>From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >FORWARDED MESSAGE >=================== > >From: leslie jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Friday, September 22, 2000 11:44 AM > >ona move! > >peace everyone....... > >please help spread the word..... > >There has been much concern over the possibility of RNC demonstrator trials >overlapping Mumia's day in federal court. While that concern is valid, we >CANNOT forget that the MOVE Organization has been threatened by the very >same people. And it is the MOVE Organization who leads the struggle to free >Mumia from death row. Mumia is on deatrh row BECAUSE of his support of the >MOVE Organization and the teachings of John Africa. So with the federal >hearing approaching, the government would love nothing better than to tie up >all of Mumia's freedom fighters! > >And in August 1978 and May 1985, the police did not shoot rubber bullets at >MOVE or just throw tear gas, this government shot OVER 10,000 rounds of REAL >ammunition and used a C-4 EXPOLSIVE device which resulted in a 900 year >prison sentence and 11 MURDERS. This is the reason we are EXPOSING the >latest attack on MOVE. > >On August 1, 2000 at the conclusion of a RNC demonstration against the death >penalty and in support of a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal on the courtyard >of the Municipal Services Building in Philadelphia (across from City Hall), >we were among at least six MOVE supporters--including Julia Wright of >FRANCE, daughter of author/activist Richard Wright--who were involved in a >confrontation with the Philadelphia police. Michael Africa, a 22-year-old >member of the MOVE Organization was arrested by a Philadelphia highway >patrol officer for the "crime" of leaving the scene of the demonstration to >flag down the Organization's van (which was circling city hall), so that he >could load the sound equipment which had just been disassembled to comply >with the protest's permit's end time. All throughout the demonstration >police on horseback, and on foot, surrounded the demonstration to discourage >people from joining us, and to prevent us, the protestors, from leaving. >The same tactic they used in most all the R2K and D2K demos. So when Mike >Africa DARED to leave, he was arrested. Only this time the Philadelphia >police failed to realize that we, as MOVE supporters, were NOT going to >allow this government to seize yet another MOVE member WITHOUT CAUSE, >without a FIGHT! > >Mike Africa was placed in a police van, which never left its parking spot. >When he was arrested, our "negotiations" with police began. Only we did not >"negotiate" because we did not think Mike would not be released otherwise. >We "negotiated" with the Philadelphia police to give them the time they >needed to come up with an EXCUSE for why one of the protestors was going to >be freed BEFORE he was even taken to the police administration building to >be processed. Mike was released in FIFTEEN MINUTES. > >When Mike emerged from the police van, he was calm, he gave a statement to >the press--who had been there throughout the confrontation--and went back >across the street to finish packing up his sound equipment. Mike Africa >knew he was not going anywhere after he was arrested. We as MOVE supporters >knew he was not going anywhere. And the Philadelphia police in designer >suits and white shirts ALSO knew that Mike Africa was not going >anywhere--which is why Captain Fisher, top cop for civil affairs, "stopped >by" MOVE headquarters on August 5, 2000 to see if Mike was "alright." > >So what's the problem? The front cover of the August 4-6, 2000 weekend >edition of the Philadelphia Metro newspaper featured a picture of Black >journalist Napoleon Kingcade with the subtitle "MOVE reaps the reward of its >own behavior," followed by a caption from the actual article: > > "MOVE has no respect for the law and the law has no respect for >them. Sooner or later, the MOVE organization has to recognize this >problem." > >According to Mr. Kingcade, when Mike emerged from the police van he was >"cussing and acting nasty," and that this alleged use of profanity was >"ungodly and disrespectful." But what Mr. Kingcade does not provide is why >the police did not "put the cuffs back on him [Mike] and charge him with >harrassment and terroristic threats" since, according to Kingcade, Mike's >behavior seconds after his release was "worse than a street hoodlum." > >In fact, Mike used no profanity whatsoever. And the police did not follow >Kingcade's suggestion because they did the only thing they could do in light >of the PRESSURE from the PEOPLE surrounding that police van--RELEASE MIKE >AFRICA! > >We have retyped the article, which appeared in Kingcade's column on page six >of the Metro, below for you to analyze for yourself, and hopefully respond. >This article was re-released by the city about a month ago in another, more >community-oriented neighborhood paper, the Westside Weekly. Given that >Mumia puts out more information from death row than does Mr. Kingcade, the >"free"lance writer, it will probably re-appear again! > >The problem with this article is that Mr. Kingcade