40 Years a Prisoner (2020) - full transcript

The police will be in there

to drag them out by

the backs of their necks.

There will be a confrontation

this time?

-There'll be no barricade?

-I don't know.

It's up to them whether...

No barricades, Mike.

They're going to be taken

by force if they resist.

Four minutes of gunfire

in West Philadelphia

early this morning,

and it was over.

One Philadelphia

policeman killed.

The members of the

back-to-nature group MOVE

had been routed

from their house.

This was the MOVE house

until a few hours ago.

- The judge said guilty.

- One by one,

handcuffed

and heavily guarded.

"Bring your ass out here,"

Michael Africa shouted

at Judge Edwin Malmed.

"I find you guilty of

murder in the third degree."

"Liar! Liar!"

shouted Delbert Africa.

"How can you find someone

guilty in this illegal court?"

It was the same

with all the others.

All shouting obscenities,

all claiming...

emotions of the MOVE

supporters were the same.

You killed my family!

You killed our babies!

You railroaded our people!

They have at all times

maintained

they were a family

and acted together.

Therefore, I took them

at their own word.

They're a family and have

all acted together,

then they acted in concert.

They acted jointly,

and they should all share

equally in

the punishment imposed.

The judge gave

all nine defendants,

five men and four women,

a minimum of

30 years in prison.

Prosecutors felt

justice was served

with the third-degree

murder conviction.

And he listened to

all of the evidence,

listened to the arguments

of both sides,

and showed that our

system can work.

But do you think that if and

when the policemen leave,

and the things will return

pretty much to normal,

that you could live...

-a normal life in

this neighborhood?

-I don't think so.

There's always

gonna be a memory

of what has happened.

I don't think it'll ever go

back to a normal situation.

Get that death penalty back

and put 'em in

the electric chair

and I'll pull the switch.

That's when I'm sure

they'll not be around.

Tell me where we're going.

Oh, we're going to

Graterford Prison,

SCI Graterford,

they call it.

State Correctional

Institution Graterford.

- I prefer to call it

something else, but...

- What's that?

A st... a state "incorrectional"

institution!

There's no correction

happening there.

Prison is supposed to, like,

uh, correct you

and make you better

and make you a different person.

If it was the answer to crime,

you wouldn't have more of 'em.

How long you been

going to prison?

I've been going to the prison

for about 38 years.

Why have you been going

to prison for 38 years?

I'm going to prison...

been going to prison

for 38 years

because I need to see

my mother and father.

And they are both in prison.

So today, we're going to

the prison that my father's at.

The first time I went to

see my dad that I remember,

I was, I guess, about 4 or 5.

And...

he's asking me

do I know who he is.

And I'm like, nah.

I mean, you know,

I don't know who he is.

No one told me

who we were going to see,

so I didn't know.

So he, you know,

he, he sits me down and,

and he's talking to my sister.

My sister seems to know

who he is, and my cousin,

who was also there,

he seems to know

who he is, too.

And he's asking me

do I know and I say, "No."

And he says,

"Well, my name is Michael."

And I said, okay, like?

I'm looking like,

where, where is this going?

And he says,

"Do you know why both

our names are Michael?"

And I said, "No."

He said, "Because

I'm your father."

And I was like, what?

Like, I got one

of those?

You know.

And I hugged him, you know.

And we linked, we bonded

like that immediately.

I called him Dad right away.

I didn't even...

No one even had to,

like, coach me.

It didn't feel weird,

you know, at all.

And, and, um...

And I hugged him and,

and he hugged me and...

I don't know if he was crying,

but I think he might've been.

You know, my dad

don't really show emotions

like that, you know,

but, um, that's...

that's when I remember

knowing that my dad was,

you know...

and, uh,

and I said to him, I said, um,

I said, "Why-why can't

you come home with us?"

And he said, "I can't

come home with..."

And I said, "Why not?" I said,

"We walked right in the door,

"and when we leave,

we're gonna walk out the door.

Why can't you just

walk out when we walk out?"

And he said, he said,

"I can't."

That's my mama.

Well, that's a picture

of my mama.

That's us at the prison. Look,

that's my teeth in front of me.

When I realized that

my parents were in prison,

I started looking for

pictures of them together.

They got together when

they were real young.

I mean, they went to prison

when they were 21 and 22.

So there weren't even a lot

of even pictures of them.

As an adult,

I don't have any

pictures of my dad

doing anything,

wearing street clothes.

When I learned that they

were actually in prison for

the killing of a cop,

I might've been

12 or 13 years old or whatever.

And I asked my dad, I said,

"Is there anybody in this

prison here for murder?"

He shook his head

and laughed a little bit.

He said, "Yeah.

They got me in here for murder."

And...

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

So why do you keep

fighting to get them out?

Why do I keep fighting

to get them out?

I keep fighting to get

them out because...

I still am connected to 'em.

I'm committed to them

the way that they

were committed to me

which got the situation

the way it was.

This is MOVE and this

is 309 North 33rd.

MOVE is a totally

revolutionary organization,

and the purpose

of MOVE is to

exhibit bias activity for

the purpose of revolution.

Well, I didn't just

join MOVE, you know.

I was raising my child.

I was on welfare and, uh,

it had to be proven to me first,

and they did prove that

they knew what they

was talking about,

and that they were the only

people that could help me.

I was indoctrinated with

a philosophy and a path

that revolution only

meant picking up a gun

and going out

and murdering somebody.

I never thought that

revolution consisted of

revolutionizing myself

to get away from the things

that caused me to wanna revolt.

They talked about living

a natural lifestyle,

um, not eating processed food,

wearing simple clothing,

respecting all forms of life.

They talked about

being disciples of John Africa.

They all took

John Africa's name.

Where is John Africa?

That's organization

business right now.

Teachings of John Africa are

inherent in his disciples.

His works are shown

in the healthiness

of our children,

the sturdiness of our building,

the way we live, alright?

What we're saying is that,

for security reasons,

John Africa's whereabouts

are organization business,

and we will keep it that way.

We're not asking people

to idolize a figure,

a so-called leader as they

have done in the past.

What we are asking people

to do is take a serious look

at their lifestyle as

John Africa has said,

see it for what it is,

and do away with it.

Officer Kressey,

could you characterize

types of meetings

or demonstrations

and what the issues that

were being raised by

the MOVE organization were?

Their main thing

was animal rights,

protesting that all

animals should be free.

Prisoners' rights,

community housing...

people incarcerated.

Was there any indication

that you were aware of that,

uh, the MOVE members

were potentially violent?

Other than being vocal, no, sir.

So this one particular night,

March 28th, 1976.

Our people were

coming home from jail.

We had a big yellow school bus.

I went down there to the House

of Correction, picked them up.

And then when we got back,

there was a big celebration,

and not too long after that,

we was moved on by

a whole bunch of cops.

Cops was swinging their

nightsticks so hard

on people that they

broke 'em in half.

Those sadistic, vicious,

storm trooper cops

took Janine

in their haste, and just

rushed and knocked

her to the ground,

crushing her baby's skull.

The cops wasn't listening to

anything that was being said.

They're just coming at us

with the sticks and I say, like,

my wife, Janine Africa,

was in front of me

as we came out the gate,

and backing up,

trying to protect me,

you know, like,

they just literally,

you know, like,

sticks swinging and everything,

flung her out the way,

you know,

and start coming right

across her to get to me.

The baby died

with a crushed skull caused

by the fall of my wife.

You could see blood

running out the baby's nose.

They carry life that long,

and then just like, you know,

in one, you know,

one scene like that,

to have life destroyed.

They tried to say

the baby never existed.

The baby was only one month old.

She gave birth to him at home,

so of course she did not

have a birth certificate.

We actually called

-all these councilmen

and people out...

-Mm-hmm.

to confirm

and justify and qualify

our position here.

We actually showed them

the baby's body.

It was wrapped and it was dead.

Um, but they would never

give the baby up to have

a autopsy.

The city was in

serious denial mode.

"No, we didn't do it.

We didn't do..."

But, you know,

those denials didn't have

too much weight

because they were also

denying the gross

brutality that was

going on by the police,

either being beatings

or fatal shootings.

Nothing was done about it.

Nothing was

ever done about

anything that happened

to the MOVE organization.

This is what started

everything with MOVE.

We didn't just

jump out the house,

start calling cops

"motherfuckers".

It is impossible to

describe a maniac,

a profane, obscene,

pornographic freak

without using profane words!

Motherfuckers!

I mean, we do call

cops "motherfuckers".

Not to curse.

We don't ever call them

a pig because we got respect

for the pig

because the pig is life.

I believe you said there were

over 100 some-odd arrests.

What was the nature

of those arrests?

What were they for?

There was 193.

Terroristic threats, riot,

aggravated A&B, A&B,

disorderly conduct,

failure to disperse.

We were given a strategy

by MOVE's founder

to take a stand.

We're showing people

now the importance,

the immediacy of getting

rid of this system,

of confronting these judges,

of getting rid of these

crooked, crooked cops,

and the whole

cop system altogether.

It's dangerous to life,

doesn't help life.

It destroys, cripples,

retards, even kills life,

and that's what

we're about now.

The story started to grow

of the neighbors' complaints,

the whole bullhorn thing.

I didn't quite get

why they were doing that

because this didn't sound like

the group that I interviewed.

As long as this system

will impose on us,

by us being non-violent,

we must fight back.

They built this fort-like

structure around their house,

like a parapet.

Walls, two-by-sixes,

two-by-eights,

ducked in the ground

straight up and down

with a walkway on the inside.

Right in the middle of

this urban neighborhood

surrounded by families and kids,

and now there's,

you know, there's

timber and there's

these big metal plates.

The first and second

floor windows

of 309 North 33rd Street

are now boarded up.

There are no longer gonna

be anymore beatings,

no more brutality,

without us defending ourselves.

