When I was eleven years old, four little girls died in a church bombing in my hometown of Birmingham. Their names were Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair. I learned their names before I learned that history could lie, before I learned that officials could escape justice, before I learned that some children’s lives were deemed expendable.

I learned their names. I’ve never forgotten them.

On May 13, 1985, five more children died when officials dropped a bomb. Their names were Tree, Delisha, Netta, Little Phil, and Tomaso. Six adults died with them.

This is who they were. This is what was taken. This is what “unconscionable” actually means.

THE CHILDREN

Katricia “Tree” Dotson Africa

Age: 14
Born: 1971
Died: May 13, 1985

Tree was the oldest of the children. At fourteen, she was navigating that space between childhood and adulthood—old enough to understand the ideology her family believed in, young enough to deserve a chance to decide for herself.

Friends and family members described her as thoughtful, serious about MOVE’s principles, protective of younger children in the house. She had lived through the 1978 confrontation as a child. She’d watched nine of her family members get sentenced to decades in prison. She’d seen police surround her home again.

She was fourteen years old when her government dropped a bomb on her.

In 2021—thirty-six years after her death—Tree’s remains were discovered in Princeton University’s collections, where they’d been used in forensic anthropology courses without her family’s knowledge or consent. Even in death, even as a child, she wasn’t granted basic dignity.

Tree Africa should have turned 54 this year. She might have had children, maybe grandchildren. She might have stayed in MOVE or left. She might have become anything. We’ll never know.

Philadelphia took that from her. Princeton disrespected what remained.

She was fourteen years old.

Delisha Orr Africa

Age: 13
Born: 1972
Died: May 13, 1985

Delisha was thirteen. Think about thirteen. Think about eighth grade, or starting high school, or figuring out who you are, or testing boundaries, or dreaming about the future.

Delisha never got that. She got a police operation that treated her like an acceptable casualty. She got officials who knew she was in that house and dropped the bomb anyway.

Like Tree, Delisha’s remains ended up at Penn Museum, then Princeton University. For thirty-six years, her body was studied, photographed, shown to thousands of students in online courses. Her family didn’t know. No one asked.

Professor Janet Monge featured Delisha’s remains in a Coursera course called “Real Bones: Adventures in Forensic Anthropology.” Adventure. As if a bombing victim’s bones are educational entertainment. As if a thirteen-year-old child’s death is curriculum material.

When the scandal broke in 2021, Monge resigned. No criminal charges. Same pattern.

Delisha Africa should have turned 53 this year. Should have had a life. Should have been allowed to rest in peace. Got neither.

She was thirteen years old.

Netta Africa

Age: 12
Born: 1973
Died: May 13, 1985

Twelve years old. Sixth or seventh grade. Still playing, still learning, still forming the person she’d become.

What we know about Netta is mostly what we know about all the children: they were in that house, officials knew they were in that house, and officials decided their lives were less important than “finishing the job.”

Witnesses at the scene reported seeing children in windows. Police radio traffic acknowledged children present. Mayor Goode knew. Commissioner Sambor knew. Fire Commissioner Richmond knew.

They proceeded anyway.

The Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission later noted that the presence of children “should have been a decisive factor in any decision-making.” Should have been. Wasn’t.

Netta Africa should have turned 52 this year. We don’t know what she would have become. We know what she was: a twelve-year-old child in a house her government bombed.

She was twelve years old.

Little Phil Africa

Age: 13
Born: 1972
Died: May 13, 1985

Little Phil was named for Phil Africa, one of the MOVE 9 imprisoned since 1978. He grew up visiting his namesake in prison, grew up in a home defined by that absence, grew up knowing his family was at war with the city.

He was thirteen when Philadelphia proved his family right about what the city was capable of.

Little Phil was inside the house when police fired more than 10,000 rounds. He was inside when the water cannons flooded the structure. He was inside when the helicopter circled overhead.

He was inside when the bomb dropped.

Witness accounts from survivors and neighbors suggest some people may have tried to flee the burning house. Some witness statements claim police fired on fleeing individuals. We don’t know if Little Phil tried to escape. We don’t know if he was trapped by flames or smoke.

We know he was thirteen. We know officials dropped a bomb on him. We know he burned to death.

Little Phil Africa should have turned 53 this year.

He was thirteen years old.

Tomaso Africa

Age: 9
Born: 1976
Died: May 13, 1985

Nine years old. Third or fourth grade. Still believed in possibility. Still had imagination bigger than reality. Still had that distance from death that children naturally carry.

Until May 13, 1985.

Tomaso was the youngest. Nine years old when a helicopter appeared overhead. Nine years old when the explosion came. Nine years old when the fire started. Nine years old when firefighters were ordered to stand back and let it burn.

Nine years old when smoke and flames and heat took everything from him.

I think about Tomaso a lot. I think about what nine years old feels like. I think about my own grandchildren at nine—their questions, their energy, their absolute conviction that adults will protect them.

Tomaso’s adults couldn’t protect him. His family tried; they failed. His government didn’t try. They killed him.

The Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission found that officials failed to adequately consider the children’s presence. “Adequately consider.” Academic language for: they knew kids were in there and didn’t care enough.

Tomaso Africa should have turned 49 this year. Should have grown up. Should have had a life.

He was nine years old.