The year 1987 was only 37 years ago, and many topics related to race and injustice are still very prevalent in daily conversations because they affect our lives, both those of color and not. The war between the police and those of color that was on the streets of Philly began in the 60s and 70s, with one of the worst records of police brutality. MOVE was born with the intent to be a revolutionary activist group that threw the laws of man out the window.
“We fought wars, to prevent bombs from being dropped on our people in our country”
Understanding and actually studying the events from the past, give me a sense of sympathy for these people. They were tired. Upset. Fedup. And they did something about it. While in some ways I believe how they went about it was wrong, but I understand that during this time without the advantages we have in our modern age, the only way to get your point across was by being loud. There were those in higher positions who simply ignored the problem, which then caused the movement to take more drastic actions. I understand the distrust and their attitude toward the injustice of their civilization, but they also hurt their neighbors.
The MOVE movement had intentions of creating an environment where their people could live in harmony, and not just them but all people. The brutality and injustice of their city caused the situation to get out of hand and cause unnecessary death. As a social worker, I would have tried my best to convince the movement to go about their solutions another way, and as for their neighbors I would hope to help them not only with the loss of their homes by assisting in finding temporary housing and resources, but to try and talk to the state and government about the issues and the reason these issues are coming to past is becuase their government had ignored the problem too long. Be loud.
Christine Ryan
This documentary was hard to watch, and the terror caught on film. Watching the police brutally kick him in the face and stomach. The cop was later filmed talking about the scene with a cigarette in his hand, unphased by what he witnessed. All the houses lost because the call was not made right away. Everyone places blame on someone else. Yes, I agree Move could have gone about their issues another way but were being ignored. Was rough to hear them trying to come out the front door and being shooed back inside. This neighborhood could have used help and lending ears instead of being iced out.
Simone Smith
Thanks so much for the great blog Annalee! I was thinking the same thing as Christine about that white cop with the cigarette, he made my stomach turn. They were bombed because they were doing what the authorities are afraid of, coming together and standing against injustice to make real change… true revolutionaries.
Ben Woods
Hi there Annalee, great post! I can’t believe there was a bombing that took the lives of 11 people. I did some research about this and to be honest, I don’t know what it was like and what it is like now to experience what MOVE had to go through. Obviously, times are different now but I’d be a fool if I said the world is perfect. The minority still faces prejudice. Now, I understand this is a religious saying but regardless of belief I still feel this can apply to everyone in this world, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” We all get to go through life and it can be hard enough as it is so why make it harder for each other?