From 1976: MOVE commune mourns death of baby

This story was originally published on March 30, 1976.

Janine Africa, 20, sat in the dirt across the street from the ramshackle house in Powelton Village yesterday, her body shuddering with sobs.

Around her, fellow members of MOVE, a self-styled revolutionary group, tried to console her. Neighbors looked on and shook their heads. Three plainclothes detectives walked through the neighborhood talking to MOVE members and neighbors alike.

Janine Africa’s tears and the detective’s questions were prompted by a violent confrontation Sunday between police and MOVE members that, according to MOVE, killed the 3-week-old son of Janine Africa and injured several MOVE members.

But MOVE members will not disclose where the baby was taken after its death and, since the group does not believe in society’s institutions, there are no medical or birth records to verify the baby’s existence.

Several neighbors who live near the MOVE communal houses at 307 and 309 N. 33d St. said they had seen the infant son of Janine Africa. None, however, saw what happened to the boy, named Life, during the incident, , - and none of them saw where the MOVE members took the baby afterwards.

MOVE rejects the legal system, and many of its members have had confrontations with police and court officials, resulting in large-scale and frequent arrests for contempt.

According to Janine Africa, seven members were returning from jail at 4 p.m. Sunday after serving one month for contempt. Their arrival in a yellow school bus prompted cheering and laughter from the MOVE houses.

“All of a sudden, a lot of cop cars came,” she said. “They had blackjacks.”

Don Africa (all the MOVE members have the same surname) interrupted her account and said that Chuck Africa had told the police, before any of the violence began, “We’re sick and tired of you people. Leave us the --- alone.

After that, Don Africa said, bedlam followed.

Janine Africa said, “Next thing I know, they were beating people and had their guns pointed at everybody.” Janine Africa had gone outside with her husband, Phil, and her son, to greet the returning members.

The police had not been grabbing women or children, Janine Africa said, so she stood in front of her husband to protect him, her baby in her arms.

“The cops were going crazy, swinging ... they tried to reach over me to get to my husband. With no regard to me or my baby, they pushed me so hard that I fell. Cops stepped all over me and on me.”

She said she did not see which policeman pushed her. She is not sure what happened after the altercation, which lasted less than 20 minutes, according to MOVE members and their neighbors, or after police rearrested several of the MOVE members.

Other members said that they did not know where Janine was and did not discover her in the basement of their house until they heard her crying about an hour later. Her dead baby, apparently crushed by the weight of its mother’s body, was still in her arms, they said.

“I remember looking up in the basement and people were looking at me,” said Janine Africa. who also has a 2-year-old son. “All I know is when I was holding the baby, the baby was dead.”

After that, a MOVE contingent wrapped the baby in a blanket and “took it to a sacred place... a place in the country where we laid it upon the ground,” Don Africa said

Police are skeptical about the baby’s death and said they had re-reived no complaint about the death of Life Africa. Homicide Lt. John J. Maline said homicide detcetives were “not investigating” the baby’s death.

Civil affairs detectives, police said, were at the scene yesterday to investigate the incident, which reportedly began when bricks were thrown at police. Six policemen were injured, treated at Philadelphia General Hospital and released.

Neighbors in the area confirmed part of the MOVE version of the story and verified the existence of Life Africa.

“Yeh, I seen her walk the baby and I remember when she was pregnant,” said Cecil Wallace, 67, of 310 N. 33d St. “I saw police striking Jerry and Delbert (MOVE members)

“I heard a scream and thought somebody was getting raped,” said Beverly Glover, 22, of 3301 Powelton Ave.

“I saw two MOVE members being held by cops while other cops beat them. Yes, I know for a fact that Janine had an infant son.

James Harris, 30, also of 310 N. 33d St., described the incident “as a personal thing between MOVE and the police ... it’s a built-up feeling.”

Harris said that he had seen the police violence and that he had been aware that Janine Africa had an infant son. Don Africa said that about 20 MOVE members live on N. 33d Street, including six children, but none as young as Life.

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