Africa.

Tuesday, May 13, 2025, marked 40 years since those Black lives were stolen, and the pain is as fresh today as it was then. At that time, MOVE was deemed a radical terrorist organization after several notable confrontations with police. Prior to the bombing, members of MOVE and local police were in a shootout at a housing unit on Osage Avenue that went on for hours before then-Mayor Wilson Goode pressed then-Police Commissioner Gregore J. Sambor to create a plan to remove residents of the block safely before addressing MOVE. In order to remove a bunker that had been built, Sambor decided that the best course of action was to drop an explosive on the building. Sambor told officers to allow the fire to incinerate the structure, but the flames quickly grew out of control and ultimately left almost 250 homeless after destroying 61 residences.

69-year-old Ramona Africa is the last living survivor of that attack. According to an article by Qasim Rashid, she is also the only person to go to prison after being convicted of conspiracy and starting a riot. She was sentenced to seven years. Ramona Afrixca spoke to 6 ABC about the mental trauma and physical scars that she endures to this day, saying, “None of us knew it was a bomb being dropped on us.”

She continued:

“We heard the tree in the back of our home crackling with the fire,” said Ramona Africa, “and that’s when we really knew that the house was on fire.”

We tried to come out, tried to bring our children out,” Ramona Africa recalled. “When we tried to come out, they deliberately shot at us. Shot us back into the fire.”

And people have the nerve to wonder why protesters scream “ACAB” and cheer at the news of officers being harmed. Maybe it’s not right but it should be very easy to understand. This didn’t happen 200 years ago; this type of violence is part of the modern era of reckless militarized policing that has surely caused much more harm than good.

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