May 4, 1988
RADICALS' PHILOSOPHY
KITTY CAPARELLA and TOM COONEY
MOVE, the radical cult few understand, was
born of the friendship between a white former
college teacher and a black handyman who had
only a third-grade education but a keen interest
in philosophy.
The late Vincent Leaphart, the handyman, moved
into the Powelton Village apartment of Donald
Glassey, the former college teacher, in January
1972, and they began writing an 800-page "Book
of Principles," which outlined Leaphart's
beliefs.
Before the end of 1972, Leaphart was calling
himself John Africa and had recruited several
members for his group, which first was called
the Christian Movement for Life, then Community
Action Movement and, finally, MOVE.
Since its inception, the organization has
attracted 57 members and about 50 avid sympathizers.
Early on, recruits spent hours in intensive
physical- fitness sessions as well as in studying
MOVE's tenets.
John Africa's teachings were based on his
deep distrust of education, medical science
and the criminal justice system. He taught
that everyone was the same age - 1; they had
one life. Members of MOVE took the surname
Africa.
John Africa advocated a return to nature,
but he did not mean just moving to the country.
He believed man would be better off returning
to his primitive beginnings, when he hunted
in the wild with weapons forged by his own
hands.
John Africa assigned to his disciples the
task of bringing about an apocalypse that
would return the city and its citizens to
its natural, forest- like state.
Although Black Panthers, drug addicts and
college dropouts became members, the core
was the Leaphart family: Vincent and his two
sisters, Louise James and Laverne Sims, and
their six children.
Glassey, who became an informant, broke with
the movement before the Aug. 8, 1978, shootout
with police. Leaphart died in the May 13,
1985, shootout and fire.
