Saturday, July 31, 2021

M-1 and the Many Faces of MOVE

In the past few days, many people have been deeply moved by hearing the voice of June’s father, Oom Harrison. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with Oom twice in the past few weeks, and one thing that was striking in those conversations, and in conversations I’ve had with many other former MOVE members and supporters, is the compartmentalization of information within MOVE. Things that seemed like common knowledge within the Organization to me were completely unknown to some members, and experiences of other supporters or members were foreign to me. This characteristic of MOVE is well-designed and absolutely intentional. 

All cults seem to develop their own language systems and idiosyncratic ways of using otherwise common words. Within MOVE one of those words is “activity.” Upon first encountering MOVE it seems like the word is being used in a fairly typical way, but after being around a while one begins to pick up on the more specific use of the word. Within MOVE everything is referred to as an activity. In some ways this functions to separate the actor from the action. For example, a relationship can be an activity, which means that it is not the priority or object of meaning, it’s something in service of the larger MOVE-oriented mission. If a relationship with someone is merely an activity then it’s unimportant if the relationship fails because it was merely an activity that is part of MOVE’s work. 

The word “activity” also signals an action that a MOVE member or supporter is asked to take by leadership that no other MOVE member, supporter, or “system person” (anyone outside of MOVE) should know about. When Maiga and I were sent to flier John Gilbride’s apartment complex on September 20th, 2002 (less than a week before he was murdered) with fliers making terrible and false allegations against him, that was this type of activity. As I’ve talked to other supporters and members about that event, none of them knew that it had even occurred. Many were completely in the dark about that aspect of the custody case (the character assassination and intimidation element). However, all of these members and supporters had dozens if not hundreds of similar stories of things that they were told to do that they were never supposed to tell anyone else about. These private directives uniformly come from leadership within MOVE. Since the late 1980s, those “activities” have been assigned by Ria and Bert, and before 1985 they were assigned by John Africa. 

This internal secrecy within MOVE is mirrored by a similarly deceptive external image. Since Maiga and I have begun writing so publicly about our experiences within MOVE, many people who have known us at that time have remarked that they had no idea about that aspect of our lives. This is common throughout the Organization and is by design. Though I was a true believer from 1999-2007 I was never encouraged to adopt many of the signifiers that would have let outsiders know exactly how dedicated I was to MOVE’s belief. For groups like MOVE, it pays to have a certain percentage of devoted members who appear to be a bit more on the periphery. In this way, they are more relatable to outsiders and can advocate for the group without being perceived as mere proselytizers. 

In the early days of MOVE, it was very common for married MOVE members to pretend to be single in order to pull in those who may be attracted to them. This practice has persisted to the present day but is less common than it was in the ‘70s and early ‘80s. This is one of a few reasons why MOVE members are discouraged from publicly acknowledging that they are married or who they’re married to. There have also been many people who were made members of MOVE by John Africa, but who were strategically told not to acknowledge their membership publicly. These people were assigned various “activities” and some became attorneys or took on other professional jobs, while privately doing the bidding of MOVE’s leadership. 

MOVE is a shapeshifter and takes on whatever form it needs in order to achieve its goals. For me, MOVE was the idealistic, revolutionary, communal group that Mumia beautifully portrays in “Death Blossoms.” I think this is who MOVE has been for him. This is the version of MOVE that most of us came to know and support. However, there are many other sides of MOVE, and one of them is addressed in the letter sent by Ramona Africa to Steven Spielberg in October of 1988. This letter was mysteriously found in John Gilbride's possessions after he was murdered. It was posted on the "Murder at Ryan's Run" Facebook here, I’ve also posted the entire letter in Ramona’s handwriting here, and have also typed out the entire letter below. 

This letter is worth a very careful read. In Episode 2 of “Murder at Ryan’s Run,” “A is for Anarchism,” Birdie’s father, Andino Ward, says that Steven Spielberg backed out of a movie about Birdie because he “wasn’t brave enough.” This letter answers the question, “Why?” In this letter, we’re introduced to “M-1.” In the letter Ramona has this to say about M-1:  “M-1 WILL ALSO BE WATCHING YOU, M-1 WILL BE MONITORING YOUR PORTRAYAL OF THE MOVE ORGANIZATION IN THIS MOVIE YOURE PRODUCING. M-1 IS A HIGHLY SKILLED, EXPERTLY TRAINED CORE OF REVOLUTIONARIES ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO WATCHING OVER THE MOVE ORGANIZATION. M-1 HAS DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO REVOLUTION, M-1 DOES NOT TALK OR REASON, THEY ACT, THEY EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH ANY OBSTACLES PUT IN THE REVOLUTION’S PATH. MOVE HAS NO CONTACT WITH M-1, WE DON’T EVEN KNOW THEIR NAMES AS THEY DONT MAKE CONTACT WITH US, ITS NOT NECESSARY. M-1’S ACTIVITY IS TO PROTECT MOVE AND THEY CARRY THIS ACTIVITY OUT WITH STRATEGIC EXPERTISE, AS ALL THOSE WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED TO HURT THIS ORGANIZATION ARE BEING EFFECTIVELY DEALT WITH. I’M TELLING YOU THIS NOT TO THREATEN YOU OR SCARE YOU SPIELBERG AS MOVE MEMBERS DONT BELIEVE IN THREATS, WE DONT PUT OUR ENERGY IN THE USELESS IMPOTENCY OF THREATS - THEY HAVE NO PURPOSE. MOVE IS MAKING YOU AWARE OF M-1 NOW SO YOU REALIZE THE POSITION YOU WILL PUT YOURSELF IN IF YOU CHOOSE TO VIOLATE MOVE’S RELIGION BY PUBLICLY DEFAMING OUR BELIEF, OUR FOUNDER JOHN AFRICA!” 

