Department of Africana Studies | Action is 36 years overdue in holding the remains of MOVE bombing victims
As faculty and graduate group members in the Department of Africana Studies, we feel it is incumbent upon us to speak to the tragic, sorrowful, and racist treatment of the remains of two children, Delisha Africa and Tree Africa, killed in the bombing of MOVE. Although this tragic event occurred on May 13, 1985, the presence of these remains within the Penn Museum only very recently became public knowledge. We recognize that other departments on campus are working to raise awareness about systemic racism and the legacies of slavery and racial discrimination, particularly when exploring Penn’s own history. Nonetheless, the Department of Africana Studies was founded to play a special role as academic witnesses to and chroniclers of the ferocity of racism.