Witness

Growing Together: A former MOVE family reunites after prison in the US

As he turns 40, Mike Africa Jr experiences life with his parents for the first time after they’re released from prison.

All his adult life, Mike Africa Jr fought for the release of his parents and other imprisoned members of MOVE, a Black revolutionary group in Philadelphia, the United States. Nine members of MOVE were convicted of murder and sentenced to between 30 and 100 years for the death of a police officer in 1978 when a standoff turned into a shootout. The so-called MOVE 9 always maintained their innocence. Mike Jr’s parents, Mike and Debbie Davis, are released on parole with a love for each other that survived four decades of enforced separation. Mike Jr, who was born in prison and raised by extended family, continues a fight for freedom while planning his parents’ wedding. Growing Together is a documentary film by Karen Marks.