Background edit
John Africa founded the anarcho-primitivist Christian Movement for Life, later called MOVE, in 1972.[1] The following year, he and Donald Glassey were evicted from their house in Powelton Village, Philadelphia, and moved across the street to 3027 Pearl Street, which became an informal housing cooperative for other MOVE members.[2]
Bombing edit
Aftermath edit
Legacy edit
In April 2021, Maya Kassutto of Billy Penn reported that the remains of two MOVE bombing victims, 14-year-old Tree and 12-year-old Delisha, had been kept at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology from the bombing until 2001, when they were transferred to Princeton University. When contacted, Princeton officials said that they were unaware of the remains' whereabouts.[3] The remains had been used by Janet Monge, a professor at Princeton and at the University of Pennsylvania, as a case study for an online forensic anthropology course titled "Real Bones: Adventures in Forensic Anthropology".[4] After the remains were located, the Penn Museum contacted remaining members of MOVE and arranged the return of bone fragments belonging to Tree and Delisha.[5] Two weeks later, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley resigned after revealing that, in 2017, he had authorized the cremation and disposal of the remains of other MOVE bombing victims without identifying the victims or notifying their respective families.[6] One day after Farley's resignation, Philadelphia officials found the remains intact, in two cardboard boxes in the Medical's Examiners Office, and mayor Jim Kenney told reporters that the city would return all remains to the victims' respective families.[7] Farley asked that his resignation be overturned upon the discovery of the boxes, but Kenney refused, saying, "[Farley] still made the wrong decision in 2017 that led to this unfortunate situation."[8]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Timeline of the MOVE organization leading to May 13, 1985". The Philadelphia Tribune. May 9, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ McCoy, Craig R. (January 12, 1986). "Who was John Africa?". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
- ^ Kassutto, Maya (April 21, 2021). "Remains of children killed in MOVE bombing sat in a box at Penn Museum for decades". Billy Penn. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Pilkington, Ed (April 23, 2021). "Bones of Black children killed in police bombing used in Ivy League anthropology course". The Guardian. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Vella, Vinny (April 28, 2021). "Penn Museum pledges to return remains of MOVE member to the Africa family, demonstrators visit residence of Penn President Amy Gutmann". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ McCrystal, Laura; Whelan, Aubrey; Goodin-Smith, Oona (May 14, 2021). "Philly health commissioner resigns over cremating MOVE victims without telling family; Kenney apologizes". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Collins Walsh, Sean; McCrystal, Laura; Whelan, Aubrey (May 14, 2021). "Philly says it found the remains of the MOVE bombing victims it thought it had cremated and discarded". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Levenson, Michael (May 15, 2021). "Discovery of Bones From MOVE Bombing Jolts Philadelphia Once Again". The New York Times. Retrieved December 25, 2021.