40 Years Later: Why the MOVE Bombing Still Matters
Updated July 31, 2025
Forty years ago this May, Philadelphia police dropped a military-grade bomb on a rowhouse in West Philly and let the fire burn. The target was MOVE, a radical Black-liberation collective; the result was an inferno that killed 11 people (five of them children) and leveled 61 homes, leaving roughly 250 neighbors homeless. No city officials were criminally charged in the MOVE Bombing, but the scars never healed.
In 2020 the City Council issued a formal apology and created an annual MOVE Remembrance Day on May 13. In 2025, thousands paused at 5:27 p.m.—the exact moment the bomb fell—to mark the 40-year anniversary. Meanwhile Penn Museum this April settled a lawsuit over its decades-long possession of victims’ remains.
As America again debates police militarization and state violence in 2025, the MOVE bombing remains a chilling case study in how far official power can go—and how long it takes to confront the truth.
| Date | Location | Casualties | Property Loss | Civil Judgments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13 1985 | 6221 Osage Ave, Philadelphia | 11 killed (5 children) | 61 houses destroyed; ~250 residents displaced | $1.5 M family settlement (1996); Penn & city settlements 2021–25 |
Related reads on The Hip Hop Democrat:
- Dylann Roof and America’s struggle with white supremacy
- Supreme Court rulings that reshape civil-rights battles
- Freddie Gray and the long road to police accountability
What’s Changed Since We First Covered This in 2010
- Official Apology (2020) — Philadelphia City Council formally apologized and established an annual day of reflection.
- Remembrance Day (2025) — First city-backed commemoration held at 5:27 p.m., the moment of detonation.
- Remains Controversy Resolved — Penn Museum settled with the Africa family over decades-long retention of victims’ bones.
- Policy Reforms — Philadelphia banned explosives in policing and launched a review of militarized tactics (2021–23).
May 13th, 1985 Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on to a small Philadelphia community located on Osage Avanue. The result, 11 people killed including 5 childern, two blocks of homes destroyed, and over $50 Million dollars in losses. The disatster still continues to haunt the residents of that community til this day.
The MOVE Organization is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded by leader John Africa. MOVE was described by CNN as “a loose-knit, mostly black group whose members all adopted the surname Africa, advocated a “back-to-nature” lifestyle and preached against technology
Members of the militant group moved into one of the middle-class row houses on Osage Ave in 1981. 3 years after a shootout between the the group and the police, which left one officer dead and led to the arrest of nine MOVE members. Acording to the Associated Press soon after moving the organization turned their house into a fortified compund, with a bunker on the roof, and wood slats over the windows, and loud speakers whiched blared obscene rants against the authorities.
Neighbors and other members of the community filed complaint after complaint to no avail, until finally police obtained arrest and search warrants stating the group’s house contained illegal weapons and guns. On May 12 the authorities evacuated the block explaining that there would be police action teh following day, and had the people bring ONE change of clothes. The next day May 13th after being refused entry to serve warrants an hour long seige began with the police using water cannons, tear gas and bullets, until a state police helicopter droped a bomb on the compound starting a gas fueled fire killing 11 MOVE members and obliterating two blocks of homes. Only two members of the organization survived the blast.
I find it amazing how incidents like this are so easily lost and forgotten, and how the victims are never truly given proper closure. To this day after over $43 Million dollars in renovations, repairs, and redevelopment, two blocks of boarded up, mostly abandoned properties exists in this neighborhood. Eight of the original homeowners refused to accept a $150,000 buyout and still live on the block in poor conditions. The two surviving members of MOVE and familes were issued $5.5 Million from the city for damages.