If you come at us

with your hands,

we'll come back at you

with our hands.

If the police come in

here with their hands,

we'll use our hands.

If they come in here with clubs,

we'll use clubs. But if

they come in here shooting

and killing our women

and children and our men,

we will shoot back

in defense of our lives.

You may call your next witness.

Call, uh,

Louise James and Laverne Sims.

Mrs. James and Mrs. Sims,

if you can turn around, uh...

Can you see

these photographs?

Yes, I can. Yeah.

These were photographs,

as I understand,

that were taken on...

May 20th, 1977, in front of

the Powelton Street house.

I recognize it. Yeah.

Powelton Village.

You recognize it?

- And were those members

of the MOVE organization?

- Yes, they were.

-Were they weapons?

-I don't know.

What did the MOVE members

say on May 20th, '77?

"If you think that this

white racist society

"will shoot down those

white students at

"Kent State,

you think they'll hesitate

"shooting down any

Black, Puerto Rican,

"or Chicano brothers

here in Philadelphia?

"No. How many times did you

"pick up the paper

and read about another

"Puerto Rican, another Mexican,

another Black man

"shot in cold blood

'cause some cop said,

'I thought I saw

a piece of shiny metal.

I thought he'd shoot me.'"

Since you become

mayor in 1972,

more than 150 people

have been

killed by police,

that more than half

of these people

who were killed

were said to be

unarmed at the time.

Isn't this a rather high

incidence of unarmed people

-being killed by policemen

in the line of their duty?

-No, I...

No, I don't think so.

We have to decide who

should be more aggressive,

the police

or the criminal element.

I'm on the side of

the police every time.

If the police department of

Philadelphia was not aggressive,

I would fire

the police commissioner.

More testimony today in

the trial of six homicide cops

charged with beating witnesses.

Warren was shot

once in the head

by Officer Bow as Warren fled

from the police

administration building...

Three off-duty cops

have shot people

who were not armed...

- Officer Robert Flint, now

- Sergeant Flint, chased Craig,

beat him with a nightstick

and shot him to death.

The family was never notified

by police, hearing the news

instead on the radio.

When you cannot reach out

to the officials

and get justice,

when you cannot get justice

from anybody in a city,

what do you do

and where do you go?

Everybody has a saturation point

that they reach sometimes

in their lives when you

just can't take anymore!

The May 20th, 1977,

confrontation jumped off.

I had just came off

from the county prison, um...

I had did a year for

a crime I didn't commit.

The MOVE organization

helped get me out

through the teachings

of John Africa,

and I came home.

And the MOVE members

asked me

did I want to be with them

at the headquarters

on Powelton Avenue,

or did I wanna do things

outside the organization,

outside the headquarters.

And I said I'd rather

be with them inside

of the MOVE headquarters.

And there was this

business of warrants

were issued. I don't

know whether it was 11

or the number...

a large number of warrants

were issued for John Doe Africa,

meaning that all of the persons

on the parapet, on the platform

would be arrested

if they came off.

There's a part of me that

really feels bad for them.

I know that's crazy 'cause

I thought that they were really

harming the city,

and yet they were...

They were kids adrift.

They were kids adrift

who were in a cult and

John Africa

was the cult leader.

My mother actually

was trying to hire

a deprogrammer for me

and all, because...

I'm beginning to look like MOVE.

I'm beginning

to look like MOVE,

you know, because I'm learning

something different.

I'm learning that what

I thought I knew I didn't,

and the people

that, you know,

I thought was about

doing the right thing

and, uh, um, they wasn't.

They wasn't.

You had, um, the cops

that was coming,

and there was this

one highway patrolman.

He would say all kinds of things

about the women and stuff,

trying to force people to come

down and get into fights.

I mean, they were just...

vulgar people.

You got in front of them,

they'd just curse you out.

The girls would get down

and do 50 push-ups

and challenge you to do it.

Which we couldn't do.

They say, "We would

kill every last one of you

"lousy no-good niggers,

"spic motherfuckers,

"white trash before we let

any of your people out."

I mean, they was

talking real nasty.

The kids were all naked,

and the women were...

darn near naked.

And the guys never wore

shirts or anything,

and all the time

mouthing off.

That's all they did, loud.

Loud, I mean,

I put in a pair of...

ear things on. I mean,

you just got tired of

listening to it.

Just saying cr...

stuff over and over.

The radical this and that,

blah, blah, blah.

And they're eating raw food.

And then the rats

and cats and dogs

and all of that sort of thing.

I mean, as soon

as you got home,

you had to take

a shower immediately,

even though you weren't

in the compound with them.

It was just filthy,

absolutely filthy.

These dogs been

picked up just because

they had been rejected

by the society.

We found them homeless,

we found them wandering

the streets, starving.

If we had not begun

to start the process

of getting more people's

eyes on this thing,

I truly believe they

would've been killed.

They would've killed them

without thought or question.

When you say they,

who do you mean?

Police.

The police, the city.

The community was getting

very concerned because

the police presence started

to grow quite a bit,

and the attention that

was starting to get

locally and nationally.

What about the situation

here as it's been

disturbing the residents,

the eyesore,

uh, the commotion

they've caused.

Does that bother you?

Compared to the possibility

of people getting killed,

that doesn't bother me at all.

I mean,

I would hope that eventually

the community could work

out these differences,

but we don't think

that the police

can provide a solution

because their solution

is with weapons.

Now, you just said

the possibility of people

-getting killed

doesn't bother you.

-No, the possi...

-What do you mean?

-You don't believe that people

will be killed over this?

I don't think that

MOVE has any intention

of hurting people

in the neighborhood.

I think the dispute is

between MOVE and the police.

Do you see yourselves as

negotiators, go-betweens?

No, not really.

MOVE does have

a lawyer right now,

and I think he's

playing that role.

What would you like me to say?

I did give one interview

to a fellow

who was doing

a book on conflicts

and conflict resolution.

They use that book

at Carnegie Mellon.

- Really?

- Mm-hmm.

I don't agree

with its philosophy.

I don't think every reso...

every problem can be solved.

I think there are some

problems that are intractable.

Did you think the MOVE

conflict was one of those?

Not when I started.

As I think I said yesterday

that the gulf between

both sides is so wide,

it's very difficult for either

side to trust the other.

My first involvement

with them was

I was court appointed

as standby counsel

to represent one of

the three defendants who were

being charged with

having created a riot

on the seventh floor

of City Hall.

And got, kinda got to know them,

and I was very curious about

their philosophy

to be able to get society

to address what they considered

to be the main ills

of society, which was

technology.

They felt that man

should return, basically,

to a state of nature.

In my mind, it was almost

like the Lockean philosophy

of a state of nature,

and, of course,

it was totally impractical.

I mean, you know, a city

with millions of people,

there wouldn't be any way

that the city could

properly function.

To have somebody

who was educated,

who should be able to

think things through,

not say, "Wait a minute.

This is just impractical.

I, I can't believe this."

To me was a function of

they were a cult.

They were sold a bill of goods

in the sense of their beliefs.

Now, that doesn't make

them bad people per se.

It just means that

they were basing

their behavior on things

that, at base, to me,

just didn't make sense.

And the rub came because

they were really committed

to those things, and they

were willing to die for them.

Debbie Africa,

wearing the dungarees,

is four months pregnant,

but she can still participate

in the regular activity

that make up the bulk

of the MOVE members' day.

When the time comes for

the baby to be born,

it will come wherever

she happens to be,

without a doctor in attendance,

certainly not in a hospital.

Once the whole thing

of who is my mother,

that question came

into my mind, and...

I think at that point,

my grandmother

probably felt like

she had to start

inserting some information.

So, you know, she started

talking about it a little bit.

I was born in

House of Correction

in Philadelphia on State Road.

So, my mother

when she was arrested

on August 8th, 1978,

she was almost due

to give birth to me.

And so when she did

give birth to me,

it was in a prison cell.

Right here.

- So this would've

been her cell?

- Yep.

Nothin' but time.

The first time I actually saw

her was on a prison trip.

And my grandmother

took me to see her.

You know,

I remember thinking like,

hoping that...

I remember hoping

that she looked

the way that I would

want her to look.

When you go into the prison

and you're at the prison,

you see the different people

coming out of the,

out of the prison

into the visiting room.

And the way it was

set up was like

a set of steps that went up

like maybe six or seven steps

that they have to come down

to come into the visiting room.

And when she...

when...

before she came

out of that area,

there was all these other women

that came out before her, right?

Different women just coming out.

Black ones, white ones,

tall ones, shorter ones.

Just different people.

I remember looking at them

thinking, that ain't her.

And then when she came out,

I remember thinking,

"I hope that's her.

I hope that's her."

MOVE is nothing special.

They've gotten away with it

because we're compassionate

and we don't wanna

hurt innocent people,

particularly the children.

We'll do everything we can to

come to a peaceful ending.

But I also wanna tell you,

as an old retired police chief,

that if they fire at

any of our police,

that we will retaliate in kind,

and I can assure you,

they're going to lose.

- The city's tabloid, the

- "Philadelphia Daily News,"

played a role in this

too because they ran

a sort of investigative

story reporting

all the overtime that had been

accumulated as the police

staked out the house

and watched it.

The tone of the "Daily News"

story was that this was a...

a mistake on the part of

the Rizzo administration,

that they had not taken action.

But it had an impact,

and I think

spurred

the confrontation onward.

We're gonna put

the blockade in.

We're gonna shut off

all utilities.

They'll be not

a fly gets through.

- The Pennsylvania

- Supreme Court has upheld

Philadelphia's request to

blockade MOVE's headquarters.

This ends many weeks of legal

maneuvering and allows the city

to starve the group out of

its West Philadelphia house.

