In this live discussion from the Hot Docs festival, Matthew joins Falen Johnson on stage to speak about the stories journalists choose to tell — and how they tell them. He reflects on the personal cost of infusing his own experiences into his j

Bonus

"Love, peace and healing": A conversation with Mike Africa Jr. about telling MOVE's story

Apr 21st, 2023 48m 8s

In this On Air Fest exclusive, host Matthew Amha sits down with activist and MOVE member Mike Africa Jr. to discuss the making of The Africas VS. America and the ethical challenges of telling a family's carefully-guarded story. Mike Jr. opens u

Mother’s Day

Feb 6th, 2023 52m 4s

In the early hours of May 13, 1985, police direct residents of Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia to leave their homes, and not return for 24 hours. It’s Mother’s Day, and authorities have come to resolve a years-long conflict with a family of l

The Making of John Africa (GI John)

Feb 6th, 2023 53m 59s

A quiet and reclusive young man is conscripted to war in Korea and returns having been made anew. Vincent Leaphart becomes the enigmatic John Africa, whose revolutionary vision will prove irresistible to followers seeking a new way of living. B

The Toughest Cop in America

Feb 6th, 2023 51m 10s

By the 1970s, both local and federal law enforcement have perfected a system to subvert and neutralize Black liberation movements across the United States. The civil rights movement has been uprooted, and Black Power is now here. In Philadelphi

The Commissioner’s Gambit

Feb 6th, 2023 57m 32s

Complaints from neighbours about MOVE’s lifestyle lead to increasingly violent clashes with police. One confrontation turns deadly, and by 1978, relations between MOVE and city authorities have reached a crisis point. The MOVE home in residenti

MOVE on Trial

Feb 6th, 2023 58m 57s

The MOVE 9 are catapulted into the international spotlight, facing more than 900 years between them for the death of Officer James Ramp — a crime for which they maintain their innocence. Central to the case is a former Black Panther and Vietnam

Hellfire

Feb 6th, 2023 1h 6m

In 1983, the City of Philadelphia elects its first Black mayor as successor to Frank Rizzo. Woodrow Wilson Goode inherits Rizzo’s fight against MOVE, but he also represents a moment of hope for Black Philadelphians who believe his election coul

Elegy

Feb 6th, 2023 1h 5m

After a commission finds that city officials and police were negligent in their actions on May 13, 1985, a reeling city looks to heal, and surviving members of the Africa family redouble efforts to free the MOVE 9. Two senior members are releas

Trailer

Introducing: The Africas VS. America

Jan 17th, 2023 3m 39s

To those that remember, it’s known simply as the bombing of West Philly. In the spring of 1985, the City of Philadelphia became the first in U.S. history to drop a bomb on a family of American citizens. The attack killed 11 people, including fi

Rate