Biography
Debbie Sims Africa is a member of the MOVE organization, a Black revolutionary back-to-nature group founded in Philadelphia by John Africa. On August 8, 1978, Philadelphia police laid siege to the MOVE compound at 33rd and Powelton in West Philadelphia, attempting to evict its residents. During the gunfire that followed, Officer James J. Ramp was killed. MOVE members and their defense have always argued that the fatal shot came from police, not from any MOVE member. Nine MOVE members — Debbie, Janine, Janet, Phil, Mike, Delbert, Eddie, Charles (Chuck), and Merle Africa — were each convicted of third-degree murder of Officer Ramp and sentenced to 30 to 100 years in Pennsylvania state prison.
Debbie Sims Africa was the first of the MOVE 9 to be paroled, on June 16, 2018, after 39 years and 10 months of imprisonment. Her son Mike Africa Jr., who was born in prison shortly after her arrest in 1978 and raised on the outside, led the post-release support campaign for the surviving MOVE 9. Debbie Sims Africa was also a member of MOVE and part of the “MOVE 9,” a group of MOVE members whose arrests followed the 1978 siege and shootout at the organization’s home. Reporting and historical summaries describe MOVE as a radical, anti-establishment Black liberation group whose members frequently clashed with Philadelphia authorities over policing and living conditions.
She was convicted (with the other MOVE 9 defendants) of third-degree murder in the death of Officer James Ramp and received a 30–100 year sentence. She became the first MOVE 9 member paroled in June 2018, after roughly four decades in prison, and her release became a focal point for supporters who framed the MOVE 9 as political prisoners and for officials who emphasized the underlying homicide conviction.
Debbie Sims Africa is a member of MOVE, the Philadelphia-based Black liberation and back-to-nature group founded by John Africa, and one of the "MOVE 9." Following the August 8, 1978 armed police confrontation at MOVE's Powelton Village house — in which Officer James Ramp was killed — the nine surviving adult members were convicted of third-degree murder in 1980 and each sentenced to 30 to 100 years. After about four decades inside, consistently maintaining innocence, the MOVE 9 members were granted parole between 2018 and 2020.
