As Philadelphia comes to terms with the train derailment that has left six people dead and some 200 injured, it's also worth remembering another tragic event that took place in the city exactly 30 years ago. It was an incident that claimed the lives of almost a dozen people, including five children, and destroyed 61 homes. And it was undertaken by the city's own police force.
Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of the infamous MOVE bombing, in which police fired 10,000 rounds of ammunition into a row house on the 6200 block of Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia. The police then dropped military-grade explosives on the house, burning an entire city block to the ground.
Fast forward to today, and that deadly, violent chapter provides valuable lessons for a society that so far has decided to ignore them.
MOVE was a revolutionary black power group founded in 1972. The group had a "back to nature," almost religious element to its lifestyle -- members were vegans and animal lovers, shunned technology, and wore their hair in dreadlocks. Their appearance and way of life led to conflict and tension in the community, and in a city with a long history of racism, police brutality, corruption and framings — and surveillance and harassment of political organizations such as the Black Panthers — the Philadelphia Police Department depicted MOVE as a terror threat.
(...)
Ultimately, no one is safe if any one of us is not safe.
As in any police state, when the police become the army, they need an enemy, and the enemy ends up being us. "To serve and protect" is becoming "to suppress and control."
And with billions of dollars in military surplus, the police will find a way to use it. Full story...
Related posts:
Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of the infamous MOVE bombing, in which police fired 10,000 rounds of ammunition into a row house on the 6200 block of Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia. The police then dropped military-grade explosives on the house, burning an entire city block to the ground.
Fast forward to today, and that deadly, violent chapter provides valuable lessons for a society that so far has decided to ignore them.
MOVE was a revolutionary black power group founded in 1972. The group had a "back to nature," almost religious element to its lifestyle -- members were vegans and animal lovers, shunned technology, and wore their hair in dreadlocks. Their appearance and way of life led to conflict and tension in the community, and in a city with a long history of racism, police brutality, corruption and framings — and surveillance and harassment of political organizations such as the Black Panthers — the Philadelphia Police Department depicted MOVE as a terror threat.
(...)
Ultimately, no one is safe if any one of us is not safe.
As in any police state, when the police become the army, they need an enemy, and the enemy ends up being us. "To serve and protect" is becoming "to suppress and control."
And with billions of dollars in military surplus, the police will find a way to use it. Full story...
Related posts:
- John Oliver: Ferguson, MO and police militarization...
- 4 shocking examples of police militarization in America’s small towns...
- Towns say 'no tanks' to militarized police...
- Small-time police departments in the US are getting billions in big military hardware...
- US police have killed over 5000 civilians since 9/11...
- Two SWAT teams shut down a neighborhood in Colorado for 4 hours...
- The militarization of America...
- How we got warrior cops...
No comments:
Post a Comment