When I started this blog just five days ago one of my first posts was called “Why I’m Writing”. A lot has changed in the last few days, and now that Pixie, Whit, and Josh are publicly out of MOVE there is more that I can say, and I feel the need to expand my mission a bit.
I never intended to speak out or write publicly about my experience as a close MOVE supporter. I had a lot of criticisms and concerns but I still cared deeply for many in MOVE and didn’t want to become identified as an enemy of the group. I was haunted by the 2002 murder of John Gilbride but there didn’t seem to be a way to voice those concerns without escalating things with MOVE’s leadership. When Beth McNamara contacted me in June of 2020 regarding her investigative podcast about Gilbride’s murder I knew that I had a responsibility to speak out.
However, up until my wife, Maiga, and I were contacted by Pixie Africa I still believed that there were aspects of MOVE that were redeemable. As we communicated with Pixie and learned of her experiences growing up in MOVE my perspective changed dramatically. Communication with Pixie led to communication with others, like Josh and Whit who were raised in MOVE. It was horrifying to find out what their lives had actually been like, and Maiga and I felt a responsibility to speak out alongside them and to help Pixie safely establish a life outside of MOVE.
I’m sure that as I write here that other needs and purposes will arise, but as of now these are my primary purposes in moving forward with this blog:
To protect and help support Pixie, Josh, Whit, and others who want to leave MOVE and tell the truth about their experiences. This will require raising public awareness about their experiences and fundraising for Pixie to begin a new life.
Lend support to people, like the Gilbride family, who have been victimized by MOVE.
Call for an investigation into the interconnected crimes of MOVE, specifically the abuse of children, financial crimes, and the murder of John Gilbride. It is my personal belief that a thorough investigation of these crimes would result in the arrest of Alberta and Sue Africa. Though I am still an avid critic of the criminal justice system and many aspects of law enforcement I believe that the arrest of Sue and Alberta is the only thing that will provide safety for Pixie and others. I also believe that the Gilbride family deserves justice.
To reframe the history of MOVE and to look at the events of August 8th, 1978, and May 13th, 1985 through a new lens. MOVE continues to use the children who died on Osage Ave: Katricia, Zanetta, Delisha, Phil, and Tomaso, to garner support. I believe that these children were victims of MOVE even more so than they were victims of the State. I am aware that this is a controversial claim, but I have good reason for this view and eventually, I will address that matter here.
To provide space for other MOVE members and supporters to tell their own stories of leaving MOVE.
I still have a lot of love for many people in MOVE and coming forward with this information is not without emotional complications for me. I ran a business with Mike Africa Jr. for more than a decade and he was one of my closest friends. I have always had a deep love for Pam Africa and understand the position that this information is putting them in. However, once my wife and I began communicating with Pixie neither of us felt like we had a choice. Upon learning about her experiences I feel a deep sense of betrayal and I’m disappointed in what older MOVE members have allowed to go on behind closed doors. I understand how complex cult dynamics are, and am really hoping that they choose to tell the truth now that this information is surfacing.
I also feel the need to acknowledge all of the work that Tony and Lori did to try to bring some of this information to light when they left MOVE in 2004. It’s shocking to see how many of Tony’s hunches about MOVE (that he posted on his blog - http://antimove.blogspot.com/) were correct. We have since learned that Pixie once relied on this blog as a source of relief and resource to understand her own experiences. I’m hoping that now that people who were born into MOVE are speaking out that this information will be received with more acceptance than when they sounded the alarm 17 years ago.
I’m also aware of how easy it is for someone who has left a cult to become so obsessed with exposing the cult that they make that project their new identity. I’m hoping to avoid that problem as I stopped being a true believer 14 years ago. I worked hard to build a life that I am deeply satisfied with and would have continued along that path if we had not been contacted by Pixie. MOVE has kept itself going for almost 50 years through fostering an “us versus them” worldview. I am not seeking to play into this dynamic. I have a lot of love for many in MOVE and am attempting to operate from a place of love and concern.
It is also worth mentioning that the MOVE Organization doesn’t even really exist anymore as one unified group. There are deep splits on every level and very little loyalty exists between those who still choose to call themselves MOVE members. Mike Africa Jr., and the “Original MOVE members” are essentially two different groups at this point, and most of the young people in MOVE refuse to participate in MOVE activities. However, both factions of MOVE are still capitalizing on the same false history of MOVE. There are also still young people (specifically young girls) who are in great danger as long as Alberta and Sue Africa still have influence over their lives. As long as MOVE is able to control the narrative about their history there will be MOVE children who continue to be controlled and exploited, and the victims of MOVE will continue to be silenced.
As podcast episodes are released I'll post here to add context and to elaborate and provide supporting documents. This project is daunting and I’m nervous about how it will be received and reported on. I’m hoping that the spirit of love and concern that I’m writing from will come through as this project continues.
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