BY LAURA ANAYA-MORGA & KRISTAL SOTOMAYOR ON MAY 13, 2021

Born in the Philadelphia House of Corrections just one month after his parents’ sentencing in 1978, Mike Africa Jr. has spent most of his life trying to free them. His mother Debbie Sims-Africa and father Michael Davis Africa Sr. were both members of the MOVE Organization (MOVE), a revolutionary, back-to nature, predominantly Black organization, founded by John Africa in the 1970’s.

In the HBO Documentary film, 40 Years a Prisoner, director Tommy Oliver follows the journey of MOVE and chronicles the massive Aug. 8, 1978 police raid on MOVE’s Powelton Village headquarters that resulted in a shootout between the group and the Philadelphia Police Department that killed Officer James J. Ramp. The nine people charged in Ramp’s death were known as the MOVE 9 and were each sentenced from 30 to 100 years in prison. 

40 years later, director Tommy Olivier and Mike Africa Jr. outline the stark similarities between policing in Philadelphia today compared to the 1970’s. Africa Jr. continues to advocate for prison reform while encouraging others to organize, research and write letters to their elected officials urging them to release those who have been convicted unjustly. He encourages folks to join in on his projects and plans to continue the fight he has spent his entire life working on.