In the letter, Ramona insists multiple times that she is not threatening Steven Spielberg, but later reveals that “we don’t put our energy in the useless impotency of threats.” This is the MOVE way of saying “this is not a threat, it’s a promise.” If this letter feels out of character for the image of Ramona Africa that many have come to know and love, the image that is now on the Philadelphia municipal building, then you just haven’t been on the wrong side of MOVE before. Letters like this are very familiar to the Gilbride family, residents of Osage Ave, many residents of Powelton Village, Andino Ward, and just about anyone who has ever interfered with whatever MOVE’s leadership wants at that time. This is the thing that’s so confusing about MOVE if you try to understand it as a revolutionary group or a family, or just about anything other than a cult; MOVE doesn’t have a specific aim other than continuing MOVE, and MOVE can be absolutely anything that MOVE’s leadership says it is. MOVE’s philosophy is circular and can be stretched in any direction necessary to justify anything. 

Coming around MOVE in the late ‘90s M-1 was only a whisper. I heard little things here and there, but it was so incongruous with my daily experience with MOVE members that I pushed it aside. However, I also read many of the trial transcripts from the MOVE 9 trial, the Federal trial, and others, and those earlier MOVE documents were littered with references to M-1 as the enforcing arm of MOVE. MOVE members always insisted that they had no control over M-1, that M-1 consisted of other members who were trained by John Africa and committed for life to physically defend the “above ground” members of MOVE. 

When June began disclosing what life is like for children in MOVE to Maiga and me this past March one of her core concerns was revenge from M-1. She had not only been threatened multiple times by Alberta but had also been told that M-1 would enforce retribution upon any MOVE members who left and spoke out about their experiences. She reported that other members had expressed fear that if they ever left they would be tracked down by M-1. M-1 is not an odd footnote in MOVE history, it appears to serve to intimidate potential opponents anytime MOVE’s leadership deems necessary. 

Ramona’s letter is one of dozens of documents and transcripts that refer to M-1 in this manner. Many more of these will appear for analysis on this blog in the future. It’s worth noting that the Gilbride family, and John Gilbride himself, received letters similar to this one before he was murdered. It’s also worth noting that John Gilbride is not the first person to die soon after publicly challenging MOVE. There are at least three other suspicious deaths of former MOVE members and supporters in the late 1970s that I will also eventually be addressing here. 

I don’t know who pulled the trigger on September 26th, 2002 and murdered John Gilbride. However, I do know that the timing of his murder was exceedingly convenient for Alberta Africa. After all, she had set up a situation she couldn’t back down from. The windows at MOVE headquarters were boarded up and she had publicly stated that she would never allow John to have private visitation with his son. The situation that she orchestrated could end in another confrontation; which could mean more MOVE people dead, more police dead, and more people in prison, or it could end with John’s death. I also know that Alberta has a history of telling people that if she is ever threatened that M-1 will come to her defense. All of this flies in the face of the public image that MOVE has worked for decades to cultivate. Which one is the real face of MOVE?


Letter postmarked 10/18/1988, mailed from SCI-Muncy by Ramona Africa to Steven Spielberg


