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obituary

Phil Africa, New York Times Obituary

Phil Africa, of Black-Liberation Group Move, Long in Prison, Dies at 59

By SAM ROBERTS, JAN. 14, 2015

Dick Gregory and Phil Africa
Dick Gregory and Phil Africa Speak, 1978

Phil Africa, a high-ranking member of the Philadelphia-based black-liberation group Move, who was serving a 30- to 100-year sentence in the 1978 fatal shooting of a police officer, died on Saturday, January 10th, at the state prison in Dallas, Pa., near Wilkes-Barre. He was 59.

A prison spokeswoman, Robin Lucas, attributed the death to unspecified natural causes.

Move is best known for the 24-hour siege at one of its houses in Philadelphia in 1985 that ended when the state police dropped a bomb, touching off a fire — the worst in the city’s history — that left 11 people dead and destroyed more than 60 homes. Phil Africa was in prison at the time.

Born William Phillips on Jan. 1, 1956, he adopted the surname Africa, as did the other eight defendants in his case, which stemmed from an earlier effort to oust Move from its West Philadelphia headquarters.

At that time, the administration of Mayor Frank L. Rizzo demanded that the building be vacated because of sanitary and building code violations. Members of the group responded by arming themselves and transforming the building into a fortress. Phil Africa was convicted of third-degree murder in a shootout that followed months of conflict.

In addition to the officer who was fatally shot, James Ramp, four officers and five firefighters were injured.

“Rehabilitation in this case would be absurd,” Judge Edwin S. Malmed of the Court of Common Pleas declared in passing sentence in 1981. “Anyone not revolted by the events of that day just doesn’t have a sound mind.”

Ramona Africa, a spokeswoman for Move, said on its website that Mr. Africa was the second of the nine defendants to die in prison, and described his death as suspicious.

“This is another example of how the system hates Move and will do anything to stop Move,” she said, adding, “Phil was a father figure to many.”

Ms. Lucas, the prison spokeswoman, said Mr. Africa had been in the prison infirmary for about a week.

Information on his survivors was not available.

Filed Under: news, philadelphia Tagged With: Dick Gregory, New York Times, obituary, Phil Africa

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All MOVE members freed from prison! LLJA!

Debbie Sims Africa, June 2018

Mike Africa Sr, October 2018

Janine Phillips Africa

Janet Holloway Africa, May 2019

Eddie Goodman Africa, June 2019

Delbert Orr Africa, January 2020

Chuck Sims Africa February 2020

And, we always remember the two MOVE members who died suspiciously in prison:

Merle Africa, March 1998
Phil Africa, January 2015

42 years after the Aug. 8, 1978 confrontation in Philadelphia, FINALLY all of the “MOVE 9” prisoners are out of prison!

Also, check out: move9parole.blogspot.com for more information.

The MOVE family was bombed in an attempt to stop their work to free all Life.  They remain steadfast. Long Live John Africa!

Life

All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy and strong, life must have clean air, clear water and pure food. If deprived of these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, ‘die’. - John Africa

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