For the last six hours or so

since about 6:00 this morning,

MOVE has been cut off

from the rest of the city

by this not-so-familiar,

but I guess it's going to be,

police barricade,

A wooden barricade set up here

to make sure that no water,

no food, no nothing

got through to the MOVE members.

So I guess at this point,

MOVE's back-to-nature philosophy

is really being put to a test.

They're down to the bare

minimum, which is survival.

Then, on the other hand,

there's no telling how long

they can stay inside

that headquarters.

I heard a little while ago

three people come up

to the barricade,

said they lived inside.

The police said,

"Where's your identification?"

They said, "We don't

have any identification."

The police said,

"You're not getting in."

- "1984" has arrived.

- I now know what it's like

to be a white person

in South Africa.

I am surrounded by police.

My friend, Sister Betty

over here, who's a friend,

is not being allowed

into the blockade.

In order to get into your home,

you had to show ID.

And on me, a lot of times,

I had my ID,

I couldn't get in.

My children couldn't get in.

They were saying they

was putting a blockade up

to blockade MOVE in.

But it was actually to

blockade the people out.

There is no way that

a resolution can occur

with constant

police harassment,

with 400 police in

the area, with SWAT teams

sitting up with

high-powered rifles,

looking down on MOVE,

and with the police

currently antagonizing MOVE

by throwing various

kinds of objects at them.

Okay, Diane, thank you. Jack,

there is the possibility...

The cops would throw

cherry pickers,

and throw rocks,

and what this was doing

for me and a lot of people,

the belief that we had

in this government,

was slowly leaving.

People wanted to come and do

what they could about MOVE,

and I wound up opening my

house for these meetings.

My house had white folks in it,

it had Asian folks in it,

it had Black folks in it,

nationalists. I mean,

it had some of

everybody in there.

They were all coming together

to see what they

could do to help.

We wound up having

meetings at a church,

I think it's 35th and Baring

or 36th and Baring.

About 150 people

called for mobilizing

against the city's blockade

of the MOVE headquarters

in Powelton Village.

Most of those at the church

were against the city's action.

People were divided,

pro and con.

I knew I had to use

a lot of the tactics

and strategies we'd used

historically,

since '50s and '60s,

to, um, to engage people.

We literally made

a human chain, two-deep,

and it was, it was...

it resonated.

And it got people's attention.

I believe the mayor's trying

to deny basic human rights

and constitutional

rights to MOVE.

He's starving people.

I don't believe

that's happening

in the United States of America.

People went nuts

because they wanted this

confrontation to end.

So there was this attempt

to try to negotiate

an end to it.

I mean,

the city is really trying.

The mayor has bent backwards

as far as making sure

a whole humanitarian

approach is given.

And it basically rests

with them at this time.

The first demand

was that our people

that are in state

prison be released,

unconditionally,

and brought in a helicopter

with Jimmy Carter.

MOVE's position was we

want these three released

from prison.

The city's position was

well, you gotta clean up

the house or you gotta leave.

It's one or the other.

They kept talking

past each other,

and MOVE never did anything

to clean up the house

that I was aware of.

In the first month,

our water supply did run out.

And we was telling them

that we have no more food

to feed our babies.

The food is only for the nursing

mothers and the babies?

- That's right.

- Not for the adults?

- No, sir.

- But the adults

- may consume it.

That's their problem.

If they wanna deprive

their children of food,

that's for them to decide.

The city can't do nothing

in the face of

some of the things

that were going on

in that house.

There were public health issues.

There was a lot of

other sanitation stuff, uh.

You couldn't do nothing,

but you don't do what

the Philadelphia PD did.

That was crazy.

We had these things.

When I was a kid,

me and my dad,

every so often,

these ideas that we had about

what was gonna happen when

they came home

would change, right?

So, when I was like...

10 years old,

it was always this thing of

he's gonna teach me

how to play basketball.

He's gonna teach me

how to play football.

He's gonna teach me these,

you know, these things that

10-year-olds do, right?

From like when

I was a teenager,

mid teenager to... he's gonna

teach me how to talk to girls,

he's gonna teach me

how to, like, do business

and build... and help

the organization in that way.

And as time went on,

now it was, okay,

you got kids.

You're 20-something.

Right. You're having kids,

I'm gonna help you

raise your kids,

and when we get home,

we'll help you do this

and we'll do this together.

Into the 30s, it was, we'll

build a business together.

And these things would

change every decade,

you'd get these other stories

that these are

the plans that you have

when this day comes.

And, um, now,

we're into the...

you know, um,

I'll take care...

I will take care of my father.

I will make sure that he has

the things that he needs

to live out his life

happy and stress-free,

and, you know,

this is where that's going.

Within the next 10 years,

it'll probably be something like

I'll make sure he has

a good burial plot.

I'll make sure

he has a good, um,

a good memorial service.

I'll make sure that all

the people that he loved

and that loved him

is at his memorial,

and the people

who, who, who didn't

will not get an invitation

'cause I'll tell you one thing

about my father.

If I know anything about him,

I know he do not

mess with people

who talk a bunch of shit

and do nothing.

But that's where we're going.

I mean, what can I say about,

what can I do about that?

Except just keep on pushing.

We got people who were strong,

not just local grassroots

everyday people,

but we built an army

of people in every level.

I mean, the most powerful

people in business.

The most powerful

people in the pulpit,

in education and law.

I pulled in Oscar Gaskins,

who I law clerked for.

People who might not

have an interest in MOVE,

but might have an interest in

the constitutional

questions, right?

And all of this really allowed

us to give us leverage.

The mayor couldn't go

against the forces of, like,

you know, the, the, the large

business interests

that were here in

the city of Philadelphia,

and the large legal

institutions, etc.

Every week,

the support from

the people outside,

all over the world,

and in Philadelphia

intensified

and got so, so big

that, eventually,

the city officials came

to us and asked us

what do we want

to end this confrontation.

And we told them. We said,

"Y'all have our demands.

That our people be

released unconditionally."

All this time,

Rizzo had been saying

that MOVE had

underground tunnels.

They had bombs.

They had all this

high-powered weaponry.

That is what's happening,

and it's happening right now.

Police are inside

MOVE headquarters

in West Philadelphia conducting

an intensive search for weapons.

Don Fair and

the Live Instant Eye

are standing by at the scene

and Don, how is

that search going?

The Philadelphia

Police Department

are going inch by inch

through the MOVE compound

with metal detectors

and with other devices

trying to find any weapons

that might still be inside.

What does the mood

seem to be

down there at MOVE

headquarters right now?

The MOVE members

who are on the porch

seemed to be a little testy,

seemed to be

a little bit upset.

They seemed to be apprehensive

that maybe the police will find

some more weapons.

That's the mood down there,

and right now,

we're just waiting to see

what they come up with.

Well, the search

wound up showing

that there was no

real illegal weapons.

And what they found

in there were weapons

that, for the most part,

were damaged,

firing pins not...

So, it was...

It really was a ruse

in many ways, right?

And a clever one.

There was no tunnels.

There was no bombs.

There was nothing but

the explosive power

of John Africa that had radiated

around the world

for people to see

who MOVE is and who they are.

Do you recognize these people

and the things that they're

holding in their hands?

Exactly, appear to be weapons,

and I don't want anyone

to think that I'm insulting

their intelligence.

You know, you may say

she's got to think we're crazy.

There they are standing there

with weapons,

and she's saying that

they are not weapons,

and I base that on the fact that

they searched

309 and 307.

They went up and down

the walls and everywhere,

from the cellar to the roof,

but what they brought out

were inoperable weapons.

They met our demands except...

that Jimmy Carter didn't

come in a helicopter.

We had also knocked out

an agreement that there'd

be a 90-day truce.

We wanna disengage

these wires and fences.

That's coming down, right?

So for 90 days,

there was a quiet, right?

- Are you glad

that this process is over?

- Uh...

It's not over really.

I'm saying, like, um,

until the city stop

harassing MOVE members,

until like, uh, they stop

the continuing harassment,

then it'll never be over.

And then what happened was

City Solicitor

Sheldon Albert said,

and I think this really

triggered it and rekindled it,

"On the 91st day,

we intend to tear down

those two buildings."

Well, when he said that,

everything came apart.

The community was

enjoying a solid peace.

You filed for

an injunction?

The injunction is only to make

sure that house stays intact,

to prevent anybody from

touching one brick.

From the starvation blockade,

there was some agreements,

some of them written,

some of them

allegedly understood.

So, one of them was that

MOVE would be allowed

to stay in that house

until they were

able to move out.

Rizzo and his crew

contended that

they were supposed to be out

of the house on August the 1st.

That really wasn't a clear

understanding from everybody,

and that August 1st

date of getting out

again led to Rizzo

to do some extralegal actions.

And these restrictions

were put on us by DiBona,

not by the judges

that released us.

And we're saying this

is another reason why

we feel certain that

DiBona is trying

to instigate another

confrontation.

Anything other than terms

of the original agreement

will not be abided by

by MOVE members.

We said that we

had to have time

to find homes for our animals

because we had

a lot of animals,

and they gave us 90 days

at first, and they...

We couldn't just leave our

animals there, so we said

we want an extension. They

would not give us an extension,

which is what led

to them coming out.

I know good and well

that Frank Rizzo,

if he didn't sign off on it,

it wouldn't have happened.

So we were really negotiating

with Frank Rizzo, Mayor Rizzo,

behind the scenes using

these intermediaries.

My dad set tough rules,

and you played the game by

his rules or you didn't play.

There was no free

or open forum, you know.

No. Pop is not gonna...

Boom, you got

knocked down,

you know, and...

Good system.

He was easily agitated,

much like Trump is.

He's easily agitated.

People kinda know

how to get to him, what

buttons to push, right?

So, so just escalate

more and more.

- We saying

we getting rid of Rizzo.

- That's right.

We saying we tired

of that man coming

and taking his racism

and spewing it on Blacks.

