36 Years After the MOVE Bombing

On May 13, 1985, the city of Philadelphia dropped a satchel bomb in a mostly Black neighborhood, during an armed standoff between police and members of the MOVE organization. The event, now known as the MOVE bombing, caused a fire that burned 61 homes and killed eleven people, including five children. Last fall, after 35 years, the city of Philadelphia apologized and officially declared May 13 as a day of "observation, reflection and recommitment." Gene Demby, Philadelphian and co-host of NPR’s Code Switch, joins us to reflect on the bombing’s anniversary and how it has been remembered (and forgotten) over the last three decades.