ONAMOVE! IT HAS COME TO THE ATTENTION OF THE MOVE ORGANIZATION THAT YOU’RE MAKING A MOVIE ABOUT THE LIFE OF OUR BROTHER BIRDIE AFRICA. SINCE BIRDIE LIVED MOST OF HIS LIFE IN MOVE, WE KNOW YOUR MOVIE INCLUDES THE MOVE ORGANIZATION. THAT’S WHAT I’M WRITING YOU ABOUT, ABOUT HOW YOU’RE INCLUDING THE MOVE ORGANIZATION IN THIS MOVIE WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT OUR BELIEF, NOTHING ABOUT US, AND I KNOW YOU DON’T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT US, ABOUT OUR BELIEF BECAUSE YOU AIN’T NO MOVE MEMBER, AIN’T NEVER BEEN NO MOVE MEMBER, DON’T KNOW NO MOVE MEMBERS AND AIN’T CONTACTED US TO TRY TO GET TO KNOW MOVE MEMBERS, OR EVEN JUST TALK TO MOVE MEMBERS. THE ONLY MOVE MEMBER YOU MITE HAVE CONTACT WITH IS BIRDIE, AND WE KNOW YOU DON’T LISTEN TO HIM, WE KNOW HE AIN’T GOT NO SAY IN THIS MOVIE AND THAT HE’S INTIMIDATED. THE ONLY THINGS YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION CAME FROM ANDINO WARD OR THE NEWS MEDIA AND THEY DON’T KNOW NOTHIN ABOUT THIS ORGANIZATION EITHER. ANDINO WARD DON’T SUPPORT AND DON’T LIKE THIS ORGANIZATION AT ALL, AND SOMEBODY THAT DON’T LIKE YOU AIN’T GONE SAY NOTHIN GOOD ABOUT YOU. THE NEWSMEDIA AIN’T NEVER TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT MOVE; ALL THEY EVER DO IS LIE ABOUT US, ABOUT WHAT WE SAY, ABOUT WHAT WE DO AND WHY WE SAID OR DID IT. THE NEWMEDIA ALWAYS PAINTED A REAL DISTORTED, WRONG PICTURE OF MOVE PEOPLE AS INSANE, VIOLENT, TERRORISTS, AS PEOPLE THAT ABUSE AND DON’T CARE ABOUT OUR CHILDREN. THE NEWSMEDIA’S VICIOUS LIES, THEIR DISTORTED PICTURE  OF MOVE IS WHAT THIS SYSTEM USE TO MAKE PEOPLE THINK IT’S JUSTIFIED IN BEATIN, JAILIN, SHOOTIN, BOMBIN, KILLIN MOVE PEOPLE. NOW YOU WANT TO RELY ON THESE PEOPLE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MOVE, FOR YOUR PORTRAYAL OF MOVE IN THIS MOVIE, SO WE KNOW THE KIND OF MOVIE YOU GETTIN READY TO MAKE, THE KIND OF IMAGE OF THIS ORGANIZATION YOU GETTIN READY TO PUT OUT. WE KNOW YOU GETTIN READY TO PORTRAY THE SAME VICIOUS LIES, THE SAME DISTORTED PICTURE OF THIS ORGANIZATION AS THE NEWSMEDIA; THE SAME VICIOUS LIES THAT WILL ONLY LEAD TO MORE PERSECUTION, MORE KILLIN, ANOTHER MAY 13TH THAT PEOPLE WOULD THINK IS JUSTIFIED BASED ON YOUR MOVIE. WE KNOW HOW SERIOUS,  HOW DANGEROUS THESE LIES ARE, WE KNOW WHAT THEY LEAD TO SO WE’RE TAKIN THIS SITUATION VERY SERIOUSLY. YOU’RE ONLY DOIN THIS MOVIE FOR MONEY AND PRESTIGE BUT MONEY OR PRESTIGE DON’T MEAN NOTHIN TO US; WE AIN’T CONTACTIN YOU TO SEEK NO MONEY. THE WORK MOVE IS DOIN WE’RE DOIN OUT OF COMMITMENT AND THAT’S WHY WE’RE CONTACTIN YOU, OUT OF COMMITMENT TO SEEIN THAT YOU DON’T DEFAME THIS ORGANIZATION. THIS ORGANIZATION COULD NEVER SURVIVE TWENTY YEARS OF BRUTAL BEATINGS, VIOLENT CONFRONTATION, ONE HUNDRED YEAR PRISON SENTENCES, BOMBING MURDERS BY THIS SYSTEM AND STILL STAY STRONG IF WE WASNT ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED, IF IT WASNT FOR THE COMMITMENT PUT IN US BY OUR FOUNDER JOHN AFRICA LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA! MOVE’S GOT OUR EYE FIXED ON YOU SPIELBERG, WE’RE WATCHING YOU, WATCHING WHAT YOU’RE DOING WITH THIS MOVIE, AND WE’RE NOT THE ONLY ONES WATCHING YOU EITHER. M-1 WILL ALSO BE WATCHING YOU, M-1 WILL BE MONITORING YOUR PORTRAYAL OF THE MOVE ORGANIZATION IN THIS MOVIE YOURE PRODUCING. M-1 IS A HIGHLY SKILLED, EXPERTLY TRAINED CORE OF REVOLUTIONARIES ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO WATCHING OVER THE MOVE ORGANIZATION. M-1 HAS DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO REVOLUTION, M-1 DOES NOT TALK OR REASON, THEY ACT, THEY EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH ANY OBSTACLES PUT IN THE REVOLUTION’S PATH. MOVE HAS NO CONTACT WITH M-1, WE DON’T EVEN KNOW THEIR NAMES AS THEY DONT MAKE CONTACT WITH US, ITS NOT NECESSARY. M-1’S ACTIVITY IS TO PROTECT MOVE AND THEY CARRY THIS ACTIVITY OUT WITH STRATEGIC EXPERTISE, AS ALL THOSE WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED TO HURT THIS ORGANIZATION ARE BEING EFFECTIVELY DEALT WITH. I’M TELLING YOU THIS NOT TO THREATEN YOU OR SCARE YOU SPIELBERG AS MOVE MEMBERS DONT BELIEVE IN THREATS, WE DONT PUT OUR ENERGY IN THE USELESS IMPOTENCY OF THREATS - THEY HAVE NO PURPOSE. MOVE IS MAKING YOU AWARE OF M-1 NOW SO YOU REALIZE THE POSITION YOU WILL PUT YOURSELF IN IF YOU CHOOSE TO VIOLATE MOVE’S RELIGION BY PUBLICLY DEFAMING OUR BELIEF, OUR FOUNDER JOHN AFRICA! LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA FOREVER! WE’RE NOT THREATENING YOU, WE’RE MAKING YOU AWARE OF YOUR POSITION AND M-1’S COMMITMENT - THE DECISION IS YOURS!