We saying we know

that he's racist.

He knows that we're right,

and we know we right.

He know it.

He knows we innocent.

He knows we committed.

- He wanna be racist, we got all

Black members inside of here.

- That's right!

We don't have no whites

inside of here.

And we saying the door

is open 'cause we know he

coming down here to kill.

If he come to our front door,

we know he coming in here

with the intentions to kill

'cause we done told him

if he come inside our house,

he gonna murder

everybody in here.

Not like we wanna die,

but rather than have a man

like Rizzo dictate our lives,

make us unhealthy,

make us sick and kill

any more of our babies,

we'd rather be dead.

'Cause to be free is not to be

so-called living on this level.

It's to be free of

the oppressive power

of a maniac like Rizzo.

What they need is a good bath

and some soap and water

in their mouth,

and I can tell you that...

unequivocally, Hank,

they're going to go

either easy or hard way.

That can be standing up

or laying down.

Every night on TV, Rizzo was

taunting them and they

were taunting Rizzo.

The problem was...

the cops had more firepower.

And now this second

day of August, 1978,

upon consideration

of the then petition

and accompanying affidavits

and upon mention

of Sheldon A. Albert,

City Solicitor,

attorney for the plaintiff

with petitioner,

a rule is hereby granted upon

Janet Holloway, Consuela Dotson,

Janine Africa,

- Charles Sims...

- Talking

about legalized murder!

-Every time you civilized

maniacs murder...

-Merle Austin,

-...shipped Jews in gas ovens,

-Phillip Smith, Delbert Orr,

-you had legal papers!

-Carlos Perez,

Debbie Zelda Sims,

-In the Korean War...

-Michael Davis,

Raymond Chester,

Robert Moses...

...at 12:01 AM,

the police will be in there

to drag them out by

the backs of their necks.

There will be

a confrontation this time.

There'll be no barricade.

I don't know.

It's up to them whether...

No barricades, Mike.

They're going to be taken

by force if they resist.

No question about that.

Children or not.

Do you feel that MOVE has

been treated fairly in this?

Well, I think that they've

been treated

particularly unfairly

in the sense that they

are now on $50,000 bail,

and wherever they may be

found in and around the city,

they're going to be arrested.

The same kind of thing that

had happened to them before

when they got arrested is going

to happen to them this time,

and I think that it was

totally unnecessary.

The press would go

out to the house

with microphones and cameras,

and the MOVE members,

every other word

was the F-bomb.

They were so aggressive

and so violent and so angry.

Nobody sided with them.

That's why you say...

every event takes place in

the context of its time.

Had that happened today,

people would've gone wild.

There were these two forces.

There was MOVE,

and there was Rizzo.

They were complete opposites,

and whatever you wrote,

you were gonna get flak

from the other side.

If either side felt that

we were doing a superior job,

then in fact, we probably would

not be doing a superior job.

Both sides are down on us.

- What are

you trying to accomplish?

- Trying to tell the truth.

I don't think you really ever

put on the media what MOVE

really stands for.

- No one saw any message that

- MOVE was trying to convey.

This was a counter-culture

Philadelphia

hadn't seen before.

It's a different time

and it wasn't received well.

Especially by the Blacks.

They thought they

were an embarrassment.

And many of the Blacks

that I talked to

and socialized with and went

to school with and worked with,

they didn't wanna have

anything to do with MOVE.

So if they're not getting

through to the Blacks,

imagine how they're gonna try

to get through to the whites.

Forget about it.

I don't think it's important

what MOVE really stands for.

If the law says you must

be out of this house,

then you must be

out of this house.

And if the law said

you had to move?

How the hell you gonna spend

your money, your lifetime

worried about owning

and the court gonna get up

and say, "You move"?

I'm telling you that

there are eviction notices

served on people every day.

If you own a home and you

have broken the law...

Y'all gonna get up

and put me out any

kind of way you want?

If you buy a home and you

have broken the law...

-They haven't broken the law.

That's them people's religion.

-Judge says he broke the law.

-Judge tells lies

just like me or you.

-Okay.

People who became part

of MOVE made certain

personal decisions.

They decided to let

their hair grow into dreadlocks.

They decided to look different.

They decided to spout

different philosophies.

They decided to eat

different foods.

They made these decisions.

We're sayin', we're talkin'

about protecting our family.

We don't give a fuck how

many guns they got, man.

We ain't concerned with no guns.

We are armed with truth.

Ain't no way in the world

a gun is gonna stop truth.

Ain't no way in the world a gun

is gonna stop what's right.

They can't stop life.

I don't give a fuck

- how many people they kill.

- When they come in though

and they say they're

going to arrest you,

they start taking you outside,

what do you do in that case?

-We do what's necessary, man.

-Which means what?

-The strategy of John Africa.

-Which means what?

-What's right.

The strategy of John Africa.

-Which means what?

Okay. Do you cite

the strategy of John Africa,

-or do you actually

do something?

-The strategy of John Africa

is the strategy that is right.

The strategy that kept every

last one of us alive last year

during this whole confrontation.

- But they didn't come in

to get you last year.

-They did so.

What do you call a blockade?

What do you call a blockade

where they cut off

our food and water?

What do you call 100 cops

marching down the street

to our very gate with a little

truck to pull down our fence?

If that ain't coming in to

get us, what do you call it?

-Do you have that

around your house?

-What do you think

they been doing

for seven years, man?

Playing chess with us, man?

When my baby was killed, you

call that not coming to get us?

- That's right.

- My question is this.

If a policeman is

standing there,

-do you fight? Do you cite

John Africa's strategy...

-Policeman is standing here now.

- I'm saying...

- The policeman is not

trying to drag you outside.

The policeman is here.

The policeman been here

for seven motherfucking

years, alright?

The policeman was here.

The policeman is here

when my sister's

baby was killed.

The policeman was here

when we was trampled

and beat in front of

judges in courtrooms.

The policeman was here

when we was beat in

the goddamn prison, man.

The policeman was here

when four of my brothers

was beat unconscious

and beat the fuck back

to consciousness,

goddamn it,

in that fucking prison.

The policeman is here,

been here, and ain't gonna leave

unless the fucking people

get the fuck rid of them.

I guess in a minute and a half,

sometimes sound bites

are chosen or other things

are part of stories that

can help mold what

someone thinks.

But they made those decisions,

and I think they were seeking

some kind of end,

or evolution,

maybe is a better word,

of their way of life.

But they wanted

something out of that.

And so...

I think the media was

part of giving it to them.

It's about 12:20 right now.

There's approximately

500 or 600 people

gathered around

MOVE headquarters,

and it seems apparent

that the police

do not wanna move in

as long as the media

and all these people

are present.

It's most likely they'll use

past tactics and come in

when there are

no camera crews

and no people present

to witness what goes on.

The street was just jammed.

It was jammed with reporters

and with neighbors,

and the beginnings

of barricades,

and all sorts of police.

And we just sort of

stood around.

An "Inquirer"

photographer came.

His name was Bill Steinmetz.

And then,

both Bill and I noticed

that the police

seemed to be moving

the media away,

ostensibly for

their own safety.

But if I was a block

to the north,

I was gonna

have trouble seeing

what was going on

at the MOVE house.

It's now probably

3:00 in the morning,

4:00 in the morning,

and I'm not tired.

I mean, adrenaline is

racing by this time,

and I decide

to start knocking

on doors to see

if someone will let me in

so I can look out a window.

They were students in

a second floor apartment,

and they said sure.

Bill and I went into the house,

and found a window

facing Pearl Street,

and sat on the floor

and looked out the window.

And Bill got

his camera stuff ready,

and we just waited

and waited and waited.

- I got a call from

- Louise Africa,

John Africa's sister,

about 4:00, 5:00

in the morning, and said,

"Walt, you gotta come down

here because it's crazy.

"They're bringing in

what looks like tanks.

They got police everywhere,

helmets, etc."

And I tell her,

I said, "Louise,

there's nothing else I can do.

I mean, it's, it's...

"It's over.

These guys have decided

"they're gonna

go after each other.

They're gonna, you know,

have a shootout,

so all I can do is let them

have their shootout."

I had got evicted.

Had to get out, so I had

nowhere to really go, right?

So they were like,

"Well you can

come around here, Dee."

And I remember laying down,

going to lay down with my kids

in one of the rooms. And, uh,

and I heard somebody say,

"They out there."

I'm like, they out there?

Who out there?

By the time we got

down the steps,

when I got down the steps,

I looked out the house,

and it was blocked off.

It was blockaded off

all the way around.

You could see them

all the way around.

And I was like, dag!

What do I do now?

I'm thinking about me.

What I do now?

There were over 600 cops,

heavily armed.

Uzis, hand grenades,

cherry bombs, bulldozers.

Everything that you can have

in wartimes, except the bomb.

- Something told me,

- I better get down there.

It was about 6:00.

I go down,

and my observation is that

they were totally surrounded.

They've let nobody in.

- Is that video tape?

- No, no. I...

- You have

to leave, please.

- Okay, I understand.

They did let me in only

because of the past history.

Commissioner O'Neill

was there, and he wants me

to use a bullhorn to tell them

to come out and surrender.

I said,

"You must be out of your mind.

You gotta be kidding me."

I said,

I'm not asking nobody

to surrender, right?

The bulldozer was to

clear away the fence area,

is that correct?

That is the fence

and the platform, yes, sir.

After they knocked

the barrier down,

we came up with the RAM.

And having penetrated those

barriers and the windows,

what action did

the plan call for

and what action was taken?

Our personnel,

a combination of personnel,

stakeout, and highway...

all volunteers, I might add.

Went into 307

and went through

the building thoroughly,

starting top to bottom

or bottom to top.

We also were able to

get people into 309.

They had surrounded them,

and, um,

so then he finally

called me. He said,

"Walt, go ahead in." Right?

