Let It Burn: MOVE, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Confrontation that Changed a City

by Michael Boyette, Randi Boyette

"A balanced, well-written account which provides the best overall understanding of these events.—Library Journal

"Compelling."—Publishers Weekly

"A solid report from an unusual perspective."—Kirkus Reviews

"A balanced view."—Booklist

On a narrow street in a working-class neighborhood, the police are held at bay by a small band of armed radicals. Two assaults have already failed. After a morning-long battle involving machine guns, explosives, and tear gas, the radicals remain defiant. In a command post across the street from the boarded-up row house that serves as the militants' headquarters, the beleaguered police commissioner weighs his options and decides on a new plan. He will bomb the house.

Let It Burn is the true-life story of the confrontation between the Philadelphia Police Department and the MOVE organization—a group that rejected modern technology and fought for what it called "natural law." The police commissioner's decision to drop an "explosive device" onto the house's roof—and then to let the resulting fire burn while adults and children remained in the house—was the final tragic chapter in a decades-long series of clashes that had already left one policeman dead and others injured, dozens of MOVE members behind bars, and their original compound razed to the ground.

By the time the fire burned itself out, eleven MOVE members, many of them women and small children, would be dead. Sixty-one houses in the neighborhood would be destroyed.

There would be a city inquiry, numerous civil suits, and two grand-jury inquests following the confrontation. Michael Boyette served on one of the grand juries, where he had a front-row seat as the key players and witnesses—including Mayor Wilson Goode and future Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell—recounted their roles in the tragedy. After the grand jury concluded its investigation, he and coauthor Randi Boyette conducted additional independent research—including exclusive interviews with police who had been on the scene and with MOVE members—to create this moment-by-moment account of the confrontation and the events leading up to it.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Crime

364 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1989

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at a forgotten story. Imagine Waco, TX in an urban environment in which the reader is left thinking both sides are wrong while yet making a strong case to being in the right. Read it.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazingly detailed, well-researched, and fluid account of the rise of the MOVE organization in Philadelphia, its conflict with the police in 1978, and the lead up and aftermath of the tragic bombing of their West Philadelphia row home that left 11 dead. This is honestly one of the craziest historical events I have ever read about, and it is largely unknown—both nationally and locally. I have my own thoughts as to what unfolded on May 13, 1985, but my main takeaway: we may never know the entire truth. Regardless, the story of MOVE needs to be given more attention. It is ridiculous to think that it is not even incorporated into Philadelphia/SEPA social studies curriculum.

[Shana Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear and illuminating account of the MOVE debacle. I had seen the film, and heard for years about the bombing, but this book provided much more helpful detail, particularly about the MOVE organization’s history, the actual police operation in May 1985, and the painful aftermath for all involved. While I understand a lot more now about the difficult choices faced by Philadelphia officials, and the depth of the tragedy, the one thing I still don’t know is - what should they have done instead? What could they have done? Clearly, dropping a bomb on a house and letting a fire take out 62 houses was the wrong choice. But I wish I knew what the right one was. Even if they had put out the fire sooner, there would have been a terrible amount of destruction and loss of life.
The writer of this book does a really good job asking these kinds of questions and trying to draw some lessons from it at the end, but eventually has to acknowledge that we’ll never know all of the answers to what happened that day, and we can never re-do it to see if some other course of action would have turned out better.

[Kenya Tramel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book details the bombing in Philadelphia by the police department on black citizens in the 1980s.

[Sean Deeney]

Was Ramona Africa compensated for the use of her individual suffering, in the profits earned from this publication? Even though much of her ordeal was captured by the Public Ledger of Criminal Justice Records and the massive coverage of Media Accounts, I would certainly make sure any money I was paid for writing a book about this conflict included the reasonable expectations of those who endured the pain to make it possible. In America we have a Love Language. No, it's not "yelling" like those eager to reduce the significance once tried to standardize of another's voice in printed word, as characterized on the internet .. it's ALL CAPS. Philadelphia Native Culture of Expressive Tradition - Philly is America's First CAP IT ALL, AFTERALL.

Symbolically, the Letters are Standing Tall and Equal in height. Declarative and Imperative Tone.

Which makes the most sense. Anyway, just keeping the Sense in Our Justice.

I paid $20 for My copy in The Penn Bookstore. In a World that seems afraid to Solve it's problems or, people in it rather sneak about with their own private solutions. A little something to stay wonderful... Did Ramona Africa get her $10 from the American purchase?

