Philadelphia, PA – The MOVE Organization announced the passing of Delbert Orr Africa, MOVE 9 member, on Monday, June 15.
He was among nine MOVE members who were convicted of 3rd degree murder after the Aug. 8, 1978 police attack on the MOVE house in Powelton that resulted in the death of a police officer James Ramp despite the widely held belief that he was shot by police in a case of “friendly fire.”
Following the 1978 standoff, police on May 13, 1985 dropped a bomb on the roof of MOVE’s compound on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia, resulting in an inferno that killed six adults and five children who were inside the house and destroyed more than 60 homes, the Philadelpha Inquirer reported.
Before coming to Philadelphia and joining MOVE, Africa was a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense along with Fred Hampton, Sr., chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers, who was brutally assassinated by Chicago Police in 1969.
“After 41 years, our brother Delbert Africa finally came home from prison Jan. 18,” said Pam Africa, MOVE member and spokesperson for the International Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal.