completely MISREPRESENTS >the events we just described. Not only were we among at least 10 >eyewitnesses to Mike's arrest, detainment, and release, but the >confrontation was also videotaped. Mr. Kingcade apparently believes that >MOVE members deserve to be locked up, so to support his argument he >MISREPRESENTS what really happened when Mike Africa was arrested on August >1st so as to justify why he cannot be more compassionate and understanding >of MOVE's struggle with this system. The city of Philadelphia has revived >it's use of the press to build up public support AGAINST MOVE, so that the >citizens of Philadelphia will sit back and allow it to STEAL another MOVE >child from his mother. > >For anyone who is unaware, the MOVE Organization is in a custody battle with >a man who once claimed support of John Africa's revolution. This government >is using John Gilbride to STEAL a MOVE child from his family. We are >EXPOSING Mr. Kingcade not only because he outright FABRICATED this story, >but because, more importantly, he must be EXPOSED for his COMPLICITY with >the government's CONSPIRACY to create another May 13th. > >The Philadelphia Metro is a free paper distributed in Philadelphia and the >surrounding area to those who ride the public buses, trains, and subways. >So the picture of Kingcade on its cover, and the article caption, not to >mention the article itself, was used to highlight yet another Black man's >support of a government attack on MOVE. The government justified its >attacks on MOVE on August 8, 1978 and May 13, 1985 with the so-called need >to protect MOVE babies. In 1999, the government started with this tactic >again. And the custody battle has not yet been resolved. So what Mr. >Kingcade's article attempts to do is show what happens to a child who grows >up in the MOVE organization. So when Mike did not act like the government >wanted him to, they used Kingcade to fabricate a scenario. The press was >complicit in the August 1978 and May 1985 confrontations by vilifying MOVE >on a daily basis to gain public suppport of the city's MURDEROUS acts and >intentions. > >Mike Africa is no street hoodlum. If this government had something >legitimate to use to justify removing MOVE children from their family they >would have used it by now. Instead they have to FABRICATE adverse >conditions and entice Black men (both as reporters and as mayors) to turn on >their own people. The MOVE organization remains in the midst of a very >dangerous situation--the city of Philadelphia is using a custody battle to >masquerade what is no more than another attack on John Africa's revolution. >With another Black man in the mayor's seat, this government is continuing in >its conspiracy to destroy MOVE. As MOVE supporters we are EXPOSING this >conspiracy against INNOCENT MOVE men, women, and babies because we DO NOT >want another August 8, 1978 or another May 13, 1985. > >We know that it has been the actions of Philadelphia police and the federal >government which have caused the MURDER of MOVE babies, NOT the MOVE >Organization! We know that in May 1974 and in April 1975, the police caused >the MISCARRIAGE of three MOVE babies by VICIOUSLY BEATING their mothers. We >know that in March 1976, three-week-old Life Africa was killed by a >baton-weilding cop, despite his mother's efforts to shield his body with her >own! We know that this government went to Richmond, VA in August 1978 to >seize MOVE babies who had been taken there for safety reasons. And we all >know that on May 13, 1985 the police, the city, and the federal government >KILLED 5 MOVE babies before the entire world. And Mr. Kingcade wants us to >believe that MOVE children do not know how to act! It is Kingcade who has >acted worse than a street hoodlum by allowing himself to be used as a pawn >for these MURDERERS! It is his ignorance that DESTROYS life! Not the >teachings of John Africa! > >Kingcade says that MOVE has exhibited "a real hatred towards police," but >what about the murders of MOVE men women and babies at the hands of the >Philadelphia police, at the direction of the local, state, and federal >governments? We would think that "real hatred" includes killing babies; >causing pregnant MOVE women to have miscarriages; the unneccessary, >near-fatal beating of Delbert Africa who emerged unarmed with his hands in >the air following the confrontation between police and MOVE on August 8, >1978; and, the dropping of a C-4 exposive device on MOVE's West Philadelphia >home AND allowing the resultant fire to burn WHILE fire trucks and "fire >fighters" stood by and WATCHED 11 MOVE men women and BABIES burn alive! > >SUPPORT THE MOVE ORGANIZATION! For more on what you can do, contact MOVE or >your local Friends of MOVE Chapter: > >The MOVE Organization >P. O. Box 19709 >Philadelphia, PA 19143 >(phone) 610-499-0979, (fax) 215-476-7551 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >take care & stay on the move! > >Leslie Jones >Jason Corwin >Ithaca Friends of MOVE >P. O. Box 354 >Ithaca, NY 14850 >607-327-0735 > >FREE MUMIA! >FREE LEONARD PELTIER! >FREE THE MOVE 9! >LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA! >LONG LIVE