One common thing said within MOVE is that in MOVE “we don’t believe in categories.” This part of the doctrine can be interpreted in a number of ways, but the more positive interpretation, the one that draws many toward MOVE, is that MOVE doesn’t believe in the sometimes arbitrary distinctions that separate along lines of class, race, age, sex, or species. The positive interpretation of MOVE’s teaching against categories is that MOVE seeks to unite behind the common principle that what is alive is of value, and what is dead; technology, property, job titles, and positions of authority, are not. I’ve found this aspect of MOVE’s teaching to be useful when applied in specific ways. However, as has been documented here before, prejudice and abusive behavior related to skin tone, gender, and sexuality are more extreme within MOVE than in the general population.
The lack of belief in categories is also used within MOVE to confuse thought and discredit logical arguments that call the behavior of MOVE’s leadership into question. If a legitimate point is made about something wrong happening within MOVE a common retort is that the questioner is “thinking in categories” or “thinking scientifically.” Both responses are designed to end conversation, and thought itself. If the questioner persists they may be asked if they “think they know better than The Coordinator (John Africa)” or if they “think they know better than the Guidelines.” Once those gauntlets have been thrown there’s really no possible response because opening that can of worms would open up absolutely everything for questioning, and would likely result in the questioner being ostracized, alienated from their peers, or worse.
However, that aspect of “thinking in categories” is fertile material for another post. The reason I’m thinking about it today is that some people have asked for clarification on what makes someone a MOVE member, and why, if I was around for so many years and dedicated myself so deeply to MOVE, I was a supporter and not a member. For all of the talk about not believing in categories or arbitrary hierarchies MOVE has some very specific rules around MOVE membership and some clear categories of the hierarchies between members and non-members.
The three primary categories of people within MOVE are members, supporters, and sympathizers. The simple breakdown between these categories is that MOVE members can only be made by John Africa or are in the direct line of descent from the people who John Africa made members. Because John Africa died on Osage Ave. on May 13th, 1985 it’s no longer possible for new members to be made, they can only be born.
Supporters are typically people who consider MOVE Law to be their religion and would be members if they were permitted to take on that title. The usage of language isn’t always perfectly consistent, but if someone is referred to as a MOVE supporter that usually signifies that they don’t just support the political struggles of MOVE, but actually believe in MOVE’s religion. The last category is MOVE sympathizer. Most of the people who come around MOVE and do work on behalf of the MOVE 9 and support any of the other political struggles that MOVE has been involved in would be referred to as sympathizers. If someone is a sympathizer and not a supporter this signifies that they do not believe in MOVE Law, but they are willing to work alongside MOVE to achieve some of their stated goals.
At this point, there are four generations of potential MOVE members, though much of the third generation is defecting (even if they are not public about it) so I’m not sure if any of the third generation who have had children would actually consider their children to be MOVE members. There are sharp distinctions between the various generations of MOVE members. There are also important reasons for not allowing new MOVE members, and both of these are related to maintaining internal control, so I think it’s worth breaking this down in detail here.
The first generation MOVE members; people like Alberta, Pam, Ria, Ramona, Carlos, Mo, and all of the MOVE 9, were all personally dedicated to John Africa and his mission. They came into MOVE as true believers and were taught by John Africa that they were the inner circle, the vanguard, who would not only overthrow the government but would overthrow civilization itself. The dedication of first-generation MOVE members is strong enough to have compelled them to serve decades in prison, beatings by police, and many other unimaginable horrors that they’ve endured in order to carry forward John Africa’s vision. Their dedication and seemingly unwavering commitment can be quite attractive and is one of the things that drew me, and many others, towards MOVE.
The second-generation MOVE members, like Mike Africa Jr. and June (Pixie), were some of the members who formed the MOVE hip-hop group, The Seeds of Wisdom. They were either born into MOVE or brought into MOVE at a very young age when their parents joined in the ‘70s or early ‘80s. For second-generation members, MOVE was all they knew. Because of this, and because of the strong us versus them worldview instilled in them, most of them were very loyal and believing MOVE members as teens. Most of them were teens in the mid to late 90s, at the height of the “Free Mumia” movement, and they received a great deal of attention as a result.
The attention of outsiders affirming the validity and importance of MOVE only served to keep second-generation MOVE members in line. At that time celebrities like Michael Franti, and world leaders such as Danielle Mitterrand (Former First Lady of France) were dropping by MOVE headquarters and looking to the Seeds of Wisdom as a revolutionary example. That kind of external reinforcement dramatically helped MOVE’s leadership in controlling the second generation. All of their modes of seeking attention, approval, and accomplishment could easily be channeled through MOVE-approved activities within the movement.
