MOVE's True Thoughts About the Death of John Gilbride
On Sept 27th 2002, the day that John Gilbride was murdered, MOVE issued the following statement to the press feigning sadness at John's demise:
"THE MOVE ORGANIZATION IS DEEPLY SADDENED AND HURT BY THE BLOW WE RECEIVED THIS MORNING OF THE NEWS THAT JOHN IS GONE. WE'D ASK THIS GOVERNMENT ARE THEY SATISFIED NOW THAT THEY'VE TAKEN JOHN, JUST LIKE THEY TOOK SO MANY OTHERS IN THE PAST, TO PUT SO MUCH PAIN AND HURT ON MOVE, FOR NOTHING EXCEPT THEIR HATE. THEY COULDN'T HURT ALBERTA AND HER SON ANY OTHER WAY SO THEY DELIBERATELY COMMITTED THIS COLD ACT, AND NOW THERE'S NO MORE HOPE FOR JOHN TO BE A GOOD FATHER, OR FOR HIS FAMILY TO BE REUNITED. "
Yet, to the supporters of MOVE, the tone was quite different. Far from being caught in the grip of misery and loss, this was a group that breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Just a month and a half after John's death, the "grieving widow" Alberta Africa, whom spoke of hopes of reconciliation with John, celebrated at her wedding to another MOVE supporter named Gary Wonderlin (a.k.a Sean O'neil).
In letters from MOVE members in prison, the attitude towards John's murder was one of muted, albeit obvious, happiness. Debbie Africa had this to say about John's death in a letter from December of 2oo2, just a couple of months after the murder:
"The situation concerning our sister, Alberta and Zack is resolved. We want to thank any and all of you who helped in the situation with Alberta and Zack....Y'all are the greatest."
In April of last year, Chuck Africa went even further with his candor regarding John's demise:
"Well, anyways it all worked out (the custody case). The folks out there really didn't believe the city would attack. Later I saw the psychology behind what happened & how it was handled. The city just couldn't afford to be aggressive becuz of May 13th and people were too aware of what was going on then? Do you understand what I am saying? It was really unlikely that things would turn out like they did. But, I was so relieved that things worked out. I don't need no more of my family killed, hurt, or imprisoned, as well as my friends and supporters."
Now if MOVE members really believed their own propaganda about John's death, they would never speak of the situation as being one that "worked out." They would be talking about how their "innocent brother John" was stolen from them by "the system." They would treat John as if he was some kind of martyr, like they do other MOVE members who have died in confrontations.
Instead, they speak as if John did not exist, as if he never existed. They treated this man as if he was some kind of failed experiment that must be expunged from their collective memories.
When John was alive, they did everything they could to defame and discredit him. Now, when he is dead, they will do whatever it takes to make people forget him and what happened to him.
Perhaps they do this out of fear. Or maybe they do it to ease the pangs of conscience that rise up in the night and grab at them.
Either way, I, for one, am not ever going to forget what happened to John and how MOVE members really felt about his death.
posted by Tony Allen @ 6:18 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Hmmm... seems to me that Lori and Tony have no qualms with betrayal as much as they attempt to paint MOVE as betraying Gilbride and using that to justify this misguided tirade against MOVE.
Sounds like information that some MOVE members expressed in confidence, is now broadcast on this blog, and most likely given as more fodder to the likes of Smerconish and Abraham, to continue their hateful campaign against Mumia and MOVE. This "insider" knowledge in no way confirms the Allens' assumption that MOVE was happy about Gilbride's murder. It is quite a major reach to draw that conclusion; only those who already despise MOVE would jump to that conclusion.
You think you speak for Philadelphians? You cannot. You have no credibility with anyone who counts. So keep writing your crap in hopes of becoming famous, ass biter.
^^^^Soooo anonymous...WHO counts..please enlighten us
There are a great deal of people who come into contact with MOVE members and supporters everyday. Very few of them have had access to the amount of information and details about both sides of the history of this sect as have Tony and I.
Up until Monica Yant-Kinney began writing articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer about John Gilbride's murder, there was virtually nothing online except what MOVE disclosed about themselves.
I pose this challenge to anyone whom is intereted: goggle the MOVE Organization or John Africa. Aside from a few of Yant-Kinney's articles and us, everything else is MOVE's version of things, Mumia advocates websites, and other pro-MOVE literatures.
So, what is the difference between what we write about and what is on other forums online? Here, you can read the perspective of a few people who have been burned by a dangerous cult and actually address MOVE as being just that.
We talk about what really goes on inside MOVE's HQ. We talk about the living conditions, the meetings, the welfare of the children, the abuse of the animals, the mental degredation of the young girls raised in MOVE, the recruiting tactics, and the many, many inconsistencies of the "facts" that MOVE has put out over the years to attract well-meaninged, progressive people.
The scary concept that I keep hearing regurgitated time and again is that all we are doing is benefiting some abstract "system" and "oppressor."
The people we are benefitting are the young kids coming straight out of the nest for the first time. We are benefitting those who are invovled in great causes not to be side-tracked into the entagling web of a mind-controlling sect.
We are benefitting families that would be ripped apart if one of their loved ones were caught in the wake of one of MOVE's vengence bent confrontations.
There are a lot of people who have children who are in MOVE who are terrified that something will happen to them and their grandchildren. Many of these concerns don't even stem from the violent clashes with police, either, but rather from the mental enslavement.
If the only people who would benefit from what Tony and I are doing were the police, I'd walk away from this endeavor all together. I wouldn't feel what we have gone through to do what we have would be worth it.
The fact that I am still on here says that this is a worth while project and it won't be abandoned.
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