LONG LIVE MOVE!

LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA’S REVOLUTION!

LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA!

LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA!

LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA FOREVER!


IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INFORMATION IN THIS LETTER YOU CAN EITHER WRITE TO ME AT THE RETURN ADDRESS ON THIS ENVELOPE OR CALL ME THRU MY COUNSELOR - MS. NANCY BUBB - AT (717) 546-3171. OTHERWISE THE MOVE ORGANIZATION WANTS TO KNOW WHAT EXACTLY YOU INTEND TO DO ABOUT THIS SITUATION. 


ONA MOVE

RAMONA AFRICA

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATION FOR THE MOVE ORGANIZATION




May 20th, 1977: Guns on the Porch Day at 33rd and Powelton - this action attracted a great deal of support from people who were justifiably enraged by the brutality of Rizzo's police force. At a later date, we'll examine MOVE's version of events to better understand what led to the actions taken on that day, and to the events of August 8th, 1978


 

Friday, July 30, 2021

Recap: The Spider's Web, Oom's statement, the Steven Spielberg letter, and M1

Yesterday the Murder at Ryan's Run Facebook and Instagram account posted this clip of an interview with June's father, Oom Harrison. Oom was a MOVE supporter from 1979-1984 and was made a MOVE member in 1984.  His experience in MOVE fits into the pattern that we've begun to outline of fathers being pushed away and kept distant from their children. I'm incredibly impressed by how bravely and boldly he is standing up for his daughters. I'm told that you'll be hearing much more from him in the near future.

I'm currently working on a piece that will be connecting some of what Oom touches on with some things that were mentioned in yesterday's episode of Murder at Ryan's Run called "Into the Web." Yesterday's episode also mentions M1, which MOVE has historically claimed is their underground unit that "takes care" of things for them. M1 was mentioned in yesterday's episode because Alberta told the Gilbrides that M1 would take care of any threats to MOVE. References to M1 litter early MOVE trial transcripts and writings. Thus far in the documents that the "Murder at Ryan's Run" podcast has released, M1 was also mentioned in a letter that Ramona Africa sent to Steven Spielberg from SCI-Muncy. This letter was mysteriously found in John Gilbride's possessions after he was murdered. The letter was also mentioned in Episode 2, "A is for Anarchism." 

In my next writing, I plan to connect all of these threads and will expand on and work to clarify M1. For now, it would be well worth the time to read the letter that Ramona Africa sent to Steven Spielberg. It was posted on the Murder at Ryan's Run Facebook here, and I have also posted the entire letter below. 






Thursday, July 29, 2021

Maiga Meets MOVE

Maiga's story about how she came into contact with MOVE is a good companion piece to today's episode of Murder at Ryan's Run, which is about how John Gilbride was pulled into MOVE. 

by Maiga Milbourne

When I first met MOVE, I didn’t know that they were MOVE. I had joined some West Philly activist groups as a new-to-West-Philly 21-year-old. Berta, of the International Action Center, and I were going to drive around with a bullhorn on the roof of the car to announce an upcoming action. We stopped by a big house on 45th and Kingsessing and a gregarious young man with locks bounded out to install the sound system. He was charming and fun. I would later learn that he was Mike Africa Jr.

Berta protected MOVE’s identity as I was new and people were still sorting me out. 


My friend, Au, and I began to meet to run a lap around Clark Park. We met Carlos one day as he was walking dogs. He seemed friendly and silly, like a very sweet uncle. After he left Au explained that he was MOVE. “They’re my political family.”


My ears perked.


I was at a particular desperate point in my life and the thought of a political family-- a network who would hold you but also hold justice in the world-- sounded like the most beautiful fantasy. 


Pieces of my own upbringing and experiences became particularly intense beginning years before when I was in high school. The resources that I was given felt really intellectual and not rooted, grounded, based in emotional literacy, nor feeling. I desperately needed that aspect of my experience tended. I felt an urgency to learn healthy relating and have a community around me. I didn’t know what I felt most of the time, so it governed me, and I didn’t know how to feel such intensity nor sort out what would trigger those experiences. 


As I hadn’t been able to sort through filling out that part of my experience and getting on more solid footing, I went to college. That was the path most open to me. It was familiar. I didn’t feel ready nor stable enough to set off on my own as a teenager who hadn’t been exposed to much beyond my suburban upbringing. I enrolled in Mount Holyoke College in 1999 and studied Critical Social Thought. 


What I was muddily trying to process in my emotional life was projected onto political theory and leftist activism. My experience at Mount Holyoke was more of the same, meaning, there wasn’t much emphasis on any aspect of life other than the intellect. That one piece of my experience was overemphasized and I didn’t know how to bring the rest of myself and my life into balance. I had friends but struggled with community. There were resources, but somehow I still couldn’t find the ones that would help me locate a sense of stability. I focused on leftist organizing because I began to think that if I could be a part of organizing the outer world more justly, that my inner world would know peace.


