Essential Dissent - Mike Africa Jr. - On a Move
This episode is “On A Move,” a talk by Mike Africa, Jr, given at Burning Books in Buffalo, NY on Oct. 22, 2025.
Mike Africa Jr.’s 2024 book, “On a Move: Philadelphia's Notorious Bombing and a Native Son's Lifelong Battle for Justice”, is the story of MOVE, the revolutionary Black civil liberties group that Philadelphia police bombed in 1985, killing 11 civilians, including five children.
Mike Africa Jr. was born into the organization, raised during the bombing's tumultuous aftermath, and later entrusted with repairing what was left of his family.
Founded in 1972 by a charismatic ideologue named John Africa, MOVE's mission was to protect all forms of life from systemic oppression.
MOVE members lived together in a collection of West Philadelphia row houses, and took the surname Africa out of admiration for the group's founder.
But in MOVE's lifestyle, city officials saw threats to their status quo. Their bombing of MOVE homes shocked the nation and made international news.
Mike Africa Jr., born in jail, was six years old and living with his grandmother when MOVE was bombed. In the ensuing years he sought purpose in the ashes left behind.
In 2018, with the help of other MOVE members, he finally succeeded in getting his parents released from prison after they had spent 40 years behind bars.
Burning Books is a radical bookstore in Buffalo, NY, specializing in activism, social justice, and liberation struggles.