The PA Parole Board War Against the Move 9 & #blacklivesmatter

On The Move!!!

On November, 12th I had a parole hearing, my 7th since becoming eligible in 2008. The latest hearing was presided over by Parole Board Members Gray and Shultz. Gray was in Harrisburg,
conducting her interview via T.V. Monitor, and kicked off the hearing by asking me what happened
the day of the offense.

I told them what happened on 8/8/78 occurred because in March 1976 police came out to Headquarters attacking Move People. They attacked Janine, knocking her infant son from her her arms and stomped on the baby crushing his skull. Move people went to the authorities demanding
attention to that heinous crime and received no response. The D.A. (Ed Rendell) was contacted and
he flatly refused to investigate. The police, as usual, lied. Denying that the incident never occurred when contacted by the local press.

Finally, Move invited Philadelphia city council members to our house to view the lifeless form of Life Africa, Janine and Phil's murdered son. The city's response to this news report, as well as the ensuing call for an investigation by those city council members, was not to respond at all. Absolute silence from officials who take every opportunity to castigate any incident even remotely connected to The Move Organization and nothing more from the mainstream press who has always acted in concert with racist city officials.

So we held a demonstration at our Headquarters to expose what had happened to the public-- what city officials were trying their best to cover up. However, rather than heed their own city officials' call for an independent outside review into the murder, Philadelphia city officials forced a standoff, eventually sending 500-600 more of those same crazy cops to further attack us. Firing in huge amounts of water, tear gas, smoke and bullets in the basement where they knew we all were.

Gray's only comment was that it was clear to her that I was sticking to my version and said she had nothing further she wanted to ask. Shultz then asked her only question of the hearing. She asked who was responsible for the incident. I said city officials and the cops. We didn't assault their women and children. They came to our house doing these things. We were all in the basement of the house 6 feet below street level nearly drowning from all of the water being pumped in by fireman and blinded by tear gas and smoke shot in by the cops. The cop that was killed was facing our Headquarters when struck by a bullet that hit from behind traveling on a downward trajectory. This was impossible for any of us to have fired even if you believe we had guns, which we did not.

Our only goal in doing what we did was to bring attention to the injustice being meted out to the Move Organization by Philly cops at the direction of city officials. We simply asked that our family stop being assaulted and murdered by those city cops and because they refused our requests. We had a demonstration to publicize our plight directly to the people. Just as you see being done in the cases of Ferguson, Missouri, with Oscar Grant in Oakland, and many other cities. Until these incidents were exposed to the people by the people, forcing media attention and calls for Justice, only then was there a semblance of an official investigation. Well, that is all that Move did 37 years ago.

Shultz said she had nothing further to ask and the hearing was over. Needless to say, their not even bothering to ask any routine questions about a home plan, job plan, or anything else related to life outside of prison, is always a clear indication that they never intend to consider release. The entire hearing didn't last more than a couple of minutes. So now I await the official response of what they've made crystal clear in the past six parole hearings. They intend to finish the job that Philly officials, their Storm Trooper Cops, their Racist Judges and biased press started decades earlier.

Michael (Davis) Africa, Sr.