Event

Revolutionaries in West Philadelphia: The MOVE Organization

Sunday February 18th, 3-6 PM

New College House Dining Pavilion, University of Pennsylvania

This event will focus on the history and political vision of MOVE, a Black revolutionary organization that was founded in Powelton Village in 1972.

At 3 PM we will screen Let the Fire Burn (2013). This documentary addresses the history of MOVE and the attack on them in 1985 when the Philadelphia Police and FBI dropped bombs on the MOVE home, killing 11 people and starting a fire that destroyed 65 West Philadelphia homes.

At 4:30 PM we will have a panel discussion and conversation, which  will include two members of MOVE: former political prisoner Ramona Africa, who survived the 1985 bombing, and Mike Africa. They will be joined by activist and educator Gabriel Bryant and and Tajah Ebram, a scholar who is writing about the history of MOVE.

Please join us to learn about this important history and to talk together about its relevance in the present. This event is free and open to the public and food will be provided.

New College House is located at 3335 Woodland Walk, at the corner of Chestnut and Sansom. The entrance is located on the pedestrian walkway Woodland Walk on the building’s south side.

If you do not have a Penn ID, New College House Faculty Fellow Jennifer Ponce de León will meet you in the building’s lobby to welcome you to the event. Please contact Dr. Ponce de León at poncej@english.upenn.edu with any questions.