THE ADULTS

John Africa (Vincent Leaphart)

Age: 50
Born: 1931
Died: May 13, 1985

Vincent Leaphart founded MOVE in the early 1970s, taking the name John Africa to signify his philosophy of Black liberation and return to natural living. He was a Korean War veteran who came back from war convinced that industrial society was destroying life itself.

People who knew John Africa before MOVE described him as charismatic, intense, uncompromising. He built a philosophy around absolute rejection of “the System”—government, technology, processed food, modern medicine, all of it. He gathered followers who were willing to live by those principles completely.

He was also, by all accounts, a man who created confrontation. MOVE’s tactics—loudspeakers at all hours, armed presence on roofs, refusal to compromise—brought conflict with neighbors and police. After the 1978 confrontation that left Officer Ramp dead and the MOVE 9 imprisoned, John Africa became even more militant.

By May 1985, John Africa knew the city wanted him dead or gone. He chose to stay. He kept the children there. Whatever his principles, whatever his beliefs, that choice led to their deaths too.

John Africa died in the bombing he likely knew was coming. He was 50 years old. He left behind a philosophy some still follow, an organization that still exists, and five dead children who never got to choose whether they believed in what he taught.

Rhonda Harris Africa

Age: 29
Born: 1956
Died: May 13, 1985

Rhonda was twenty-nine years old. She’d joined MOVE as a young woman, committed to its principles, willing to live communally and confrontationally. She’d survived the 1978 confrontation. She’d watched friends go to prison. She’d chosen to stay.

Details about individual MOVE members’ personal lives are sparse—the organization emphasized collective identity over individual stories. But we know Rhonda was there on May 13. We know she was twenty-nine. We know she died in the fire.

Twenty-nine years old. She should have had decades ahead. She should have had choices. She got a police operation that treated her life as collateral damage.

Theresa Brooks Africa

Age: 25
Born: 1960
Died: May 13, 1985

Theresa was twenty-five. Young enough to still be figuring out who she was, what she believed, what life she wanted to build. She’d committed to MOVE, committed to a lifestyle that put her in direct confrontation with city authorities.

She was in that house on May 13. She was there when the bomb dropped. She was there when the fire started. She was there when firefighters were ordered to let it burn.

She was twenty-five years old when her city killed her.

Frank James Africa

Age: 25
Born: 1960
Died: May 13, 1985

Frank was also twenty-five. He’d grown up in Philadelphia, watched the city change, watched tensions rise, chose to join MOVE and commit to its principles. He was there on Osage Avenue because he believed in something worth defending.

Whether you agree with what he believed or not, he was a citizen. He was a human being. He was twenty-five years old.

Philadelphia dropped a bomb on him without trial, without charges, without due process. That’s not law enforcement. That’s execution.

Conrad Hampton Africa

Age: 26
Born: 1959
Died: May 13, 1985

Conrad was twenty-six. His estate, along with John Africa’s and with survivor Ramona Africa, would later sue the city in federal court. In 1996, a jury would find the city liable for constitutional violations and award damages.

$500,000 for Conrad’s life. The city paid it. No individual official paid anything. Conrad’s death was worth half a million dollars in taxpayer money and zero days of prison time for anyone responsible.

He was twenty-six years old.

Raymond Foster Africa

Age: 32
Born: 1953
Died: May 13, 1985

Raymond was the oldest of the adults besides John Africa. At thirty-two, he’d been with MOVE through its early years, through the escalating confrontations, through the 1978 standoff, through the imprisonment of the MOVE 9.

He was there on Osage Avenue that morning. He was there that afternoon when thousands of rounds were fired. He was there that evening when the bomb dropped.

He died in the fire that officials let burn.

Raymond Africa was thirty-two years old. He should have had half a life ahead of him.