Michael Davis Africa
Biography
Michael Davis Africa, also known as Mike Africa Sr., was born October 6, 1955 and became a member of MOVE in Philadelphia. Police arrested him during the August 8, 1978 assault on MOVE’s Powelton Village home. A court convicted him with the other MOVE 9 defendants of third-degree murder in the death of Officer James Ramp and imposed a term of 30 to 100 years. He was paroled on October 23, 2018 after more than forty years in Pennsylvania prisons. His wife, Debbie Sims Africa, was also one of the MOVE 9, and their son Mike Africa Jr. became a leading organizer of the parole campaign.
The November 2019 benefit announcement for Mike Africa Jr. describes his parents Debbie and Michael Africa Sr. as released after about forty years of imprisonment. Mike Jr.’s birth in prison is family history, not an additional punitive-confinement case for the child. The rounded retrospective duration is not substituted for the separately established individual custody dates. Source: https://nycabc.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/updates-12-nov-2019-1.pdf#page=12
The MOVE booklet’s prison roster identifies Michael Davis Africa as AM-4973 at Graterford and captions him with Phil being taken to court by sheriffs. This is a historical custody and identification snapshot without a new admission, release or total. 25 Years on the MOVE (May 1996; March 1997 printing), PDF pages 19, 34. Source: https://azinelibrary.org/approved/25-years-move-1.pdf
The EddieAfrica parole article says this MOVE member had already been released before Eddie’s June21,2019 parole. It specifically dates Janet and Janine’s parole to May and attributes their refusal to celebrate while Charles and Delbert remained jailed. This is corroboration of prior liberty, without copying Eddie’s exact release day to anyone else.
The new-address notice identifies Michael Davis Africa, public number AM4973, at SCI Phoenix in Pennsylvania. This is a 2018 location snapshot, not a dated first admission or release; the first-person and family contexts distinguish him from unrelated people named Michael Africa.
The Dragons Fire, National Jericho Movement Newsletter, vol. 6, July–August 2018, PDF page 35.
The August tribute article identifies the MOVE members as already released, with a Boston welcome-home celebration scheduled for October 22. The September 7 Running Down the Walls report describes attendance or speeches by members of the released group. Rounded forty-one-year language and future celebration dates do not replace individually documented release endpoints.