I felt like I needed to see a more just social organizing system so I enrolled in study abroad in the fall of my junior year in Cuba. This was 2001 so I was in Cuba when the twin towers were hit. There were so many intense and memorable moments from my semester studying at the University of Havana. For sure, I did not see anyone homeless nor hungry, and that made a favorable impression on me. But I did see more than those on one-week tours with the Venceremos Brigade. I saw sex workers and the inequity brought on by tourism. I saw racism, as my roommate was a Black American and the two of us would go together to hotels to use their internet. I would be admitted; she would be stopped. I heard of prisons and political prisoners. I saw animal abuse and severe environmental crisis. Many of the challenges were absolutely due to the US embargo, but not all.


I felt utterly demoralized. I had pinned so many hopes on Cuba being a utopia. Without it, I didn’t know what to do. I was losing hope in humanity and my place in the world. It may seem dramatic, but I was 20 years old and still enduring the effects of trauma without much support.


After that semester, I withdrew from Mount Holyoke. On my 21st birthday that winter, I quietly moved into a room that I rented off of 49th street in West Philadelphia. I got a job waiting tables and I began going to activist organizing meetings. I was really lonely and scared but I felt like I had to try a different path.


When I met Kevin, I officially met MOVE.


On May 22, 2002, I went to an organizing meeting at the American Friends Service Center on Cherry Street, to help plan a protest of then-President Bush. Au was there and Betsey Piette. Kevin was there and passed around a sign-in sheet. Kevin and Au knew one another so after the meeting he invited us to scout out a location for a Mumia protest coming up in July.


Kevin and I continued to meet and then date. I was impressed with him as an organizer (he’s truly excellent) but also at the depth of his relationships with MOVE people. I remember the first time that he brought me over to MOVE headquarters he would tell me about each person as we met. I remember encountering humble Mo, and Kevin explaining that he had been John Africa’s codefendant in the federal trial. I wasn’t super well versed in MOVE’s history, but I knew the general outline. What kept reaching me, internally, was what Au had said earlier: “This is my political family.”


Because they were treating me that way.


I had felt utterly alone when I first moved my few boxes up the stairs in my rented room in West Philly. Suddenly, my phone had so many numbers in it of MOVE people, who were genuinely available to me and kind. I called them. I wanted to know them. Their experiences were so far from mine and I wanted to learn.


I threw myself into organizing work and integrating into this new community. I had been planning to return to Mount Holyoke for my senior year. Late in the summer, in the heat of the MOVE custody battle, I decided to officially withdraw. I never returned nor graduated.


While internally, I was deeply shaken as college is my family’s religion, MOVE people congratulated me. I remember Ria especially began taking an interest in me and drawing me under her wing. I really wanted to learn how to become an anti-racist ally. That was especially important to me. I had close friendships with Black women in college and often inadvertently hurt them due to my ignorance and lack of awareness. I wanted to learn how to be in community and do better. I saw Ria, a white woman, living in a house with primarily Black people, who had served in prison alongside them and suffered together, as an example of how to become a better human in a white body. As she drew me closer, I looked to her as a mentor. 


As she and I talked more she would share about her own struggles as a young woman, which closely mirrored the confusion and alienation that I was facing. She helped me sort out a lot of what I was feeling and explained that John Africa had done the same for her. At the time, I thought she was my friend and this was a type of mentorship. I began trying to help her, both in offering donations from my meager waitress wages and in taking her to do errands or sending money to the political prisoners. 


Looking at it now, I see I was being groomed as she had been groomed to enter into a cult. 


There were red flags. The custody battle didn’t make sense to me but I accepted what I was told that Alberta, a Black woman, was being victimized by John, a white man. I didn’t see Pixie (June) much at that time, but I do remember one time being picked up and seeing her in the back of the van— a young, shy, very quiet, pregnant 12-year-old girl. I remember activists debating her young pregnancy at the time but what I heard from them-- these adults who had known her since she was born-- was whether or not she should get an abortion. I don’t remember any of them questioning if she was being harmed. Nor asking her what was happening and how she felt.


I remember the implied terms were that activists either: support her mother, Pam, by extension support MOVE, and condone/ignore June’s young pregnancy OR condone state violence.


It’s not much of a choice.


It’s the same straw man crafted today. Any criticism of MOVE, no matter how warranted, is seen as buttressing the state’s attacks. Kevin and I are accused of enabling state violence for speaking out on behalf of MOVE survivors. In my experience, activist self-censorship, coercion, denial, and avoidance went back to the absolute beginning.


I was bewildered by it all. And there was so much momentum and energy.


Even in the midst of what felt troubling-- I became aware that MOVE was both homophobic and against abortion (at least officially). Like Pam said in her recent Facebook statement, at that time, I thought that these issues would be sorted as we moved collectively towards revolution. I felt the choice of either confronting MOVE, and likely being estranged, or hoping that in working alongside one another these views would be reformed. The latter felt more strategic to me, but it began to be an excuse and justification.


Like Kevin wrote, even as my own views and even politics evolved, the hook was the relationships. As Kevin and I met issues in our marriage because we felt differently-- and were manipulated-- we were both still deeply connected to this community of people.


I helped Whit learn to drive and spent time with her kids. Later, I tutored them for a few months. I went on prison visits. I remember being really excited when I was in the car with Mike because he was always so silly and singing loudly with the radio. Kevin and I traveled with Ramona to Spain to go on a speaking tour throughout the north of the country. It felt like we were doing really important work.