So I went in the house,

and then I started describing.

I said, "MOVE,

"you guys

are surrounded, okay?

"You got six policemen with

sub-Thompson machine guns

standing directed

at the basement."

And the police say, "Walt!

Don't, don't, don't say that!

Don't tell them where we are!"

I said, and you got

them upstairs, right?

So, they're saying,

"They can shoot up

through the floor!"

All I was doing,

I wasn't trying

to give them any data

except other than

here's the situation

that you're facing.

So, let me take

the women out, right?

You guys stay, have the fight,

and let them go.

"No, no!

Tell them to get the fuck

out of our building! No, no!"

They had only one intention,

and that was to kill

the MOVE organization.

While we were in our basement,

you could hear them

drilling a hole in the wall...

in the floor,

the first floor to the basement

to gain access to us.

I could hear them,

while they were doing all this,

saying,

"Kill anything that

moves in here. Anything."

That meant babies, women,

animals, men. Spare nothing.

I can recall being

with Bob Hurst

alongside him, at the side

window I believe it was,

and we were looking

down into the place,

and noted that they had

weapons in the form of rifles.

I was at the window around

the front of the house...

um, with several officers,

think some highway patrol

officers went into the house,

maybe about 15 or 20 of them,

and they came out

pretty quick because,

uh, we heard the shots,

but they were

shooting up through the floor.

Something was

shooting from upstairs

down into the basement

'cause they had a generator.

You could see something

plicking off the generator

like sparks.

Now we see the dogs,

the dogs was over there.

And I remember me

and Delbert running low,

not wanting to get hit.

I'm running,

I'm running right

behind Delbert.

So, we get the dogs,

but by that time, I remember

they stopped shooting.

Then when they stopped shooting,

they started hosing,

putting water down.

And they just poured water.

It was unbelievable the way

they poured water

into that home.

Thought they were gonna

drown them, for God's sake.

Their smart people

in the upper echelon

decided to put water

in the basement

instead of tear gas

because tear gas would

burn the babies' eyes.

Well, water will

drown them, too.

I'm five-foot-six.

They pumped so much

water into that basement

through the window

and through the side,

in our houses,

that I had water up to here.

I had to literally

hold my son up here,

so he wouldn't drown.

I went back one more time.

If they don't come out,

if they don't wanna come out,

this is it. I'm outta here.

And Chuckie Africa and I

got into a cussing match,

right?

He's cursing at me,

I'm cursing at him, right?

And the police are

telling me, "stop! Stop!

You gonna escalate something!

You're not helping!"

I'm not no professional

negotiator, right?

I'm just an old former

street gang guy, right?

So, when I leave out,

I'm standing

looking at the house

in the middle of the street,

and I hear what

sounds like a shot.

Two years ago,

the women went up for parole

at the same time.

Janet and Janine were denied

pretty much right after

the, um, the hearing.

And, my mom,

they had taken awhile.

A month had passed,

six weeks passed,

and they still hadn't

come back with an answer.

The parole agent in the past

had said that she needed

five votes, and she had four.

So, we were thinking

like they were kinda

tug-of-warring, you know,

on that fifth voter.

It was like, okay,

maybe this'll happen now.

Maybe it'll happen now.

And they came back neg...

They gave her a two-year hit.

A two-year hit.

So at that point,

it was like, okay.

They weren't deciding

whether or not they

were gonna parole her.

They were deciding how much

time they were gonna give her.

The parole board expects you

to answer questions

a certain way.

They don't ask you,

"Do you feel remorse?"

They don't say,

"Do you take responsibility

for your crime?"

They don't say that.

They ask you questions,

and they, they get...

What they gather,

what they pick up from you,

they make their decision,

and that's the kind of response

they come back with.

I talked to my mom,

I talked to my dad,

and we're always

bouncing off each other

with these different ideas,

and, you know, and so

she said, "You know.

"They have

classes up here for

how to re-enter

into society." Right?

So she was like,

"I'm gonna start taking

some of them classes."

And I'm like, yeah.

Yeah, definitely. And, and,

I said, "Dad,

did you think about taking

some of them classes?"

He said,

"I took every class

that they offered."

So, my mom was like

started learning the language

that they're,

that they're speaking

and what they're looking...

There are certain words

that they look for, and like...

she wasn't...

she was never...

happy that the cop was killed.

- We are under fire. Back up.

- Back up by the car. Back up.

I seen his face.

Chuckie Africa.

He popped out,

and boom boom boom boom,

went down.

When the bullets came,

I literally saw the sparks

fly past my face.

Literally saw sparks.

They had like a blanket

like over our heads

where the wood from the beams,

when they were

shooting the bullets,

where the splinters

wouldn't like

get in our eyes or in

our head or in our face.

I was transfixed when

the shots started firing.

I couldn't sort of

stop looking.

And Bill Steinmetz

told me to duck.

So I ducked,

but then I couldn't see.

I just hit the ground

'cause I just knew

some cowboys out here

are gonna just go crazy,

and they did.

The police with those six

sub-Thompson machine guns

opened 'em up.

I mean, totally,

and emptied them.

The commissioner said,

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

But he couldn't stop them.

They pulled me off

and they come to the tree,

back to the tree,

where everybody was

in a prone position.

They told me to come out.

I had fired my weapon into the...

-into the basement.

- When

- the police stopped,

then after that,

MOVE started shooting.

The shooting started

coming out of the basement.

- First shot I think was

- Bill Stewart got hit

in the back of the neck.

And he fell on top

of the fire hose.

Firehose goes up in the air,

and after that, was just

bedlam coming out of there.

They just, you know, cops shot.

Well, I seen Jimmy Ramp

was standing behind

a pole across the street,

and he kept looking out

from behind the pole.

I kept hollering for

him to stay back.

So I turned around again

and he was going down.

I left the firemen

to run across to him,

and I got halfway across

Pearl Street and I got hit.

I got hit in the chest.

Bullet come through the shield

and through the vest.

Put smoke on Pearl Street

so they couldn't see us.

They put me in

a van or in the truck

I was supposed

to be driving, the tank.

To get me outta here.

They put Jimmy on top of me,

took us to the other

end of the street,

and took us to

different hospitals.

After that, you know,

I don't remember anything.

What caused them to come out?

Well, we turned

the water on again,

then began to pour smoke in.

I think that was the sequence.

Once the tear gas hit,

you couldn't talk,

you couldn't see,

you couldn't hear nobody,

and the only thing

I remember was

I was standing near my son,

one of my kids was here,

one of them was here.

They was 4 and 5,

and one was 2.

Myisha was 2.

I had Isha in my arms.

I said, "Oh, fuck it.

This is it."

And I started walking,

and when I got by the window,

I still had Isha in my arms,

but I could see Merle.

Merle was out.

If Merle out, I'm going out.

But once I got out

the side of the window,

this is what they say.

Where that damn picture?

When I got out

the side of the window

to get Merle,

this is what I was faced with.

I started walking

down Pearl Street,

but when I got to

the corner of Pearl Street,

the civil disobedience-ing

women were coming towards me.

They was gonna

take my daughter.

They was gonna take

my baby from me.

They put me in the paddy wagon.

My skin was burning,

them clothes was so hot

that they was

sticking to my skin,

and I remember trying

to keep them off of my skin

because it was burning.

I assume that you're

distinguishing between

the word "smoke"

and the word "tear gas,"

-is that correct?

That's correct.

I conferred with Dr. Polk

about the effect of gas

on the lungs of a child

because we knew that they had

some very small

children in there,

and their recommendation was

that we not use it.

So we didn't use it.

They've just thrown gas,

and they're dragging MOVE

members out right now.

...basement window in the front.

One of the MOVE members

coming out and to prison.

The next half hour

or so like that

was a matter of getting

everything out of there.

Then they all

started coming out,

and they were putting

their children out first

so that they,

of course, wouldn't be shot.

Then Delbert Africa

started coming out

of the Pearl Street window,

and, of course,

he was helped out

by the couple of

stakeout officers and, um...

Interviewer:

Well, he was. um,

he was being subdued.

Lemme just put it

that way. He was...

he was subdued.

He's hitting him,

he's hitting him.

Hitting him on the head.

Kicked him in the head!

- I have no idea. I couldn't see.

- That's enough!

He was being helped out

by them three officers.

And then promptly

went to the hospital.

But, um, should've

went to the morgue.

It's one of the few

things I think

I've seen as a reporter,

for a long time,

that I'm never gonna forget.

It was vicious.

It was sadism. It was...

attempted murder.

At that point,

we become aware that the police

see us in the window.

So we're a little

nervous about that.

We don't want anybody

shooting at us,

so we move from the window.

Bill's afraid they're

gonna confiscate his film.

This is a time when

they're still using film.

And he takes the film

out of his camera

and puts it in his boot.

So they got everybody

out of there.

And then,

then they put a unit together,

and I was one of them.

You mentioned that Mr. Hurst,

who I believe currently

heads the Fraternal Order

of the Police, played a role

- in the 1978 plan.

- He happened to be

right at the same...

where I happened to be,

and I'm pleased that

I was at the same location

- that he was.

- Do you recall

whether Mr. Hurst

played any other role

at that time,

other than observing

what was going on

in the basement?

I don't really know

what you're, you know,

if you could re...

It is your recollection then

that he was there with you for

- at least a short

period of time?

- Oh, probably a matter

of a few seconds or minutes,

something like that.

And that's all that

you observed him do

and that was to peer

into the basement.

You didn't observe him do

anything else at that point?

Well, he was telling them

to put their weapons down

- and things of that nature.

- Do you know

whether or not he recovered

a weapon from inside of

the MOVE house on

Powelton Avenue?

