MOVE Philadelphia

EPISODE DETAILS

Written and Researched by Sarah Steel

Music by Joe Gould

Edited by Matt Brazel

January 18th, 2023

1 hr 05 mins 54 secs

Season 5

Transcript

Season 5 presenting partner:

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

MOVE Philadelphia made headlines in 1978, when police and MOVE members ended up in a prolonged siege and a gunfire exchange that left a police officer dead. They hit the headlines again in 1985, when a confrontation with the authorities became even more deadly after an explosive device was dropped on their property. The events led many to understand the organisation as a Black liberation group who were the victims of a racist system. The latter is hardly debatable, but credible stories from a multitude of former members portray MOVE as never truly being about Black liberation at all. Instead, they characterise it as a cult.


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