Let the Fire Burn

When the City of Philadelphia dropped a C4 bomb on a small city row home on May 13, 1985, the world witnessed a level of government-sanctioned domestic warfare unlike anything perpetrated on US soil, against US citizens in modern US history. This tragic act was the culmination of years of harassment, brutality, and injustice involving a small group of community activists simply known as MOVE.

Why would officials in the City of Philadelphia drop a C4 bomb on men, women, and children hiding in a row home in a tightly knit community? What crime could possibly justify the devastation of five dozen homes, the displacement of 250 residents, and the deaths of 11 people – five of them children? Who were the key actors in this fiasco? How do the lessons from the MOVE tragedy inform us about police brutality, racism, and discrimination today?

Let the Fire Burn frames the context and tells the story of this catastrophic event using contemporary film footage. The film will be followed by a group discussion moderated by Ulysses Slaughter and Dr. Pauline Thompson.

Follow-up Event: “Re-member MOVE,” a panel discussion involving journalists, MOVE members, and residents impacted by this and similar conflicts, will be held on Thursday, April 18, 2019 at 6:30pm at the M.J. Freed Theater, 515 Avenue of the States in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Leader(s)

Dr. Pauline Thompson and Ulysses Slaughter will co-facilitate group discussions at various segments of the film. Thompson is an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Brandywine. Slaughter is a creative strategist who designs diverse reconciliation platforms.

Travel directions to Pendle Hill. Click to view the flyer.