“In Memory of May 13th.”
In a matter of hours, the calendar will ring in May 13th, and it will mark the 35th year since the massacre on Mother’s Day, 1985, when police armed with military weapons bombed a house in Southwest Philadelphia known by neighbors as the MOVE house. In the smoldering embers of the aftermath, 11 men, women, and children would be dead, martyrs of the MOVE organization.
The only person to be criminally prosecuted for this catastrophe would be Ramona Africa, who barely escaped dying in the house, her arms permanently scarred by the red [inaudible] of fire that bit her as she left the building, only to enter prison for the next 7 years. The bombers, the cops? They got pay raises, promotions, and pensions for bombing a home and the burning of over 60 houses.
In a matter of hours, the city’s first Black mayor, Wilson Goode, now a preacher, will apologize and ask his city to do the same. The city’s once-DA, Eddie Rendell, now protests the long draconian sentences that MOVE members were given, despite the fact that, as governor, he was fully empowered to reduce their sentences during his 8 year stint, and did nothing.
The carnage of May 13th, 1985 wasn’t just another Philadelphia story. It flashed across the nation, and leaped literally around the world to tell the story of carnage everywhere in the world.
Right-wing repressive forces and figures like former LAPD Chief Daryl Gates, hailed the action, calling Goode his hero, and it ushered in an era of repression that was enshrined in the phenomenon of mass incarceration. With today millions under lock and key, that era, that energy, need to be repudiated once and for all.
From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
[Sound of prison door clanking open.]
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
[Sound of prison door slamming shut.]
![Prison Radio is sharing an abbreviated version of a press release covering recent racist incidents at SCI Rockview in PA and the organizing to demand accountability. We are reaching out to people incarcerated at Rockview as well as recently transferred folks, inviting them to call, in hopes of hearing commentaries from them.
Benner Township, PA.-
On November 24th, 2023, imprisoned people at SCI Rockview found two nooses hanging in the CO’s office, displayed visibly for many prisoners to see. When the prisoners asked the staff why the nooses were hung, they were told it was a joke.
By December 4th, prisoners filed a grievance to document what they saw, noting that the hanging of the nooses was “unethical, racially motivated, hateful, [a] deliberate debasement of black inmates" and “unsafe for inmates, staff, [and] the whole prison in general.” In the grievance, they demanded that Sgt. Mosser and CO Richard be fired and investigated for a hate crime, and for CO Kirchner to get therapy. Captain Andrews, the head of security, denied the grievance.
The sergeant and COs are still working in the prison to this day, with no repercussions...
As of March 10th, prisoners have reached out to Pennsylvania officials at the Dept. of Corrections in a letter campaign, sending 100 copies of the grievance. Copies of the letter also were mailed to Governor Shapiro, Senator Fetterman, Senator Street, and various advocacy groups. The demands for relief in the original grievance have now become the platform of demands for this campaign. About 20 of the 100 letters were withheld by the prison.
Activists on the outside are joining forces with prisoners to elevate their demands, flooding the phone lines of DOC offices, assisting with outreach to media, and circulating the stories of prisoners who have found unity in opposition to the facility's virulent institutional racism.
In any other workplace, hanging a noose would be grounds for immediate termination. However, Nicki Paul, the superintendent's assistant and "grievance coordinator" informed the public that they self-investigated their staff and found they did nothing wrong.
Read the full article at i
https://conta.cc/4ayDxlB](https://www.prisonradio.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)