Remembering MOVE on film and in life. How do we remember MOVE? Well, it depends on how we met them, or first learned about them. By that I mean, what form of media did you consume to learn about MOVE? If you read local papers at the time, you probably detested MOVE. For the papers did their level best to dehumanize MOVE, and in fact, to demonize them.
But if you viewed the film MOVE: Confrontation in Philadelphia, I bet you had a more nuanced and perhaps more positive point of view. For the film allowed MOVE people to speak their own minds. And once it got banned by Temple University, I resolved to liberate it. And let the people of the city see it in its entirety.
And when people, regular people, saw the film, it blew them away. For here were MOVE people, not just in brief sound bites, but in extended discussions, giving their ideas, insights, and arguments. In a word, the film humanized MOVE. The film broke through the demonization imposed by the local press and helped build support for the MOVE organization and their fight for freedom.
With love, not fear. This is Mumia Abu Jamal.
