By redefining and reimagining the historical narrative of MOVE, The MOVE Activist Archive cultivates collective memory, communal learning, and revolutionary action around MOVE and related histories of Black resistance against state violence and repression. Since 2018, The MOVE Archive has engaged in transformative public programming to preserve and amplify the history, memory, and ongoing activism of The MOVE Organization and increase public engagement with the historical record and memory of one of the most important organizations to the history of Black activism in Philadelphia and global Black freedom struggles. 

Our programming includes: 

• annual memorializations and direct actions around the Bombing of MOVE, the imprisonment of The MOVE 9, and the theft of the remains of MOVE members by the University of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia
• public exhibitions of MOVE history featuring MOVE archival materials
• community preservation workshops to organize and digitize MOVE materials and increase our community’s capacity to engage in historical preservation 
• the Black Resistance Tour of Philadelphia introducing community members to local sites of Black resistance and memory  
• a MOVE curriculum developed for the School District of Philadelphia.

The MOVE Activist Archive follows MOVE’s long legacy of grassroots organizing and archiving as a tool that challenges The System and state-produced narratives. The preservation of the archival materials that make up this counter-history is one of our core priorities, which requires urgent action as many MOVE organizational records were damaged from smoke and fire during the 1985 bombing and are in a precarious state. Documenting the life histories of elders within The MOVE organization is equally imperative in light of the recent passing of MOVE 9 members Delbert Africa and Chuck Africa, after years of inadequate medical attention in Pennsylvania prisons.