REVOLUTION! > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >MOVE must learn ignorance destroys >By Napoleon Kingcade >(who, according to the column, "writes about the inner city") > >While Michael Africa sat in the back of the police wagon waiting to be >escorted to police headquarters, several members of MOVE shouted obscenities >at police and demanded his release. > "All we want is our brother back he wasn't doing nothing," demanded Pam >Africa, head organizer of International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia >Abu-Jamal. "We are not leaving here until they release our brother." > Michael Africa, 22, was handcuffed and put into the back of the police >wagon for refusing to leave his protest spot. He was minutes away from >joining other convention demonstrators who were arrested Tuesday for >disobeying police orders. He and other MOVE members were packing up their >belongings and waiting for a van to pick them up at 15th & JFK Boulevard >when police officers asked them to move. > Words were exchanged and a few seconds later, Michael Africa was in the >police wagon. Once that happened, Pam and Ramona Africa began ordering MOVE >members to surround the wagon. > >As I stood next to Pam, I felt the pain and frustration of the MOVE >organization and I remembered 1978 when nine members of the group were >arrested and jailed for the murder of James Ramp, a Philadelphia police >officer. Ramp was shot and killed during a shootout at the group's Powelton >Village compound. On that day, young Michael was still in his mother's >womb. He was born in jail. > Today, Michael's mother, Debbie Africa, and his father, Mike Africa, are >serving 30- to 100-year prison sentences for the officer's murder. > Every chance he gets, Michael Africa visits his father at Graterford >Prison and his mother at Cambridge Springs Prison. "Nothing but the >teaching of John Africa [founder of the MOVE organization] was going through >my brain," said Michael as he described his lonely ordeal inside the police >wagon. "that's what got me out of the police wagon and that's what has me >alive today. Because on Aug. 8, 1978, my mother was eight months pregnant >with me and I survived 10,000 rounds of bullets, grenades, fire and water >that was being sprayed on us. I almost drowned, I almost got shot through >my mother's stomach and I was almost blown to bits by grenades." > >As I stood with other reporters listening to the demands of Pam Africa, I >knew Michael Africa would emerge from that police van. I knew he was going >to jump from that police wagon and start cussing and acting nasty. And he >did. > Michael Africa's behavior was worse than a street hoodlum. He used >profanity that was ungodly and disrespectful. I'm surprised that the police >didn't put the cuffs back on him and charge him with harassment and >terroristic threats. > Since the 1970s, MOVE members have demonstrated a real hatred towards the >police, and they have gotten locked up for it. In courtrooms while trying >to defend Mumia Abu-Jamal, MOVE members demonstrated the same kind of >rudeness. > And because of that behavior, judges have been quick to imprison them. >There comes a time when one has to recognize how ignorance destroys. > MOVE has no respect for the law and the law has no respect for them. >Sooner or later, the MOVE organization has to recognize this problem and do >something about it. > If they don't, the MOVE organization will never score in their fight for >justice. > > >TPI Metro PA is published in Philadelphia by Transit Publications Inc. Metro >PA five days a week. It is distributed free throughout the SEPTA transit >system. Metro is located at 100 South Broad Street, Suite 1210, >Philadelphia, PA 19110. >Phone 215-717-2600 Fax 215-717-2626 >Publisher: Dave Munch >Editor-in-chief: Mary Ellen Bornak > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >below is a response to Kingcade's article.... > >if you want to respond, send a response NO MORE THAN 120 words (that's THEIR >rule) to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >In response to Napolean Kingcade's column "MOVE must learn ignorance >destroys", I must point out that as a journalist who videotaped the >entire incident of Mike Africa's arrest, I know that Kingcade blatantly lied >about Mike's behavior when he wrote, "I knew he was going to jump from >that police wagon and start cussing and acting nasty. And he did." In >fact, when Mike came out, he stated, "We in the MOVE organization do not >cause trouble, we put out information. And if you cops can't handle it, >then that is on you." > >Having done extensive research on MOVE, I have found the media has >consistently fabricated information about them. Kingcade's ignorance >may not destroy, but it is shoddy journalism. > >Jason Corwin >Philadelphia, PA > >Knowledge is Power! >Elimination of the exploitation of man by man >http://www.egroups.com/group/pttp/ >POWER TO THE PEOPLE! > >Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Change Delivery Options: >http://www.egroups.com/mygroups > > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. 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