If asked who the leaders of MOVE are, most activists affiliated with MOVE would respond “Pam and Ramona Africa”. Today many would possibly answer “Pam Africa and Mike Africa Jr.”. Most people have never even heard of Alberta Africa (Alberta Wicker) and Sue Africa (Sue Levino), but up until recently their internal control over MOVE was unquestioned and total. Internally Alberta is known as Bert, and Sue is known as Ria (most people in MOVE have at least two names, one name is often from when they were underground). Many statements amongst MOVE members and close supporters are prefaced with the words “Ria said…..” or “Bert said….”. Permission from Ria or Bert was all that was needed in order to get others to comply.
Bert and Ria have their hand in every aspect of daily life within MOVE; from critiquing peoples’ outfits, to deciding who will live in which house, to determining political strategy, to arranging marriages, or spending exorbitant amounts of money (neither Ria nor Bert have held a job in over 40 years). Externally Pam and Ramona have inspired many across the globe with their bold leadership, but internally they hold little power. Each was given their own domain over which they have some control; for Pam, that’s the Mumia movement, and for Ramona, it was speaking about May 13th, 1985, and the MOVE 9. However, ultimate authority rests in the hands of Ria and Bert, even within those particular domains.
Observing the stark difference between how MOVE functions externally, as viewed by the public and most activists, and internally, as experienced by members and close supporters, one may wonder how things came to be this way. It is my understanding based on testimonies of people who were in MOVE in its earliest days that when MOVE was founded in 1972 it was a joint project between Vincent Leaphart (who would take the name of John Africa and assume the role as an all-perfect god) and Donald Glassey, a white social worker, and professor from the University of Penn. In early MOVE documents, you can see the movement from Leaphart changing from Vinnie to Vincent Africa to John Africa (or as MOVE would write his name, JOHN AFRICA). Once that change stabilized, Leaphart's role as leader could not be questioned as every word he uttered was perfect and omniscient.
After Leaphart perished in the fire on Osage Ave. on May 13th of 1985 there was a power vacuum within MOVE that needed filling. At the time almost all of the adult MOVE members were in prison, and a few women had custody of all of the children orphaned by the fires of Osage Ave. and the imprisonment of the MOVE 9. When Alberta came home from prison in 1988 she had to oust Jerry Africa, and Louise and Laverne Sims (both were sisters of Vincent Leaphart) from any of their claims to the throne. Bert’s claim to power was a compelling one; she had been the wife of Leaphart (John Africa). I have my doubts at this point that any relationships in MOVE are truly monogamous, but Bert was certainly one of Leaphart’s closest partners in crime.
It’s surprising enough to know that MOVE has shadow leadership, but many will find it shocking to find that one of the leaders, Sue Levino (Ria), is white. Ria got out of prison in 1992 and projected the unquestioning loyalty she had for Leaphart on to Alberta. Ria doesn’t hold the same degree of power as Alberta, but is a clear second in command, and gains power through her fierce defense of Bert. For Bert, Ria has been a lynchpin in controlling the multi-million dollar trust that the parents who lost children on Osage Ave. in 1985 won from the city in a civil suit. Bert had no legal claim to the trust as she did not lose children, but Ria did. Ria is a beneficiary of the trust, and Bert a trustee, and together they have controlled the other beneficiaries, largely to Bert’s benefit (this detail is going to require many, many more pages of writing).
Once this is understood it is unsurprising that Alberta owns a $400,000 home in Cherry Hill, NJ while many raised in MOVE have lived far below the poverty line while being denied an education or any means of eventually leaving the group. Alberta regularly takes international vacations and spares no expense at providing for her own comfort. When questioned about why she lives a lifestyle so contrary to the Thoreauvian principles the group was supposedly founded upon one is told that they don’t understand the “mental work” that Alberta is doing. In MOVE’s world, Alberta is actually the strongest member, the reason that she spends the majority of her time sitting in front of the television is that she’s weighed down by doing all of the “mental work” of MOVE that other, weaker members (who work 60 hours a week and give her donations) can’t handle.
While in prison Alberta began exchanging letters with John Gilbride; a young white Temple student twenty years her junior. In 1992 John and Alberta were married, and in 1996 John and Bert had a son named Zack. In 1998, after 12 years as a close MOVE supporter, and six years married to the highest-ranking MOVE member, John had had enough of life within MOVE and knew that this was not a good life for his son. He quietly packed his things, left, and filed for custody soon after.
When John filed for custody of Zack, Alberta turned all of the resources of MOVE against him. She called on MOVE supporters to come from out of state (I was one of them) to picket in front of the court proceedings, she had missives about the custody case sent out to the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia email list (I sent some of them at her request), she brought in expert witnesses to testify on her behalf who she was connected to through the Mumia movement. Alberta weaponized all of the support from the political prisoner movement against John Gilbride and painted him as a government agent who only married her in order to destroy the movement.
After John was murdered (I’m glossing over a lot in these first pieces. Eventually I’ll go into detail about each important point) Alberta had full custody of Zack and had the resources to raise him as she wished. Zack lived in a nice house in Cherry Hill, NJ, He went to a Montessori school (while many children in MOVE were intentionally kept illiterate) and had tutors. He was on sports teams, went to finishing school, and traveled the world. If asked about these discrepancies Alberta would reply that Zack appeared to be white (much more on that later) and was being raised in a way that would allow him to appeal to upper-class white people. As she explained it, Zack would be able to present MOVE’s belief to people in positions of power and convert them. His entire childhood was essentially a training ground to further the influence of MOVE.
With Alberta largely residing in Cherry Hill, NJ, and living a life at odds with that of other MOVE members, Ria functioned as Bert’s defender and ensured that loyalty was given to Bert and herself. In order to keep control within the cult, Ria and Bert insert themselves in between children born in MOVE and their parents. Many of the children I’ve talked to have described Ria and Bert regularly taking them for the day and telling them “your parents don’t really love you. Your parents are too fucked up to love you. Your mom hates you, we’re (Bert and Ria) the only ones who are strong enough to actually love you” In MOVE, relationships between parents and children are intentionally destabilized and diminished as a means of control.
It’s worth noting that we’ve barely begun to talk about the abuses experienced by those raised in MOVE. As more people come forward more information will be revealed. You’ve already heard on the podcast that Pixie was forced to get married and pregnant at 12. This is only the very tip of an enormous iceberg. This process of uncovering the truth is just beginning and there is much yet to come.
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