Dubside's # Spells MOVE

Fun little video drop + connect the MOVE dots while I take a procrastinate break from writing my book.

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A man going by the name Dubside has been a behind-the-scenes MOVE “supporter” member since meeting them in the courtroom during Mumia Abu Jamal‘s 1982 murder trial.

7 years after first interviewing Dubside for the podcast, I found this rare mid-to-late ‘90s video of him performing at the Revival Club in Philadelphia.

Dubside is known for being “under the radar” and very private, so it was exciting to find this evidence of his once famous waist-length locs, but for my research purposes it is what Dubside says on stage that deserves attention.

VOICE IN THE CROWD: The Revolution will not be televised. (and yet a video camera is clearly recording this)

DUBSIDE: We’ll get to that.

🎸 🎸 🎸 Removes hat to reveal his waist-length dread locs .(what a hair reveal!)

DUBSIDE:

Some of my friends have been taking in stray animals.

Some of my friends are trying to protect LIFE.

All LIFE.

Anything that moves.

Some of my friends are concerned about clean air, clean water and pure food.

You wouldn’t think that’s such a dangerous revolutionary activity, but in this country it got them beaten to ____ (sounds like he is saying “life” when this phrase used by anyone else would be “beaten them to death”).

Got some of them sent to prison. (that’s for sure! 350+ years if you add it all up)

Got some of them killed. (5/13/85)

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Dubside is publicly speaking MOVE about MOVE without ever saying the word MOVE.

LIFE

ACTIVITY

Dubside did not just attend the 1982 trial of Mumia Abu Jamal (a MOVE member on the down low), he was carrying out a MOVE activity.

A former MOVE supporter provided me with a PDF that are notes of the hearings and trial proceedings of Mumia taken by Dubside for Vincent Leaphart/John Africa who was “coordinating” Mumia’s defense strategy from afar - never attending the trial in person.

Taking notes for the leader of MOVE = a MOVE activity that would not be entrusted to someone who was considered a casual supporter.

Dubside worked with MOVE members who were acting as Mumia’s legal runners — Pam Africa when she was known as Jeanette Knighton, Ramona Johnson, and Theresa Brooks (died 5/13/85).

That may have been Dubside’s first activity for MOVE, but it certainly wasn’t his last.

In December 1983, Dubside was given the activity to help MOVE members affix megaphones to the exterior of 6221 Osage Avenue - the home owned by Leaphart’s sister Louise who was also a MOVE member.

On Christmas Eve 1983, MOVE members turned on the megaphones that would be used against the neighbors for the next 18 months.

Former neighbors of MOVE spoke about the megaphones in the 1987 PBS Frontline episode about MOVE’s May 13, 1985 confrontation with police.

So, did Dubside ever meet Vincent Leaphart/John Africa?

Did Dubside ever go inside 6221 Osage between 1982 and May 13, 1985?

If yes, did Dubside see the children who were being hidden in the garage after being abducted by MOVE members from Richmond, VA because a judge had ordered them to be permanently removed because of neglect and abuse?

Did Dubside have any prior knowledge about what Vincent Leaphart may have wanted to happen that tragic day?

Where was Dubside on May 13, 1985, and was he given an “activity” connected to the confrontation?

I have so many questions.

After the death and destruction resulting from May 13, 1985, Dubside attended Ramona Africa’s criminal trial and for almost 20 years provided his audio engineer skills for MOVE programs and demonstrations.

In the late ‘90s under the 2nd MOVE leader Albert Africa, Dubside wrote the “20 Years On A MOVE” booklet that was sold to supporters alongside the black t-shirts with the orange silk screened image of the ‘85 police helicopter.

In 2020, Dubside and Mike Africa Jr. co-wrote and published “Fifty Years On A Move”.

Mike’s paroled MOVE 9 parents, Debbie and Mike Sr., who knew Dubside from letters and prison visits, promoted the booklet in a video for Mike’s social media.

Two months later, former MOVE members came forward publicly—on my podcast and in Philadelphia news interviews—with serious allegations that MOVE was a cult that controlled, abused, and threatened its own members, and that MOVE was likely responsible for the 2002 murder of John Gilbride.

When I asked Dubside about John Gilbride during our final phone interview in March 2020, he tried to claim he didn’t really know him.

When I pressed Dubside further, he hung up.

That was the last time Dubside and I spoke.

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Today, Dubside still wears black and loves a microphone but his long locs are gone and his favorite topic has switched from MOVE to Greenland kayaking.

Dubside’s real name is Peter Gordon.

Sources have told me that Peter started going by DUBSIDE after meeting MOVE and apparently realizing that his Philadelphia land line phone number spelled DUBSIDE.

What’s your number?

Just dial my name.

Today, 215 + DUBSIDE is the cell phone number of some guy in Florida.

Hey Dubside, you have my number and I still have a long list of questions for you about MOVE.

Always here for comments and questions.

Back to my book work.

Have a nice day,

Beth

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There is ALWAYS so much more to share with you about MOVE as I write my book, so if it so behooves you, please subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.