Summer of ‘85 - Chris Morrow

Written by Chris Morrow
Read by Kevin Hart
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 32 Kbps

Welcome to the summer of 1985 in Philadelphia, when the city was rocked—in almost every sense of the word—by two unprecedented events: Mayor W. Wilson Goode’s May 13 decision to bomb the headquarters of MOVE, a controversial Philadelphia-based radical communal organization, and the July 13 Live Aid concert, where international rock royalty convened in Philly to raise money for victims of the Ethiopian famine.

Separated by just two months and eight miles, these events would showcase both the best and the worst of the so-called City of Brotherly Love: One would raise millions of dollars for famine victims in Africa, while the other would lead to the death of 11 members of MOVE, (including 5 children), all of whom had taken the last name of their leader, John Africa. The bombing led to a fire that was allowed to burn for hours, resulting in the destruction of a middle-class African American neighborhood. Those wounds remain raw more than 35 years later.

Created by Chris Morrow, produced by Kevin Hart and Charlamagne tha God’s SBH Productions, and narrated by Hart, a Philadelphia native, Summer of 85 marks the first attempt to connect these two events and detail the incredible irony (and tragedy) of Philadelphia hosting a benefit for Africa the same summer it bombed a thriving African American neighborhood. Featuring candid interviews with participants such as Bob Geldof, Patti LaBelle, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Mike Africa Jr., the series explores the complex history that resulted in these outlier events paired by proximity and a combustible mix of ego, altruism, prejudice, utopian dreams, and human frailty.