The third generation of MOVE has been significantly more difficult to control for a few reasons. The primary reason is likely the ubiquity of the internet in our culture. For better and for worse, it's significantly harder to maintain a central narrative now than it was twenty years ago. Third-generation members were also parented differently by second-generation members than second-generation members were parented by first-generation members. First-generation members were zealous and were confident that the teachings of John Africa would provide the best possible structure for raising children. However, first-generation members were raised in “the system” and didn’t know what it felt like to be raised in MOVE. Many second-generation MOVE members grew up feeling deprived and, though they were still largely true-believers, they provided their children with much of what they felt they had lacked. Many of the second-generation members have done a remarkable job of trying to protect their children and have worked diligently to provide the best possible life for their children. However, the overall structure they’ve been forced to raise their kids in has still been abusive and there was a great deal that was far outside of their control.
As a result of the conditions stated above, third-generation members have been caught in a very difficult bind. Many of them are not true believers and would very much like a different life. Due to the stigma against education within MOVE, most of them have received an education far below minimum standards, though many of their parents have worked incredibly hard to make sure their kids were given more education than they were. There are few acceptable paths forward within MOVE and most of those paths are wildly unappealing to the third generation.
The third generation also doesn’t have the benefit the second generation did of gaining attention and achievement within the movement that supports MOVE because that movement has diminished dramatically since the late ‘90s. As a result, many of the third generation feel stuck (I’m basing this off of conversations with third-generation MOVE members). They feel like they have no acceptable path forward and many of them struggle with depression. I’m not pointing this out as a criticism of the second-generation parents, or of the third-generation children, most of whom are doing amazingly well under incredibly difficult circumstances. I’m pointing this out as a criticism of the structure that MOVE’s leadership has imposed which affords little opportunity for personal growth or development for fear that that strength will make people independent of the group.
MOVE supporters are more similar to first-generation MOVE members in their enthusiasm. I believe that not allowing new recruits to become MOVE members, and instead designating them as supporters, has everything to do with power and control. When I was a true-believer, from 1999 to 2007, every decision of my life was rooted in the teachings of John Africa. I consulted Ria and Bert about nearly everything and was encouraged to do so. Maiga and I were expected to “make donations” from our paychecks in the same way that members were expected to. From 2002-2017 Maiga and I likely donated somewhere around $50,000 (possibly more) if you include items that we purchased with no expectation of compensation. If you add in labor put into the movements that benefitted MOVE, landscaping Bert’s house, etc. the total dollar amount of combined labor and donations would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (that’s not to say that I have regrets about all of the MOVE related political organizing work that I did. There are parts of that organizing work that I’m very happy to have done).
Close supporters are called on in much the same way as members. However, there are good reasons for keeping clear separations. For one, a person who is not born into MOVE is more likely to defect because they don’t have the same familial ties binding them into the group. When someone, like myself, leaves it is much easier to dismiss them if they were “just a supporter.” When someone like June, Whit, or Josh leaves they often lose many of their family members in exchange for freedom. Also, the designation of supporter keeps people hungry to prove themselves in hopes that they may one day be as fully accepted as the members (most supporters don’t realize that most members are walking a much more tenuous line).
Members can even be demoted to supporters if they challenge the power structures of MOVE. Some very notable and high-profile MOVE members have been internally demoted to supporter status when they were pushing against Alberta’s power. Some who were involved in the Free Mumia movement in the late ‘90s may remember that for a period of time MOVE was referring to Consuewella Africa as Consuewella Dotson and referring to her as a supporter. This will be covered more in the future, but the demotion of members to supporter status has happened many times and occurs when a member challenges Alberta’s leadership. For Consuewella, who served over a decade and a half in prison for MOVE, to be demoted to supporter status was an act of intentional humiliation.
Supporters and members are also kept separated because things happen within MOVE that require grooming and normalization from birth in order to be accepted. Whit and Josh have both remarked that things happened to them that they didn’t even realize were illegal. There are behaviors that are normalized within MOVE that a supporter who was not born into MOVE could not be groomed to accept and by keeping a clear boundary between members and supporters the leadership of MOVE can benefit and maintain control. Maiga has already written extensively about how MOVE members are pressured to have children in their early teens, but supporters are influenced to put off having children until much later in life. This is part of a larger control pattern where supporters are also encouraged to assure those raised within MOVE that the life they have within MOVE is far better than the life the supporter came from “within the system.” The only antidote to this pattern of control has been free and open discussion between MOVE supporters and second and third-generation MOVE members. I'm very grateful to be a part of the conversation.
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