On May 13, 1985, the City of Philadelphia carried out one of the most shocking acts of state violence in modern American history. Nearly 500 police officers surrounded a rowhouse on Osage Avenue occupied by members of MOVE, a Black liberation and back-to-nature organization founded by John Africa (Vincent Leaphart). After a prolonged siege and an exchange of gunfire, police dropped an explosive device from a helicopter onto the home, igniting a fire that officials allowed to burn. The flames spread across the block, destroying 61 homes and leaving an entire Black neighborhood in ashes. Eleven people were killed, including five children. No city officials or police leaders went to prison. This episode honors the victims by name, breaks down what MOVE truly was, exposes how Black empowerment groups were treated as enemies of the state while white extremist violence was tolerated, and forces the listener to confront a reality America still struggles to admit: sometimes the government doesn’t protect its people.

City of Philadelphia. Final Report of the Independent Investigation into the City of Philadelphia’s Possession of Human Remains of Victims of the 1985 MOVE Bombing. 9 June 2022. City of Philadelphia, https://www.phila.gov/documents/independent-report-on-the-history-and-handling-of-move-victims-remains/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

Fernandez, Bob. The MOVE Bombing. Temple University Press, 2019.

Goode, Wilson, and Randall M. Miller. 84 W. Osage Avenue: The MOVE Crisis in Philadelphia. Temple University Press, 2013.

Osder, Jason, director. Let the Fire Burn. Zeitgeist Films, 2013.

Let the Fire Burn. Independent Lens, PBS, https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/let-the-fire-burn/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.