Songs of The Children: A Historical Marker for MOVE

The Songs of The Children movement began in 2015. Formed by both current Jubilee students, as well as alumni, the group is a continuation of student activism in response to social injustices. They decided to call their campaign “Songs of the Children: An Album of Voices for Justice” because poetry, among other art-forms, will be used as a message builder. Poetry is a powerful way of speaking. Since its inception, the Songs of the Children Movement has led three marches with hundreds of children to speak out against social injustices and promote working together in positive peaceful communities. They have been presenting their mission to schools across Philadelphia, and getting children to join the movement.

As a part of their study of the issue of police brutality, last year’s students of Jubilee’s fifth and sixth grades wrote a research paper about the police confrontations with MOVE. On May 13, 2016 they decided to visit Osage Avenue where the bombing had taken place 32 years ago. They laid flowers and read poetry, and while they were there, they noticed that there was nothing to tell what had happened to the block, which looks like a war zone. So, they decided to apply for a historical marker to tell the story of how a house with children was bombed, and a neighborhood was allowed to be destroyed by fire.

On June 24, 2017, Jubilee organized a ceremony to unveil the historical marker. In attendance were several MOVE members, as well as notable fgures such as Arnett Woodall, Sister Sonja Sanchez, Ursula Rucker, Kindred The Family Soul, and David Fattah.