I don't recall specifically

whether he did or did not

because a number of

weapons were recovered

and they were

handed out. In fact,

one was handed to me,

and I remember that

the MOVE people trying

to make a big issue

over the fact that

I had a weapon

that I had handed

back into them,

or some such stuff as that

that the weapon

was a police weapon.

When we went into the house,

and then down

into the basement,

we waded through there.

The water was

up to my belly button,

about three feet.

And then there was sorta like

an area to the right, and to

the left was storage, and we...

Excuse me, and

we took some weapons

and stuff like that and ammo,

and different things like that,

and make a chain line

to go from there

out to the window.

And it was put out

the window like that from us.

The tear gas was down there,

and it was...

I was overcome by it,

as were several of

the other officers,

and so we came out,

and we went to the hospital.

I went to

the Misericordia Hospital.

Pardon?

The police used tear gas.

So when I was in the hospital,

I drew a plan

of everything I remembered

in that basement...

and what was taken out,

to the best of my ability.

Well, it was good that

was done because...

Rizzo ordered the building

demolished right then.

Right then.

Taken down completely

with bulldozers.

And, and so

there was no evidence.

And so that little

sheet of paper

was the thing that was

used for the trial.

Who knew?

- John Africa said,

- "Do what's necessary."

I got a tape of

him saying that.

So I would listen to it,

and just listen to it,

and then I would...

I spent a lot of time

with another supporter,

and we found a lot of stuff.

Witness testimonies,

police statements,

all kind of stuff.

I actually have

FBI files in here

from the investigative

reports they did on MOVE

from back in 1973.

And this is not even all of it.

This is just some of it.

Needle in a haystack.

I'm looking for the evidence.

I'm looking for the information

that would show

something about

their innocence,

and it doesn't matter

if you have to read the entire

Philadelphia Sunday paper

to find that one line.

Look for the needle in

the haystack. Find it.

And if you can't

find it in this paper,

find it in another paper.

I wound up doing that info...

that stuff

for over 25 years.

The compound belonging to

the controversial

radical group MOVE

is no more tonight. It's been

torn down by city bulldozers

after a dramatic early morning

shootout in West Philadelphia.

Eleven MOVE members

are behind bars tonight

after the battle.

One police officer is dead,

four others hospitalized,

along with two firemen.

And as I perceived it while

watching this drama unfold,

MOVE gave its dogs

more of a chance

than it gave their own children.

But I really think something

sh... could've been worked out

a little bit better

than what this is.

People getting killed, babies,

police officers.

Everybody suffering,

neighborhood is tensed up.

There were some residents who

felt the city acted with plenty

of restraint and blamed

the whole confrontation on MOVE.

Most of those people

refused to appear on camera

for fear of retaliation.

That concludes our coverage

of what happened in

Powelton Village on this day,

August 8th, 1978.

It was a day on which

a policeman was killed,

a house was torn down,

and a whole movement exploded.

For Bill Baldini,

I'm Michael Tuck. Good night.

I remember a few days ago,

I think you were

trying to save... get a court

order to save the house.

Yeah, what we did,

Oscar Gaskins' office filed

an injunction enjoining

the city from tearing

the property down.

And as you can see here,

the city is now in the process

of tearing the property down.

Question we've

gotta ask is why.

You know, why is that

house being torn down

and why is there such

a great effort put to it?

Tonight, we have

a complete special report

on the battle at MOVE,

the wild shootout

that took

a policeman's life.

The Instant Eye

was there through

the terror-filled fight,

and we've got reaction

from all sides.

All the while, they play on

the news media that the people

in Powelton Village agree

with what was going down.

That was a lie.

They'll go down and get three

white people off the corner

from Baring Street

and say we don't like MOVE.

Why ain't they ask

the Black people?

The press has to

take part of

the responsibility

for their

irresponsible acts.

They believe

what you read,

what you write,

and what you say,

and it's got to stop.

And one day, and I hope

it's in my career,

that you're going to have

to be held responsible

and accountable

for what you do.

One reporter claims to have

looked up and seen the muzzle

of a weapon sticking

out the window.

Walt Hunter from WCAU,

by the way,

swears that a shot was fired

going in this direction.

- For Helen Ramp and her

- 14-year-old son, James Junior,

the terror and violence

at MOVE headquarters came

crashing down this morning at

Presbyterian Medical Center.

Inside, they were told

James Ramp, husband, father,

and Philadelphia

police sharpshooter,

had been shot to death

in the crossfire at

the West Philadelphia

compound.

Ramp, 52,

was shot in the chest

and died soon after

being admitted.

Shortly after

the shooting ended,

there was a near

violent confrontation

between police and an angry

crowd that gathered.

-Nobody was hurt.

- To prevent

- the spread of trouble,

police sealed off one

corner of the intersection

where the rock

throwing occurred.

We talked with one

young man, a teenager,

who accused the police

of beating him.

And, as you remember,

I asked him,

"Now, what do you mean

when you say beating?"

And he indicated

that the police

pushed and shoved him

and hit him with

a knife stick...

a nightstick.

What people

don't understand,

I think, Vince,

is that in a situation

like that,

police just don't have

time to ask twice.

So perhaps if there was

some direct involvement

by high city officials,

-we could cool out any

possible problem...

-Yeah. Communication is needed

because when we talked with them

and also with the policeman,

we did learn that

rumors were flying.

Commissioner, what's the

situation in Powelton now?

Police are in control in

Powelton at the present time,

and if there are any

additional confrontations,

I can assure you that the police

will take care of them.

We will not brook any nonsense.

Anybody that takes his own out

in Powelton or anywhere else

in this city

is going to be crushed.

They all charged,

chased everybody

all, all over the place

with their clubs.

Bunch of people ran into their

own houses and were followed.

I was upstairs sleeping,

then I heard all this noise

on the steps.

Then the cop was

swinging the nightstick

and hit me in my eye

and my head.

- Where were

you at that time?

- On top of the steps.

- You were on top of the steps.

- The cop came into the house

- to do this?

Yeah!

They came into the house!

And here comes all these

people and all these cops.

They're chasing them

again with the nightsticks,

hitting them all

on the shoulders and stuff.

There's about three

up there already hurt.

These people want these

white racist pigs to go home,

back to their own northeast

families where they belong at.

Go up there and beat heads

and trample on people's

children with their horses.

They don't want this

shit down here. We tired.

No-good shit-eating vermin,

motherfucker!

Kill me,

you son of a bitch!

No-good white

motherfucking beasts!

A group of MOVE supporters

spent much of the day outside

a heavily guarded

Jaffray Medical Center,

waiting for word on Chuckie

and the other MOVE patient,

Delbert Africa,

thought to be the most

seriously injured

in Tuesday's

battle with police.

Delbert has a broken cheekbone

plus a bloodshot

and swollen eye.

MOVE members charged with the

murder of Police Officer Ramp.

It took hours of

microscopic examination

and police have now

decided that the weapon

that killed Ramp

belonged to MOVE.

This firearm that I'm holding

in my hand is the weapon

that fired the projectile

that killed Officer Ramp.

The semiautomatic rifle

was one of only a number

of weapons confiscated

after the shootout.

Police also found

1,600 rounds of ammunition,

both fired and unfired,

gas masks,

holsters, and ammunition boxes.

I saw them bring the guns

out of that basement.

So if you have

250,000 gallons of water

in the basement,

no electricity, it's dark,

and there's residue

of smoke and tear gas,

how thorough was

the investigation

in an hour and a half?

And these were

the same weapons that

were sparkling clean

when Rizzo gave his

press conference

in that afternoon.

The police force and

the city administration

has acted,

in my judgment, with...

extremely commendable restraint.

The police probably would've

been legally within their rights

to have, subsequent to

the shooting of Officer Ramp,

stormed the house and killed all

of the people in that basement.

Do you know of any incidents

where some officers may have

become a little overzealous

in arresting some of

the MOVE members?

I know of one instance

where one of the MOVE

members came out

the window with a cartridge

case in one hand,

a clip, and with

a knife in the other.

...with a cartridge

case in one hand...

and with a knife

in the other...

Where he was hit on the top of

the head with a steel helmet

and was taken into custody,

if that's what you're

referring to, Bill.

If that's overzealous,

so be it.

But I've had it up to here

with individual reporters

who are constantly

our adversaries,

constantly.

And I think when you go out

and you talk to these people

and stir them up

and try to find out who did

what where and all that,

that you're being

totally unfair

to the police of this

community and to the people

of this community.

And you accept at face value

absolute lies that

are told to you.

You don't even

get off your asses

and walk down to look where

these people claim they were.

Despite official statements

claiming the police showed

great restraint in Powelton

Village yesterday, these people

chanted a series of anti-Rizzo

and anti-police slogans.

The real thing that made

it bad was the video.

The Fraternal Order of Police,

which my father represented,

was very, very upset

that they would even

arrest these officers

involved in this case.

What they should've done

is shot the goddamn bum,

and then there would've

been no trouble today.

- Mayor Rizzo,

- Police Commissioner O'Neill,

Fire Commissioner Joe Rizzo,

and other high-ranking officers

file past Ramp's open casket.

Then the patrolmen and women,

many of whom Ramp knew,

many of whom

were just brothers and sisters

in the Fraternity of Police.

And many emerged

from the church

with tears in their eyes.

I hope that their jury of

their peers finds them guilty

and then they're put

on the electric chair

where they belong,

the people that had any part

in the killing of Jim Ramp.

If it was testimony

from eyewitnesses

from five feet away,

you could reject it

and say, I don't care.

If the cops say it

happened this way,

that's the way it happened.

And people still believe

that today in juries.

It's not that they beat

his face and beat his body.

It's the fact that they

got caught. Inescapably,

because it's on video.

There's no question of how it

happened and what happened.

Now what are we

gonna do about it?

For the first time in years,

the Black community

of Philadelphia staged

a major demonstration

against the Rizzo

administration.

