On a Move
Mature
Audio only

On a Move

Philadelphia’s Notorious Bombing and a Native Son’s Lifelong Battle for JusticeBy Mike Africa Jr.Narrated by Mike Africa Jr.
Length10h 6m

About this audiobook

Read by author Mike Africa Jr., who brings this powerful story to life. The incredible story of MOVE, the revolutionary Black civil liberties group that Philadelphia police bombed in 1985, killing 11 civilians—by one of the few people born into the organization, raised during the bombing's tumultuous aftermath, and entrusted with repairing what was left of his family. "As necessary and powerful as it is captivating." – Michael Harriot, New York Times bestselling author of Black AF History "Searing and urgent." – Bakari Sellers, New York Times bestselling author of My Vanishing Country and The Moment Before police dropped a bomb on a residential neighborhood on May 13, 1985, few people outside Philadelphia were aware that a Black-led civil liberties organization had taken root there. Founded in 1972 by a charismatic ideologue called John Africa, MOVE’s mission was to protect all forms of life from systemic oppression. They drew their ideology from the Black Panther Party and pre-dated animal and environmental rights groups like PETA and Earth First. MOVE emerged in an era when Black Philadelphians suffered under devastating policies brought by the long, doomed war in Vietnam, Mayor Frank Rizzo’s overtly racist police surveillance, and, eventually, President Ronald Reagan's War on Drugs. MOVE members lived together in a collection of West Philadelphia row houses and took the surname Africa out of admiration for the group's founder. But in MOVE's lifestyle, city officials saw threats to their status quo. Their bombing of MOVE homes shocked the nation and made international news. Eleven people were killed, including five children. And the City of Brotherly Love became known as the City That Bombed Itself. Among the children most affected by the bombing was Mike Africa Jr. Born in jail following a police attack on MOVE that led to his parents’ decades-long incarcerations, Mike was six years old and living with his grandmother when MOVE was bombed. In the ensuing years, Mike sought purpose in the ashes left behind. He began learning about the law as a teenager and became adept at speaking and inspiring public support with the help of other MOVE members. In 2018, at age 40, he finally succeeded in getting his parents released from prison. On a Move is one of the most unimaginable stories of injustice and resilience in recent American history. But it is not only one of tragedy. It is about coming-of-age for a young activist, the strong ties of family, and, against all odds, learning how to take indignities on the chin and to work within the very system that created them. At once a harrowing personal account and an impassioned examination of racism and police violence, On a Move testifies to the power of love and hope, in the face of astonishing wrongdoing.

Audiobook details

GenreBiography and Memoir, Psychology, Self-Help
Length10 hrs 6 mins
Narrated byMike Africa Jr.
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateAug 6, 2024
LanguageEnglish

You may also like

Other Words for Home
Other Words for HomeJasmine Warga3h 50m$20 · $0.00
Efren Divided
Efren DividedErnesto Cisneros4h 33m$20 · $0.00
Black Detroit
Black DetroitHerb Boyd10h 23m$29 · $0.00
BREAKING THE CHAINS – The Essential & Powerful Narratives that Shook the Roots of Slavery (17 Books in One Volume)
BREAKING THE CHAINS – The Essential & Powerful Narratives that Shook the Roots of Slavery (17 Books in One Volume)Harriet Beecher Stowe, Louis Hughes, William Still, Nat Turner, Olaudah Equiano, Sojourner Truth, Mary Prince, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Elizabeth Keckley, Solomon Northup, Josiah Henson, Ellen Craft, William Craft, Sarah H. Bradford, Harriet Jacobs, Jacob D. Green, Willie Lynch133h 33m$2 · $0.00
Voice of Rebellion
Voice of RebellionRoberta Staley8h 44m$20 · $0.00
Lion of the Sky
Lion of the SkyRitu Hemnani4h 22m$20 · $0.00
Lost at Sea
Lost at SeaJoe Kloc6h 51m$24 · $0.00
Roger Davis, Loyalist
Roger Davis, LoyalistFrank Baird3h 9m$2 · $0.00
The Bloody Country
The Bloody CountryJames Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier4h 27m$20
Letters from Port Royal
Letters from Port RoyalVarious9h 57m$1 · $0.00
Grounded
GroundedJon Tester12h 34m$33 · $0.00
An Amerikan Family
An Amerikan FamilySanti Elijah Holley11h 48m$29 · $0.00
90 Miles to Havana
90 Miles to HavanaEnrique Flores-Galbis6h 8m$20
The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Gustavus Vassa the African
The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Gustavus Vassa the AfricanOlaudah Equiano8h 12m$1 · $0.00
The Book Woman's Daughter
The Book Woman's DaughterKim Michele Richardson10h 30m$20
The Lightless Sky
The Lightless SkyGulwali Passarlay11h 44m$29 · $0.00
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One Volume
Frederick Douglass: All 3 Memoirs in One VolumeFrederick Douglass42h 37m$2 · $0.00
The Twenty-One
The Twenty-OneElizabeth Rusch8h 49m$29 · $0.00
A Life in Chains
A Life in ChainsMark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lydia Maria Child, James Weldon Johnson, William Wells Brown, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Harriet E. Wilson, Charles W. Chesnutt, Harriet Jacobs335h 15m$2 · $0.00
Bea and the New Deal Horse
Bea and the New Deal HorseL. M. Elliott7h 40m$26 · $0.00