Today's Philadelphia Inquirer featured a front-page article by Jason Nark which connects the survivors, the murder of John Gilbride, this blog, and the Murder at Ryan's Run podcast. The article first appeared on the Inquirer's website on Friday. It does an excellent job of introducing the material and making the connections between the survivors of abuse within MOVE and the murder of John Gilbride. There's so much material to explore here, and MOVE is so wildly misunderstood, that I'm hoping that this can be the start of a series of articles delving deeper into the abuse within MOVE and the unsolved murder of John Gilbride, the ex-husband of MOVE's leader, Alberta Africa. There's much more to be done to get justice for the children born in MOVE, the Gilbride family, and many others.
Reading the article I'm moved by the bravery, eloquence, and grace of Josh, Maria, Rain, and Salina. All of those who were born into MOVE and have come forward; June, Whit, Josh, Maria, Salina, Sara, Rain (and others who aren't public), have exhibited unimaginable strength, courage, and empathy, and I'm humbled to be working alongside them. It's hard to overstate how big and difficult it is to do what they're doing. They've all risked so much in order to stop this cycle of abuse from continuing. They've risked and suffered estrangement from family members that they love dearly, they have been publicly vulnerable while processing deep traumas, and they did all of this knowing that it would be politically complicated for many to respond to them with the love and support that they truly deserve. I hope that this article will broaden their base of support. Please spread the word, and if you're able please donate to June's GoFundMe.
In the beginning of July, I was interviewed by cult expert, Steven Hassan. Dr. Hassan is one of the foremost experts on cults and has been working for over thirty years to help people who want help leaving authoritarian groups. I contacted Dr. Hassan in late 2007 or early 2008 when I was first intellectually breaking from MOVE. I secretly read his book Releasing the Bonds in Barnes and Noble and then returned it to the shelf. I was terrified of being caught with the book. When I left the store I called Dr. Hassan's office from the parking lot and was shocked when he, and not a secretary, answered the call. He was kind enough to talk to me for an hour free of charge and helped me to wrap my head around what it would take to get out of MOVE with my marriage intact.
I was pleased to be able to speak to Dr. Hassan again all of these years later. There are a few things I'd like to note. I'm aware that in the blog post he refers to me as a MOVE member, and that according to MOVE I was a supporter. He goes on to explain this deeper into his post, but I'd also like to clarify here. When most people hear the word supporter they think of someone who is only loosely affiliated and not someone like myself who gave all of my waking energy to the group, relied on leadership to make all of their decisions, and donated more than $50,000 to the group throughout my two decades of involvement. I have already written a post documenting how MOVE uses the categories of member and supporter as a control mechanism. When John Gilbride was murdered MOVE often emphasized that he was "just a supporter" despite the fact that he had been married to MOVE's leader, Alberta Africa, and had lived in MOVE's headquarters for a decade. It is for this reason that I was okay with the term "member" being used as long as it was clarified deeper in the blog post.
If you happen to watch the video interview that the blog post is based on you will notice that I filmed the interview from a bathroom. I hope that this isn't too distracting (it's a bit embarrassing for me) but I was out of town when we recorded and this was the only room where I could be sure that my two-year-old daughter wouldn't unexpectedly join the interview. I'm very grateful to Dr. Hassan for his time. I hope that this interview can further the cause of getting justice for those who were born into MOVE as well as the Gilbride family.
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