It was late 1973 or ’74, Eddie Africa recalls, when MOVE began their waves of protests against the animal industries; industries, yes, money-making industries. I’d have to admit, I never thought of it that way. I loved the zoo. I took my kids there just as I was taken as a kid, except for the snake house, which creeped me out. I dug it. Lions, tigers, seals, monkeys, yo, yeah, until MOVE. They protested the Philadelphia Zoo, the first zoo in the U.S., established 1874.
They protested at Barnum and Bailey Circus. They protested at Puppy Palace, a popular dog store, at the time. I thought they were absolutely nuts. Who cares about animals? Aren’t they there for human entertainment? MOVE didn’t think so. Eddie Africa said, when he went to the zoo, John Africa told him, if he ever doubted the rightness of their protest to just look into the eyes of the animals. He said he looked into the eyes of a silverback gorilla and saw so much pain it shocked him. Then he noticed the lions, their claws had been clipped off and their teeth were filed down. He looked at eagles and falcons and noticed their tail feathers were clipped so that they couldn’t take off and fly. The life around him looked shocked, sullen, dazed and depressed, and in pain. MOVE began speaking out against such treatment, and some designed and carried signs of protest. “What crime did they commit?” some asked. “Where were their lawyers?” another asked. They protested at the zoo, Barnum and Baileys’ and Puppy Palace, and predictably, the cops were called and they brought with them naked, fierce Philadelphia brutality. MOVE members were beaten, bloody, handcuffed, arrested and hauled into court, usually for disturbing the peace. Whose peace? The animals or humans? From in prison nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
