The repression of MOVE in Philadelphia (1970s-1980s) and what it says about America

•The aim of this course is to illuminate a largely forgotten American tragedy, and what it reveals about the U.S. On May 13th 1985, the Philadelphia police, with the help of the FBI, dropped a bomb on a house occupied by a radical, overwhelmingly African-American movement known as MOVE. This took place in 6221 Osage avenue, in Cobbs Creek, a West-Philly African-American neighbourhood. In the process, some 11 people died, including 5 children. After police instructions to 'let the fire burn', some 60 homes were completely destroyed, leaving some 250 people homeless. The course is about this, mobilising archives at Temple University archives and City Archives in Philadelphia, as well as interviews on the ground, some 40 years after the events.
•This course has been made possible thanks to the massive help and support by Linn Washington, a senior African-American journalist who has covered MOVE since 1975.
The aim of this course is to illuminate a largely forgotten American tragedy, and what it reveals about the U.S. On May 13th 1985, the Philadelphia police, with the help of the FBI, dropped a bomb on a house occupied by a radical, overwhelmingly African-American movement known as MOVE. This took place in 6221 Osage avenue, in Cobbs Creek, a West-Philly African-American neighbourhood. In the process, some 11 people died, including 5 children. After police instructions to 'let the fire burn', some 60 homes were completely destroyed, leaving some 250 people homeless. The course is about this, mobilising archives at Temple University archives and City Archives in Philadelphia, as well as interviews on the ground, some 40 years after the events.
This course has been made possible thanks to the massive help and support by Linn Washington, a senior African-American journalist who has covered MOVE since 1975, and is professor of journalism at Temple University (Philadelphia).