MOVE Update: July/Aug 2010

BY THE MOVE ORGANIZATION

On the Move

On May 13, 2010 (the 25th anniversary of the bombing-death of our family), the parole board interviewed the MOVE women in prison, for the 3rd time, and denied their release for the 3rd time, as well as the rest of the MOVE 9 – claiming that the prosecutor had a negative response to their release, and they refused to accept responsibility for a policeman being killed.

Meanwhile, 25 years ago Philadelphia cops murdered 11 of our family members and have yet to spend a day in prison, despite the fact that the cops, and city officials were found guilty of “deliberate” murder of our family. These are the blatant inconsistencies and prejudices that MOVE is constantly fighting against. What gives this system the right to dismiss our family’s lives, with no consequence, like they’re not important, but keep MOVE in prison over 33 years, because they refuse to say they killed a policeman, because they didn’t.

We’re not surprised the parole board refused to release the MOVE 9 for a 3rd time – we expected it. And it has nothing to do with what they say, or don’t say. MOVE told the P.B. the truth about what happened August 8, 1978, and the P.B. treated MOVE like they were lying.

But MOVE knows just as “politics” were involved in the MOVE 9 case, politics are the knee joints of the parole board. (The parole board members are appointed by the governor, who are themselves ex-cops and D.A.s). And ain’t nothing fair or honest about politics, ain’t that right. The P.B. is carrying out the city and judges’ vendetta against MOVE because MOVE exposed its cops for being brutal, racist – exposed its politicians for being phony, corrupt, and exposed the judges for condoning all of this wrong, including perpetuating the pollution and poisoning of our earth. Politics have always been used at the convenience of this system, and it ain’t no different in our case.

If the political atmosphere was in MOVE’s favor, and the situation was the same, the MOVE 9 would have been released. Look at Nelson Mandela. Even the racist government of South Africa released Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison. Even though the stand Mandela took against Apartheid was seen as illegal, the U.S. government applauded his release, criticized and condemned the apartheid government of S.A. because it was politically advantageous for the U.S. But this government is committing the same crimes against MOVE, for the same reason, the S.A. government put Mandela in prison.

The parole board will say they will not release the MOVE 9 from prison even after 33 years, yet this country has accepted, embraced Germany, Japan, Russia after those countries have killed American men, women, children, and soldiers not that long ago. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, killing over 2000 soldiers in 1941, and the United States of America have united with Japan in less than 33 years.

MOVE ain’t in prison for killing anyone; we’re in prison because we tell the truth about this system, and it’s just that plain. And it is only through the wisdom of John Africa’s teaching that MOVE can see this. During the trial for the MOVE 9, John Africa sent a message to the trial judge, and all of the judges of the world and those concerned with the problems of the world. Here are a few excerpts taken from that message

“The courts are the tools of industrial plague granting big business privilege to poison our earth, scientific dreams that have turned to nightmares, nuclear plants belching sickness, weak lungs, pushed on the people despite their resistence, crippling our children until they are dead, killing, retarding and causing miscarriage, reforming life’s way to that of a science, taking our water, familiar and clean and turning it into a potion that’s poison, air that was right as the god that sustains it is now strangulation to all that must breathe it, nuclear waste is a raft of you judges and will always plague people until it’s no more, it can’t be made safe, despite what you tell folks, with laws and amendments you stuff down folks’ throats, for nuclear power is still in existence and waste is the monster that comes with this horror, a horror that’s monstrous in process and after, a disease that is caused will be laid at the court, laid on the judges and those that command them, politicians, industrialists, all those of greed, this is the filth that you judges protect, rich folks and industry, big business, money, poor folks is just like dead wood to the courts, they’re cut up and burnt up and set out as trash…you hurt people in the name of industry ever since the existence of industry, monopoly, exploitation, you have ailed poor folks despite innocence, freed rich folks despite guilt, collected your salary from both and made poor folks pay the bulk of it…you judges cause problems, create burdens, keep things from being right, the burden of taxation is the foundation of your system was built on righteousness however, it would be, in fact, right, cause you can only be what you are, and when your system proves wrong your legal has been proven wrong, and the move organization ain’t respecting nothing that’s wrong”

(All writings taken from JOHN AFRICA’S Guideline are originally written in upper case letters, and no periods.)

In May 2010, the MOVE Organization filed murder charges against the city of Philadelphia’s cops and officials who took part in and oversaw the bombing of the 11 MOVE members murdered on May 13, 1985.