The focal point

of this protest,

the pictures of Delbert Africa

being beaten by police

after surrendering from

the MOVE house last Tuesday.

Many of these Black people

feel they themselves

could get similar

treatment from the police.

I became aware of the beating

watching the 11:00 news,

and I spoke with

the district attorney

and told him that, to me,

the evidence was

clear that we...

we had to prosecute those

three police officers.

With us right now is

District Attorney Ed Rendell.

You saw the film,

you heard Commissioner

O'Neill's comments.

How do you see it?

Obviously, Bill,

on the face of it,

it looks like the police

were overzealous

in that one clip.

When we look at

an incident like this,

we don't look at it

as an isolated film clip.

We look at it in context

with what occurred

minutes before it,

and the emotion of that

and what had occurred

and the violence

that was perpetrated on

policemen and on firemen,

and we have to view it

in that context.

Well, he, you know,

he ultimately agreed.

He was quite concerned.

Obviously, he wanted to get

all the facts,

and I agreed with that. Fine.

And after a very

thorough investigation,

we then arranged to

have the police

officers arrested.

And the day that they

were to surrender,

I came into the office.

I said to a couple

of my detectives

who were assigned

to the unit, I said,

"Why don't you get on

down to the police

administration building

and process the officers

that are supposed

to surrender today?"

And everybody looked at me like

I was... I had two heads.

And I said, "What in

the world's going on?"

And they said,

"Don't you know?"

- I wear blue! Take me, too!

- I wear blue! Take me, too!

"I wear blue, take me, too."

That was the chant.

It had started at 500 strong.

It ended up

2,500, 3,500 easy.

It was a lot of people.

The case got assigned

to a bad judge,

so we thought.

Stanley Kubacki,

who was a very tough judge,

and he would put people in

jail for a million years.

Two of the defendants

testified, teary-eyed,

they feared he

was laying on top

of Officer Geist's

missing pistol,

that the kicks were an effort

to turn Delbert over.

- O'Neill told the court that,

- "Delbert Africa wasn't a man.

"He was a savage,

and with a savage,

you don't know what

he'll do," says O'Neill.

O'Neill said,

"Given the circumstances,

the force used by police

to subdue the prisoner,"

meaning Delbert Africa,

"was reasonable."

I thought we stood

a very good chance

of obtaining a conviction,

but before the defense

could give its summation,

and certainly before

I could give my summation,

the judge came out,

and called a halt to the trial.

Boy, that judge turned out to be

the best thing that

ever happened to them

because by the time

the trial was over,

he, all of a sudden,

issued an order

finding them not guilty,

and wouldn't even let

the jury decide the case

because he thought

it was so outrageous

that they were even

charged. He actually,

I remember his words.

"Let me be the lightning rod

"to absorb all of the criticism

the city wants to hail.

"Let them hail it at me.

I am not letting this

case go to a jury."

Despite indications that

the all-white jury chosen

from Dauphin County would've

found the trio innocent,

Prosecutor George Parry

had planned

to raise a significant

credibility issue

in the closing arguments

that Kubacki denied him.

Geist was apparently already

kicking Delbert Africa

as his service revolver

flies from his holster

because of the kicking motion.

The kicking that Geist

testified that he did

to find the gun that was,

according to this photograph,

not yet missing.

I am not sorry at

anything I did.

The only thing I am sorry for

is that James Ramp is dead,

and a lot of other police

and firemen are now

out of the job,

permanently injured.

Would you handle the arrest

of Delbert the same way?

Yes, in those

circumstances, I would.

I would do the same if I was

in that same situation again.

Is that his place to

make that sort of...

No. No.

The judge should only take

a case away from the jury

when it's, as a matter of law,

there's no way the jury could've

found the defendant, uh,

guilty. And here,

the evidence was clear

just on the tape alone,

they could've found

the defendant guilty.

The judge had no

business doing it.

How often have you seen

that sort of thing?

I've never seen

a judge take it away

from a jury except for this.

The Academy of Music,

the Civic Center,

the Spectrum

can all step aside

because the top showplace

in town these days

is a commonplace

courtroom in City Hall.

Do you think it's gonna

be a pretty good show?

Do you have any ideas

about what it's gonna be like?

I'm sure it'll be spectacular.

The defendants have said they

wanna be tried all together,

without a jury.

Said Delbert Orr Africa,

"A jury would only be

composed of racist whites

from the northeast

and store-bought Negroes

from downtown."

It was a bit of a circus.

They would shout,

gesticulate, scream.

Then they would

either be restrained,

or, in some cases,

removed from the court room.

The MOVE members will have

to promise they'll behave

before they come back

and act as their

own lawyers in court.

And the court appointed me

as backup counsel

in the event that

the defendants, or my client,

-should be removed.

- But now,

- you're taking over.

Yes.

I did not want to do that,

but the Supreme Court

-ordered me to do it,

so I'm doing it.

-You didn't want to do that?

-You could've refused

to do it, right? Why not?

-No.

Because I have tried to

withdraw from the case.

-Well you would be in

contempt of court, right?

-That's right.

-And you're not willing to

go in contempt of court.

-Absolutely not.

The backup counsels

cannot represent MOVE

better than themselves

because they are not going

to risk a contempt order

telling that judge

when he's wrong.

They will tell you privately,

"Yes, Judge Malmed was wrong.

This was illegal."

But they will not stand up

in that courtroom

and let the judge know that.

They essentially

pled guilty without

pleading guilty

because they didn't wanna

try to take advantage

of the system

and try to make a case

that they were not guilty.

I think that the city was pretty

sick of the story in general.

I know the media was sick of it.

We covered it on an incident

by incident basis.

There was no real effort,

in my mind,

to really dig deeper

into what was going on there.

Monaghan told the court

he heard Delbert Africa

insist that Phil Africa

take the carbine

and quote,

"Shoot the pig."

Testimony was wrapped up today

with police still photographer

John Eugesick

on the stand.

At that point,

I was moving on to other things,

and I think the city of

Philadelphia was, too.

Nobody cared about it.

Not the courts.

Not the news media.

The coroner's testimony

differed from the coroner's...

official report,

and the DA took out a pencil

and just changed it

right in court,

and the judge allowed it!

-Good evening,

I'm Vince Leonard.

-And I'm Beverly Williams.

Here's what's happening.

Guilty of murder

in the third degree.

That's the verdict for

all nine MOVE members.

The judge said

guilty nine times,

and Channel 3's

Kim Sedgwick was in court

when the MOVE murder

verdicts came down. Kim?

Dick, it was the longest

criminal trial

in Philadelphia court history

and one of the longest

in the country.

"Guilty of murder

in the third degree."

That's what Judge Malmed

said to each of

the nine MOVE members.

"Liar! Liar!" Delbert Africa

shot back at the judge

when he was brought

before the bench.

"How can you find someone

guilty in this illegal court?"

It was the same

with all the others.

All shouting obscenities,

all claiming innocence.

Emotions of the MOVE

supporters were the same.

You killed my family!

You killed our babies!

- You railroaded us!

You broke down our house!

That's right!

You broke in our house,

goddammit!

MOVE defense attorneys

were bitter, too.

As I said, I was hurt,

disillusioned,

but not surprised.

In the news tonight, nine

members of the radical group

MOVE are facing stiff jail terms

for their part in a shootout

with Philadelphia police.

Judge Edwin Malmed sentenced

each of the nine MOVE members

to 30 to 100 years in jail,

nearly the maximum sentence

that had been requested

by the district attorney.

Each MOVE member cursed

and threatened the judge

as he was brought

into court today.

The judge then ordered each

of the MOVE members removed

and their sentences

were relayed

to them by their attorney.

Judge Malmed, explaining

the verdict, called

the MOVE members' conduct

"criminal and obscene,"

and he quietly declared

that MOVE members had

"abused this community

for far too long."

They have at all

times maintained

they were a family

and acted together.

I, therefore, took

them at their own word.

If they're a family

and have all acted together,

then they acted in concert,

they acted jointly,

and they should

all share equally

in the punishment imposed.

Do you think they

deserve to get parole?

I'm not against

people who've done

substantial time and are

clearly in an age bracket

they're not gonna go out and

commit serious crimes again,

getting parole.

In fact, when I was governor,

I pardoned a number of lifers.

Individually, it would

depend on how they did,

what the degree of

evidence against them was.

I think some of them might

be very appropriate,

uh, uh, subjects for parole.

For me, what it comes down to

is the basic question.

Can you believe what the police

said happened that day?

To me, the opportunity

for a crossfire

created a significant

possibility that

James Ramp was killed

by a bullet that didn't

come from inside the house.

It has never been

clear to me that

the police got

it right, that the...

district attorney got it right,

that the judges got it right,

that the sentences were proper.

And as I've looked at it

in hindsight over the years,

I am convinced that they

did not get it right.

That the Officer Ramp

died from friendly fire.

I'm willing to do whatever.

If we, if that means...

set it up so that we can

get pardon papers up to them,

and they do that.

If that means that they...

if we set it up

where we try to get the DA's

office to help us out.

If that means that

we hire a lawyer, 10 lawyers,

an investigator, whatever.

If that means that we just beat

the drum and try to get people

to, to wake up their neighbors

or wake up their, uh,

their, their congressmen

or senators or whatever.

I'm a guy who's saying

do whatever it takes,

do all that it takes

because those people that are

in prison are dying in there.

Phil didn't make it to 40.

The system... Whatever

was happening with him,

or the people who was

feeding him that poison

up at them prisons

that they call water.

They're feeding him that

swill that they call food,

or that... yeah, I mean,

like, that, that stuff...

you know...

What can you do?

You just gotta keep on pushing.

Keep on exposing the system

for the wrongs in it.

If it takes 10 years,

if it takes 20 years.

It could take...

it could take every

single one of their lives.

Larry! Larry! Larry!