When I was in Cuba, I tried to figure out what the political work was. I felt that MOVE had answered that question: it was relationships. I felt like by forming relationships and community, we were helping each other heal. As MOVE said, it was the revolution of self. I believed that would fortify ourselves for larger struggles with the state. I found myself having more strength and endurance. I was physically more capable but also less spooked when things happened like being arrested for flyering about Mumia’s case on South Street. I felt like I was becoming more of an anti-racist ally to the Black people in my life, who I love.


As I saw more and more that troubled me in MOVE, I didn’t know how to reconcile that. I didn’t want to do anything that would support a racist state. I didn’t want to justify any racist beliefs. 


Over time, especially as I learned what had happened and was happening to Black children, I couldn’t passively stand by. I couldn’t knowingly turn a blind eye to Black women to be forced into marriages and pregnancies. I couldn’t know what was happening to these people and pretend it away, based on political theory, despite the reality. 


This has been the hardest season of my life, but I’m fortified imagining a future where I get to witness June, Josh, Whit, Salina, Sara, Maria, and many others live self-determined lives beyond MOVE.


Maiga Milbourne was a dedicated MOVE supporter from 2002-2018. She distanced herself from the group as she began to note troubling patterns within MOVE. In 2021, June Stokes AKA Pixie Africa disclosed severe abuse suffered within MOVE. Together with Maiga’s husband Kevin Price, “Murder at Ryan’s Run” podcast producer Beth McNamara, podcast researcher Bob Helms, and former MOVE members Josh and Whit Robbins, a plan was crafted where June publicly left MOVE with her 5 children and went into hiding. Publicity from both the podcast and this blog has been used to keep her and her children safe.


(From L to R) Phil, Pam, Kevin, Maiga, Delbert, photo taken at SCI-Dallas in 2005 or 2006.

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Attempts at Internal Reform

One of the criticisms that I've heard since this public conversation began is that these should have been internal conversations. This is a frustrating argument for a number of reasons, one of which is that I, and many other MOVE members, pushed hard for internal reforms and conversations. I'll address that in more detail below. The primary reason that statement infuriates me is that it ignores the levels of abuse that occur in MOVE and prioritizes the comfort and public image of those who have known too much and done little internally to stop it. On the day that June left and went into hiding, there were still young girls who Bert and Ria had access to and undue influence over. Due to this level of public exposure (though still no reporting from any news agency) their access to control and abuse children has been dramatically limited. 


The other point that this criticism misses is that we're not talking about bad politics here that can be internally corrected, we're talking about clear and systemic child abuse over the course of generations. This argument also erases the harassment and intimidation campaign that preceded the murder of John Gilbride. If there were no internal reforms when a routine custody case was made cause for a public campaign of defamation and veiled threats, or when June was forced into marriage and pregnancy at 12 then when were those internal reforms going to occur? 


I also need to point out again that a very small percentage of what will be revealed has yet been revealed. However, here are a few of the things that are on the record so far: that June was forced into an arranged marriage and forced into pregnancy at the age of 12, that Whit and many other young teenage girls were also forced into marriage and pregnancy, that privilege within MOVE is granted based on skin tone and that darker-skinned children are treated significantly worse, that pregnant teenage girls are forcibly denied medical care even if their lives are in danger, that homophobia within MOVE is so extreme that kids feel that if they were to come out as gay that it may be punishable by death, that Alberta Africa lives a lavish lifestyle with MOVE money while many in MOVE grew up far below the poverty line, that children in MOVE are systematically denied an education, and some, like Josh, have been intentionally denied even basic levels of literacy. 


None of the things listed above was a secret to any adult MOVE member. All of that was very well known and understood. Everyone had a different perspective and level of comfort or discomfort with each item, but none of it was hidden internally. If those things weren't enough for internal reform then what would have been enough? The fact is that what has actually happened in MOVE extends far beyond what is listed above and much of that information was also widely known. So at what point is it appropriate to voice opposition to abuse in a place it may be heard, or at least expose it to the degree that enough people are watching that it can no longer occur, at least at the scale that it was occurring?


The other claim being made is that Maiga and I are outsiders and as a result can't be trusted. This is a ridiculous claim because we were internal to MOVE for nearly 20 years. For a great deal of that time MOVE was the dominating force, interest, and influence in both of our lives. As Maiga and I learned about things within MOVE that seemed out of balance we did attempt to raise these concerns, many other members and close supporters did as well. When Ramona was hospitalized in 2018 Maiga and I were in constant communication with members and other supporters to improve the care that Mona was receiving. Many of us were suspicious of the way that Ria and Bert had been handling her care and were pushing back in order to ensure that Mona was cared for properly. However, this did not result in any changes in the power dynamics within MOVE, it merely resulted in Mona receiving better care while those of us who were trying to reform things were vigilant.


The documents below demonstrate another attempt that I made at petitioning for a needed conversation that many concerned members and supporters wanted to happen. The following letters are internal documents that I texted to every MOVE member I had a cell phone number (about 25 people) for in June of 2019. The letters had a dual purpose. The first was to draw a line in the sand and let MOVE’s leadership know that Maiga and I would not be manipulated. Our daughter was due in a few weeks and I was attempting to set firm boundaries with Ria and Bert. The second purpose was to try to help push some changes in MOVE that many of us were crying out for. At the point of writing this letter, I hadn’t been a true believer in 12 years but I still thought there was good to be redeemed.


