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<font size=3><br>
</font><font size=4>Who is Delbert Orr Africa (in a snapshot)<br><br>
by Yvonne Orr on Friday, May 13, 2011 at 1:07pm</font><font size=3>
<br><br>
</font><font size=4>Delbert Orr Africa is a political prisoner who has
been wrongfully incarcerated for over 30 years. Delbert Orr was born June
21, 1951 (this is the media published date, NOT the real one which will
remain undisclosed...for the record, my dad is actually 65...do the math
=). As a young man he joined the Chicago Chapter of the Black
Panther Party, where he met my mom. A loving relationship ensued with her
being a feisty officer of the BPP and him being a nubuck in the game of
stand-up-for-yourself revolution. In 1969 the FBI put forth false
warrants on the Chicago BPP leadership, including my parents. They
and others then fled to Canada and birthed One Phoenix Rising...they
originally named me Malaika. They struggled to get any financial
support while in exile and started carrying out bank expropriations to
sustain themselves. I was born in a shack, by the water with no medical
personnel…just a young woman (who had finished high school at 16, college
at 19 and been declared a Mensa member) dead set on ensuring that I would
have a life.<br><br>
In October of 1969 Delbert had been back in Chicago. As he
was driving back to Canada he crashed and ended up in the hospital.
Later, my mom got word that he was the sole survivor of the accident and
unable to walk. She spoke of bringing me back to Chicago, but he warned
of raids being enacted against the BPP in Chicago. In December 1969, Fred
Hampton, Sr. was murdered and they knew we had to head
elsewhere.<br><br>
In March of 1970 Delbert and three other friends decided to head down to
Philadelphia because one of them was originally from there. It was
there in Philadelphia that he met members of the MOVE organization.
He was inspired by their uplifting approach to revolution and stayed on
with them. My mom stayed in Philly for a few years and brought me back to
Chicago in 1973. Meanwhile, Delbert ended up becoming Minister of
Confrontation and Security for the MOVE Organization.<br><br>
<br>
MOVE vs. The police<br><br>
After countless false charges, ongoing harassment and many altercations,
police finally decided that it was time for MOVE to be vanquished. When
the police raided the MOVE house in August 1978, Delbert was the one
videotaped being beaten brutally by police. He suffered a broken
jaw and fractured eye socket from the attack.<br><br>
<br>
Life in Prison<br><br>
Delbert started his prison sentence out in the “hole” for 6 years in a
Dallas prison for refusing to break his religious beliefs and cut his
hair. I was not allowed to visit with him during this time. In fact, on
one occasion my Granny-- who didnt' drive-- enlisted her girlfriend to
drive us from Texas to Philly after getting word that we could see him.
Some 20 odd hours later, we were denied because my birth certificate
"didn't look right". We traveled back with me in tears. I did
get to see him a year 1/2 later, though, making the same trek as
before. In December 1989 he was transferred out of Dallas,
they had riots at Camp Hill prison, which though he wasn’t even a part
of, the state prison used as an excuse to send him to the Federal system.
We didn't get word of his transfer for 11 months! In federal prison he
was under 23 hour lock up, 24 hours lock up on weekends where they
wouldn’t even let him out for yard. He stayed in long-term solitary
confinement until May of that year. Then they transferred him to another
prison (again without informing his family).<br><br>
At the new prison he was offered a job in the printing shop. They were
mystified when he turned them down because pay was good for prison work-
$86 a month. Delbert explained the situation,<br><br>
“I said, ‘Naw, I don’t want that.’ They said, ‘Wait a minute. This is
just starting off, you can move right on up.’ I said, ‘Look, I’ve been in
the hole for 6 years. I want some air! I don’t want no career in the
prison.’ So they assigned me to the yard detail. And that was it, I loved
that. I stayed in there a year and they shipped me back to state. When I
got back they put me in the hole for about 3 weeks, then I got out, they
put me in population.<br><br>
That "population" consists of repeat rapists, serial killers,
true murderers and gang thugs. What I have learned through my
father/daughter relationship is that I am loved (despite the distance
& circumstances) by two parents. I've never heard anything remotely
cult-ish come out of my father's mouth. He's never "strongly
encouraged" me to join MOVE. He's been an educator, mentor,
protector and father as best as he could given his situation. I love him,
have no shame to claim him and will forever be bound by our
blood.<br><br>
The May 13, 1985 bombing of the MOVE house wasn't justice! The
bombing resulted in 11 deaths, including 5 children and the group's
leader John Africa. Only 2 occupants survived, Ramona, an adult and
Birdy, a child. In addition, 60 homes were destroyed in the resulting
fires. There does come a time when HUMANITY should take precedence over
political agendas.<br><br>
Shame on us all for allowing many others beyond the MOVE 9 to be
wrongfully incarcerated as well.<br><br>
<br>
See
<a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html">
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html</a> for more.<br><br>
<br>
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