This is not

another story about

the history of kings and queens.

This is a story

about a movement.

That's right!

And this is a movement

that is tired

of seeing a system that

has systematically picked

on poor people,

primarily Black

and brown people.

This is a mandate for a movement

that is loudly telling

government what it wants,

and what it wants

is criminal justice reform

in ways that require

transformational change

within the Philadelphia

District Attorney's office.

So, in terms of

the parole process,

Krasner's office,

the DA's office, can make...

can either oppose parole

or not oppose,

and so that recommendation is

significant in that aspect.

And then also,

he's campaigned on this

open files policy,

and specifically around the...

Conviction Integrity Unit.

They call it

the Conviction Review Unit

in Philadelphia,

wherein they would...

the person who's been convicted

is entitled to full access

to whatever's in the DA files,

and we know they...

there must be some

information that's

not been released to

the public in the MOVE cases,

and that the...

The police destroyed

the house and they...

covered up information,

covered up evidence,

and it's important that

we see what's in there,

so that's one way that

Krasner's office can

ex... help expose

the truth on this

so that some sort of

just resolution

can come out of it.

And it's written to Leo Dunn,

Chairman of the Pennsylvania

Board of Probation and Parole.

It says, "On behalf of District

Attorney Lawrence Krasner,

"I write to inform you and the

Board that I recommend that

"Ms. Debbie Sims Africa

be paroled.

"Ms. Sims Africa has been

in custody for 39 years

"and has not had a single

misconduct since 1995.

"Her prison record shows that

she has made use of her time

"in custody,

completing 2,113 hours

"of vocational training,

60 hours of academic training

"and attaining her

cosmetology license.

"She is now 61 years old.

"In short, I am confident that

she will not pose a threat

"to the Philadelphia community

to which she wishes to return.

"While Ms. Sims Africa's

crimes were very serious,

her continued incarceration

does not make our city safer."

And it's pretty much

the same thing for Janet

and for Janine.

Do you think they'll

be paroled in May?

No. I think the parole

board sees itself as

cops and part of

the brotherhood.

And they're carrying out,

um, their mission that

anybody convicted

of homicide of

a police officer

should be

eternally punished.

And that's what it's

been for nine years,

and I don't think a more

persuasive parole packet is

going to change that

deeply entrenched attitude.

Which is why it's important

to build up the record

so as to establish that

the denial of parole

is violating their

constitutional rights.

Mike, hello?

Yeah.

Mom. How you doing?

I'm alright, how you?

Speaker phone.

Is it on speaker phone?

- You got your what?

- What?

-Her what?

-Hold up, hold up.

You got your green sheet?

- What's that?

- That's your, what?

Yeah?

Oh, Debbie coming home!

Long live John Africa!

- Josh is happy!

- Look at Josh!

My mom said,

"Tell your dad...

-He can't help it.

-"to control hisself

"'cause...

being extremely happy can

cause heart attacks, too."

- Want a strawberry?

- Is this for your mom?

I don't know!

We're picking her up tomorrow,

7:00 in the morning.

Best news I've ever

heard in my life.

This is the best news that

I've ever heard in my life.

By far.

- No, she ain't wearing that.

- Then what should we get?

That one is perfect.

Look at it.

Robes are like shoes!

They're universal.

They go with anything.

We don't have any time.

Get the damn thing,

let's get the...

-...heck outta here.

-Alright.

Calm yourself down.

How do you feel?

Beside myself.

I don't even know what to feel.

There's so many

things happening.

I can't even really

fully process it yet.

And I always say

I don't believe it

until she's in my car.

Forty years.

♪ Tell the world

I'm coming... ♪

Mm.

♪ I never felt so strong ♪

♪ That feeling like there's

nothing I can't try ♪

Put your hands high!

Ah, man!

♪ If you're with me

put your hands high ♪

I have her!

We have her!

The package is delivered!

She's in the car!

Oh! Oh my God,

they're so... Look at that!

It's nice and sunny

in here, too!

Oh my god!

Okay, I'm gonna cut the cake.

Hey, wait a minute.

I better not pick up that

knife on that camera.

You can hold the kitchen knife.

I've been in prison

almost 40 years and, um,

I was released on Friday...

Saturday. Saturday, and, um,

I still don't think

I've actually caught up

with my emotions on how

happy it makes me feel,

seeing my family and being...

I should say

united with my son

because I've never

been with him.

I had him in my prison

cell when I was in, uh,

the House of Correction,

and this is the first time

we've ever been together

in all those years.

Mm.

But...

And although, if I felt,

you know, excited

and overwhelmed

and happy

to see everybody that came up

to pick me up on Saturday,

I still felt, you know,

incomplete,

and it just wasn't...

It shouldn't have been

the fact that I left prison,

and my sisters,

Janine and Janet, didn't

because we came in

on the same charges,

we were arraigned the same,

we, um, we had the same hits

and everything,

the same charges,

but when it came time

to get out of prison,

they didn't do that the same.

So, my name is

Mike Africa Jr.

As you know, this is my

mother right here and, um,

our family has

been experienced,

the MOVE organization

has experienced so much,

um, hate and anger

from the system and, um,

this is a small victory,

but it is a victory.

But I say a small victory

because our family

is still separated.

We're still incomplete.

My father is

still in prison.

He was in prison...

He was arrested

with my mother

and the rest of the MOVE Nine

and he's still in prison, too.

I talked to my dad today.

Every time, every time

something happen, my dad,

like, come up with

a theme song for it,

the experience that he's

experiencing at the time.

And he got this thing...

He says, um,

so for this one, he says,

he said, "Man."

He said,

"Tell your mom that I...

that I said I got a new song."

And I said, "What's that?"

He said,

"Hold on, I'm coming."

He comes up in

September 2018,

so the same process

we used for her,

we're gonna use for him.

But only difference is

we're gonna need more

support for him

because people see men

as different than women.

So they... he's gonna

need more support

than she, she needed.

- Do you

think he'll get out?

- Do I think my dad'll get out?

I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful.

I believe that if

we have the pressure,

the same kind of

pressure that we applied

for my mom, and if he can

understand the importance of...

the way of cooperation,

and...

and we can get

the letters that we need

to have written from people

and support,

showing their

support for him,

I think that we have

a really good shot.

Really good shot.

So he took the test.

It was all negative.

He passed the test.

Everything's good.

So now, it's just...

we're awaiting word.

Imagine being like...

stuck in...

stuck in traffic.

Like, you're driving your car.

You're headed home from work

after working

a long 12-hour day,

breaking your back,

trying to get your jobs done

so that you can get your

check for your family.

And you get in the car,

drive it for about 10 minutes,

and then you get

stuck in traffic.

And you're just like stuck,

gridlock, parking lot.

That shit'll drive you crazy.

Like, what the fuck? Why are

these cars not moving, right?

Imagine being stuck

like that for 40 years.

Forty years.

First time I seen Mike,

he was maybe six months old.

At that time, down Holmesburg,

there was no contact visits,

so I was tapping on

the window. "Hey, man.

Hey, Mike. Hey, hey."

And he was just looking.

It was just before

we got sent upstate.

He's 3. I asked him

what his name was,

and he said Michael.

I said, "You know

what my name is?"

He said, "Yeah, Michael."

I said, "You know why

we have the same name?"

I said,

"Because you're my son."

And he asked me,

"Can you sneak home

with us?"

It seemed that as soon

as he could comprehend

that they had held his parents

and that he could

do something about it,

and he tried.

Yesterday was a culmination

of his efforts.

You know, as well as

a lot of people's, but.

You know, of course

I wanted to be free.

But, uh...

knowing what it

would mean to him,

to our family, you know...

knowing how much effort,

you know,

he put his whole...

Wait a minute, stop.

He has such a good heart, man.

And I didn't want his

whole life to be...

um...

just something

that's wrapped up...

in...

trying to free us, man.

I was so glad for

Mike yesterday.

You know, of course

I wanted to be free,

but I was so glad that

he didn't have that...

that burden on him anymore, man.

I'm glad me and his mom is out,

you know,

not just because we're free,

but, you know, it freed him.

-It's finally here.

-Yep. And I'll tell you,

I can go through the rest of

my life like this, really.

-I bet you can!

-I ain't got that much

long to live though, so...

What? Why would you say that?

-Why... Why would you say that?

-I'm just playing.

This cake has got

to be good.

Did you count

your 10 eggs?

I got at least 25.

Shit, that's a long time.

Why would she say that?!

Maybe he can still

teach me some things.

I'm sure I'll be teaching

him a lot of things.

Hey, Dad! Did you ever

see one of these before?

What

the hell are you doing?

-Are you trying to pose?

-I don't know.

Look at Grandma there.

We met when

we was about 14.

Who wouldn't love her in

this hat? Look at this hat.

Only a husband

who loves his wife

would love her in

this hat.

Oh, um, well I remember

when I was born, right?

- You remember when

you was born?

- I mean...

-No, I don't remember

when I was born.

-I know what you mean.

♪ I told my mama

she was priceless ♪

♪ She told me she

wanted the good life ♪

♪ I told my mama

I'ma give you that ♪

♪ She said she wanna live

her best life, no strife ♪

♪ I said yo, Mama,

you deserve it all ♪

♪ She said she really

didn't want much ♪

♪ I asked her what you want

for me to do? She said ♪

♪ You gave me what I want

because I'm home with you ♪

♪ Hey! Fly, baby... ♪

Forty-two years of this thing,

and I said...

I hated to see

-them still there,

you know? But...

-Right.

-It's good to be home.

It's good to be home.

-Mm-hmm.

It's good to be with

family, with friends.

And put that, that activity,

that prison

activity behind me.

I'm glad. I'm ready.

You'll never be

back at Dallas.

Ah! I told, I told, uh,

Chaplain Hoke, I said,

"I'll be back

to free somebody else."