The first letter was sent on June 1, 2019. I sent the second letter on June 13, 2019 after Ria continued calling me even though I told her that I didn’t want to be called unexpectedly, and that I wanted to meet in a large group to discuss these issues transparently. There were many other members and supporters raising similar concerns, and yet the only response to these letters from Ria and Bert was to call us ungrateful traitors.


Once June disclosed much more serious abuse to Maiga and me in March of 2021 we knew that internal reforms or private discussions would only allow the abuse to continue. At the time of writing these letters, I did not know most of what I know now. I could never write a letter to Ria with such a kind tone again. At the time of writing these letters, I had deep concerns about the murder of John Gilbride and had serious criticism of the leadership of Bert and Ria, but I felt like Ria and Bert had hijacked the Organization and that their behavior was an anomaly within the larger history of MOVE. I no longer saw John Africa as the unquestionable voice of God, but I still thought there was goodness at the heart of his teachings. Since digging more deeply and talking to people, like Whit, who were children when John Africa was alive and running things, I no longer feel that way. I see Ria and Bert as the logical extension of John Africa and believe that the abusive behaviors they have exhibited are a continuation of his leadership. This is the core reason why internal reform is impossible.


Here are my letters from June of 2019:


6/1/19

Dear Ria,


I’m writing in response to the voicemail you left me this morning. It may seem weird to write a letter in response to a voicemail but I have a lot to say and I don’t think that I’d be able to get it all out on the phone. Back to your message - yes, it’s definitely weird that I have not been in contact since Janet and Janine got home. I could not be happier that they’re home and I would love to see them. However, in the last week, a few things have risen more to the surface that make me uncomfortable. I value our relationship and I don’t want to lie to you about how I feel, however, I couldn’t imagine a scenario where I expressed my feelings and it was well-received.


I see the situation between Debbie and Mike, and Janine and Janet very differently than you do. I was not at all concerned or bothered by the (from my perspective) relatively minor stipulations that Debbie and Mike had to accept in order to get home. You have said that the reason that Debbie and Mike have stipulations and Janine and Janet don’t is because of violation. I completely disagree with this and feel that it’s highly likely that it was Debbie and Mike’s good behavior after their release that allowed Janine and Janet to be paroled. If Del and Eddie were offered release with the same stipulations that Mike and Debbie have I really hope that they would accept it.


I think that some of the conflict here comes from the fact that this is not how it was perceived  that the MOVE 9 would come home. It seems to me that that’s also the reason that Brad and Bret’s role in their release is being downplayed. If there is a perceived inconsistency here then that really doesn’t bother me. In all of my time with MOVE people I have seen the beauty and strength that radiates through from John Africa. Though I never met John Africa I have come to love him through the goodness coming through MOVE people. I’m so grateful for everything I have learned as a supporter and have so much respect for The Coordinator and everyone living in his example, and I also have my own perspective on a lot of things. I want the people that I know and love to be happy and free and I’m not bothered at all if this means that their release happens in an unexpected way. 


I’ve been uncomfortable with the way Chuck has been erased from the MOVE 9 for a long time. I understand that there is a lot of history here and that there are things that I don’t know. However, when we leave Chuck off of the list of those that we’re demanding be released it feels to me like we’re implying that we don’t mind if Chuck stays in prison. This is not at all how I feel. In the past week, this issue has become publicly clearer and people aren’t responding well. Former political prisoner Daniel McGowan has posted on Facebook about his concern over the erasure of Chuck. I have also had supporters email me privately to find out what’s going on. 


I’ve also heard it said many times that the serious medical problems that Chuck has struggled through are the result of his violation. This bothers me because many MOVE members have had health struggles and it seems that their personal violation is only credited when they’re on bad terms with the inner circle. I don’t know Chuck very well and I’m certainly not saying that he’s never made a mistake, but responding to his illness in this way doesn’t sit well with me.


I’m writing this letter out of love and in the hope that by bringing some of these concerns to the surface that they can be resolved. However, I know that these are sensitive issues. If you’re comfortable having a conversation about this then I would love to talk in person. I have a much easier time having a complex conversation when I can actually sit with someone. Please don’t call and expect that I’ll be ready to talk. I would need to be in the right frame of mind to have the conversation. I’m also not comfortable with anyone coming to my house to discuss this unannounced. I have no interest in fighting so if we’re in conversation and it turns into yelling then I will walk away. I’m only interested in having a real conversation where we can hear one another. 


I’m trying hard to be clear and transparent so I want to let you know that I’m sharing this letter with some MOVE members and a few close supporters. I have absolutely no interest in furthering the rifts that I perceive and as a result, I have no interest in sharing my feelings beyond the small group of people who are most affected. I want MOVE people to understand how I feel. In small groups, it’s easy for messages to accidentally become confused as they are passed from one person to the next, so I think that it will be clearer if people can read my thoughts themselves.


I also may not have much time or energy for discussions over the next couple of weeks. Maiga could go into labor at any time and most of my attention right now is focused on getting things ready for the baby. I’m a bit nervous about sending this letter out and the timing isn’t great, but I don’t want to lie about how I feel and I don’t want to dodge phone calls. I love you and you’re important to me.