Designation implies she should, Right?

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was 17 when this happened

I remember the day, hearing rumors of what was happening at school. After, as my friends & I did our thing, we were in & out of each other’s houses & it was on everyone’s TV. I was at my boyfriend’s house a block from mine when they dropped the bomb. We were watching with his mom & none of us could believe what we just saw. By the time I got home & in the house, the TV screen was orange. My perception then, at 17, was “Nice job, Goode. Guess you’ll be a 1 termer.” Now, reading through this & watching the documentary, I can see he was certainly not the most culpable. If karma is real, Sanbor is hurting right now. Easy to sit back & let vermin die, but it doesn’t sit well with those of us who don’t buy that line & see humans. I don’t agree with MOVE; they are people. I didn’t know anybody in that neighborhood, but the continue to get #*-^ed by the city over this. This is a classic case of people in way over their heads (City) & never asking for help. Just tried to ignore the problem hoping it would go away.

[Payton Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Domestic terrorism with police brutality to the nines. I really love this book, the facets it presents, and the lack of apparent argument divulged to the readers. There is very little slant, I should say. The utilization of maps, time stamps, direct quotes, and first-person-perspective quotes from present day on previous events allow for commentary on this atrocious event without time sensitive biases.

This book is horrific. How can a city allow for murder and property destruction to this degree? Simulatenously, how can a cult of people commit horrible acts upon neighbors while spreading pro-violence rhetoric without being seriously challenged for so long? This book is a modern day war in a microcosm littered with bullets, children, arrests, and blame.

[Biz Wiley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I'm from Philly so I may be more interested in the subject than some but it was a fair assessment of the event. It was thoroughly researched and I was fascinated by page 3. I have read that he has written other things but haven't been able to find any other books on Amazon. I hope I can find more from this author.

[Cassandra Hetherington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let It Burn was well written and researched. I came to it knowing next to nothing about MOVE and I’m leaving it still not understanding MOVE. I had hoped to have a better understanding of the teachings of John Africa in order to comprehend the beliefs his followers were willing to die for. This isn’t a fault of Let It Burn, it doesn’t seem that this information was accessible to the authors.

[Renee King · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more detailed account of the events in both 1978 and 1985. Good descriptions of everyone involved, including personalities, motives, and political dynamics of the time.

The text is heavy on the account of events from the city/state/police position, but gives clearer picture of each incident between MOVE and the city and then each escalated and successive action. Decent narrative of hearings conducted by the commission immediately put in place following the tragedy to investigate, although not verbatim in many cases.
Interesting follow-up on the toll the tragedy took on the police and politicians in the years afterward, but not on MOVE members, who lost children, family, and friends in the conflict.

I recommend this book, if you want to get more than one perspective of this event.

[Jan Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great documentary recall of events, actions, recounts and personal narratives of horrific day that cost human life. Sadly, there are two sides to every story. There are 11 stories we will never hear. What really happened?

[Jeremy Lenzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had wanted to learn more about this for some time and I certainly did. Having said that, I’m not exactly sure what to think, as there are no easy answers whatsoever. This is a dark spot in our nation’s history, though, I can tell you that.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let It Burn was an honest take on the tragic events that took place in West Philadelphia in the 70's and 80's. It was well put together, and at times felt like I was watching a documentary.

[Angela Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a balanced account of a sad chapter in the city of Philadelphia. It was a truly interesting read.

[Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, might be a little reliant on police sources, I should do more reading on this event

[Cheryl Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivated my attention from the first chapter. Read it in 4 days. Watched the documentary last night & met the authors. I applaud them in their candor in a answering my question on why this story over the years does not get retold much like the Jim Jones & David Koresh stories get reviewd often in the cable news rehash cycles. In true teacher style they posed a question soliciting thoughts. As nutty as Leaphart was with his Dr. Seuss way of philosophizing & tendancy towards domination & vile confrontration- he would likely come to same conclusion as I have.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of Move in Philadelphia. It seems a very fair account. I felt very emotional reading this book. I felt very sorry for both the Police/the City of Philadelphia and some Move members and their friends and family. I realize both parties did many things wrong during this crisis. The authors do a good job of documenting human behavior in times of crisis. Well written and highly recommended.

[Vidas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at one of the darkest days in Philadelphia's history. Story provides deep insight to the MOVE organization and its leader. As someone who grew up watching the local news and having a basic awareness of the incident, this book helped provide depth and context to those memories.