Since I launched this blog two weeks ago I’ve had a lot of very long conversations. Many people have raised understandable and valid concerns, concerns that I share, but that I don’t feel are possible to prioritize while also protecting the victims and creating space for healing. I understand that as the corruption with MOVE is understood more widely that the serious problems within MOVE could be used by bad actors in order to deny the realities of police violence against people of color in the United States.
There is a very real danger that the blowback from the exposure of the realities of MOVE could adversely affect Mumia as well. This troubles me for many reasons, one of which is that I care deeply about him. In the last twenty years, I’ve visited with Mumia dozens of times and he has influenced my life and my thinking in some very important ways. Mumia’s writing about MOVE is what led me to where I find myself currently.
I’m also concerned about how conservative media will use this story. On Friday, July 2nd, on the day that Pixie went into hiding and Josh, Whit, and Pixie publicly left MOVE, I sent out press releases to 60 journalists and consciously avoided conservative outlets for fear that the story would be politically weaponized. I didn’t hear a word back from any journalist for almost a week, and I’m hoping that when this story finally breaks it will be from an appropriately nuanced point of view. In the past year, MOVE has received unusually favorable press and I understand that this is a difficult story to report on. The radio silence is very frustrating though, and at this point feels incredibly irresponsible considering the number of people coming forward and the allegations being made.
While I completely understand people’s fear of the political ramifications of this public discussion I really don’t see another way forward. Many people are taking a position that they support the victims of MOVE but are upset with Maiga (my wife) and me for the way we are presenting the information. I’m not even sure how to respond to this as this is a wildly uncomfortable position for both of us and not one that either of us would have chosen. When Pixie reached out to my wife in March to confide her experiences about the trauma she’d endured we felt the only responsible thing to do was to throw every bit of energy we had into helping. As we put out feelers and began talking to Whit and Josh a collaborative network formed, and all of the decisions we made about taking this public were made together. The need for this to be so dramatically addressed speaks to the massive failure of so many of us around and within MOVE to see the warning signs and act sooner.
When Maiga and I first started talking to Pixie, Josh, and Whit we were horrified and destabilized by what we learned. We felt that we had been close to MOVE for many years but we had absolutely no idea what was happening behind closed doors (I feel the need to emphasize again that a very small percentage of the abuse that has occurred has been publicly revealed at this point). There were warning signs though, and there are questions that should have been asked. And even without taking into account the abuse of children within MOVE (and that needs to be seriously taken into account), there is no way to excuse the way that the political support for MOVE was weaponized against the Gilbride family. As the podcast proceeds and as I comment on episodes I will be releasing some of the fliers that were distributed in the Gilbride’s neighborhood and around John’s apartment building. There is just no way to justify the cruelty that was inflicted on that family before and after John was murdered. I strongly feel that anyone who was involved (myself included) in the vicious campaign against the Gilbrides owes them a public apology and more.
And that leads me to the political ramifications that I’m hoping for. I hope that this disastrous reckoning with the realities of MOVE will function as a warning against idolatry within political movements. I hope that all of us will look more closely and ask better questions. I hope that we will ask children if they are okay rather than asking a group leader to explain away what we’re seeing. These are the things that make me hopeful. And despite how difficult all of this is there are amazing things happening that have surprised and inspired me. There are conversations happening that I didn’t think were possible; difficult, vulnerable conversations that are leading to healing. I’m hopeful that as people speak more openly and take responsibility for their part in all of this, that the healing that can occur will be a powerful example for others in similar groups. I am honored that Whit, Pixie, Josh, and now Sara, Salina, and Maria, have allowed Maiga and me to be a part of this terrifying and beautiful process. I do believe that it is possible to embrace the values that led so many of us to MOVE while discussing and accounting for the realities of MOVE honestly.
Click here to listen to the podcast
Click here to follow "Murder at Ryan's Run" on Instagram
No comments:
Post a Comment