Public Opinion
City officials made many attempts to keep peace on Osage Ave. by asking MOVE to calm their protests or leave Osage Ave. MOVE refused to cooperate until the MOVE 9 were free. Many community activists and interested parties also tried to reconcile with MOVE to persuade them to move to a rural area, but their attempts failed. City residents' mounting frustrations led to the confrontation on May 13, 1985, a day intended to settle the neighbor's complaints. During the morning of May 12, two hundred families were asked to evacuate their homes and prepare to be away for twenty-four hours.
When they got stomped by the police
When the siege began
When it came to a show-down
When the police-man got shot
When the evidence was destroyed
When there was no proof
When Mumia was on their side
When Delbert got beat
When the MOVE-9 went to prison (30 years to forever)
When Mumia was framed (death-row)
When the years passed
When they moved to Osage Avenue
-from the poem "Chain Reaction" by Andrea Walls