Ona Move,


Kevin

************************************

6/13/19

Dear Ria,


You’ve called many times since I last wrote and I haven’t picked up. As I said in the last letter, I’m not going to get into all of this over the phone, especially at a time when you call unexpectedly. I was trying to make it clear that if you were interested in talking then I wanted you to text so that we could schedule a time to meet up. That’s why I haven’t picked up the phone all of the times that you’ve called. However, the more I think about it the more I realize that a one-on-one conversation isn’t going to move things forward. We need to all get together in the same room so that we can all hear one another out. For years people have heard things about each other from a third party and it’s caused a lot of miscommunication, whereas if we’re all in one room together peoples’ feelings on various issues can be cleared up on the spot. 


My behavior may seem sudden and hard to figure out, but I’m expressing concerns I’ve had for many years. I think that the fact that I’m about to be a father has made me seriously think about how I want to behave and the behavior I want to model. One thing that has come to the surface is that I want to be much clearer with people about how I feel. I don’t want to bite my tongue or make my daughter feel like she needs to compromise what she believes in in order to preserve comfortable relationships. 


None of the things that I’m expressing here in any way change the love and appreciation that I have for you and Carlos, but I have certainly not always been assertive when I disagree with things. I think that part of the reason we’re in the place we are right now is because many people have not given you proper feedback. I’m sure I’m not the first person to tell you that you are not an easy person to disagree with. In the past, it’s often felt like if one of us did not give you the response or opinion that you wanted to hear then you’d move on until you find someone who reinforces the opinion that you want to hear. I don’t think that this has been helpful to you.


I have a lot of theories about how things have gotten to this point and I don’t blame you or Bert, but it feels like things are out of balance. My theory is that when you and Bert got home from prison things on the outside were in disarray and you two had to be a strong, central force to pull things together. There were a lot of people to pull back into the fold, there were a lot of imbalances to correct, and there were small children who needed a lot of attention and guidance. You did an incredible job of steering the ship and getting things into shape and I think that the thriving state of the Organization when I met everyone in 1998 was in large part a result of that work. However, over the past twenty years, the younger generation have become competent adults with their own life experiences and their own fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the world. The Seeds of Wisdom generation are now almost as old or older than you and Bert were when you came home from prison. It feels to me like you and Bert are still trying to be that central force that dictates direction, when things may actually flourish if you loosened your grip on the wheel and let others take some of the weight. Many of us are concerned about both of your health and feel that you carry too much stress. We all appreciate all that you have done but there needs to be a rebalancing. 


It’s clear to anyone paying attention to the Organization that there is a divide and people don’t like it. One of the things that drew me and so many others to the Organization in the first place was the unity and solidarity with anyone standing up for life. I really don’t know what the conversations between you and Chuck have been like. I do know that the public perception of Chuck is not that he is disloyal or at odds with MOVE belief. In the time since I’ve been aware of Chuck’s disagreements with you and Bert, he has continued to write articles in Earth First Journal, various anarchist publications, and other journals, and in every one of them he talks about the importance of fighting for all life and he says “Long Live John Africa!.” A lot of people love Chuck and the public perception is that you guys are saying that you don’t care if he dies in prison. This isn’t just me saying this, this is what longtime supporter Omar (from Morocco) was saying publicly on Facebook yesterday (Orie deleted his comment). 


I know that you don’t want to hear this and this is not what I want to happen, but I strongly believe that if you don’t open up dialogue with everyone in the Organization then you risk losing credibility with a lot of the support. The statement against Chuck (from what I’ve seen) has only been posted by Orie. It has not been re-shared by anyone. Since that statement was put up public support for Chuck has increased dramatically. Mike’s petition for Chuck has been re-shared dozens if not hundreds of times. People do not like this division and they are supporting Chuck because they feel that regardless of where he stands with the Organization he should be free because he is innocent. I am telling you all of this because I am concerned. I love MOVE and I love the unity that I felt when I first moved up here. Things have not felt that way in a long time. Everyone feels it, but we’re not talking about it together.


That’s what I’m looking for. It means enough to me that I’m willing to put my relationship with you on the line even though I love you and miss you. I don’t think that the direction that things are moving in is good for you or the Organization and if I have to push things to the point where I’m on the outside in order to try to push things into the open then I’m willing to do this. All of this timing is tricky because Maiga’s due date is today and this little girl could be here at any time. I won’t be available for a while if a meeting like this were to happen. However, I don’t need to be at the first one if it happens. It seems to me that it would take a lot of open dialogue to get things sorted out. If this is not going to happen then I will continue to talk to those who are open to having open conversations, I’ll keep supporting the MOVE 9 and Mumia, and I’ll keep doing my work to the best of my ability. I am not interested in having a one-on-one conversation about this though. For me a group conversation is the only thing that will help move things forward. I do love you and hope that you can try to understand my perspective on this. 

OnaMove,

Kevin


PS - I’m sharing this with the same people I did last time because I want to be transparent.


This is me on the bullhorn (unfortunately) on Sept. 20, 2002, in Cherry Hill, NJ protesting against John Gilbride being able to have partial custody of his son. John was murdered less than one week later, around 11:30 pm on Sept. 26, 2002