Return the MOVE Remains NOW!

Recent reporting by our comrade Abdul-Aliy Muhammad has revealed that the Penn Museum and Princeton University have had in their collections the remains of child victims of the 1985 MOVE bombing, when Philadelphia Police dropped a bomb onto a West Philly residence, burned down an entire city block, and took the lives of 11 members of the Africa family. Further, these remains have been used for research and teaching tools by Professor Janet Monge in an online open enrollment course.

PFP stands in solidarity with the Africa family, and unequivocally condemns the abhorrent, racist, and inhumane behavior of the Penn Museum and Professor Monge — in their failure to return these remains in a timely manner, and in their continued use as teaching props. Once again, the University of Pennsylvania has betrayed Black Philadelphia, and the Museum has proven that they are only capable of seeing Black ancestors and Black lives as objects of curiosity. No amount of bullshit solidarity statements can restore our trust in this racist institution, not when behind closed doors you treat Black bodies as less than human. No conversation is possible until the demands of the Africa family and Police Free Penn are met.

PFP uplifts the Africa family’s demands:

• The immediate return of the remains of victims of the MOVE bombing to the Africa family.
• An immediate apology by the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Museum to the Africa family and the Black community of Philadelphia for the Museum’s racist and abhorrent behavior.
• Financial reparations to the Africa family for the continued harm and trauma caused by the University and the Penn Museum’s use of their relatives as teaching tools, and by Coursera for their profits made from the abuse of these remains.
• The immediate removal of all online content in which these remains are used, including the online course Real Bones taught by Janet Monge.
• The termination of Janet Monge from her role as curator at the Penn Museum and faculty in the department of anthropology.

In addition, PFP demands:

• The creation of a transparent, public investigation led by a community-elected investigator and funded by the University, into the Penn Museum’s continued role in perpetuating anti-Blackness since its founding in 1887, and how these specific remains ended up in the Museum’s possession over the past 35 years.