Philadelphia Yearly Meeting received this press release on May 13 from a Friend in the body regarding the 40X40WalkForReparations, which will take place on May 14.
ON THE 41ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOVE BOMBING, PASTOR AND REPARATIONS ACTIVIST REV. DR. ROBERT TURNER LAUNCHES 40-MILE WALK ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA AND CALLS FOR STATEWIDE REPARATIONS
March from Columbia to Harrisburg Connects the Birthplace of the Underground Railroad to the Capitol Steps — and Demands Pennsylvania Finally Repair Its Wounds.
COLUMBIA, PA — On the 41st anniversary of the day the City of Philadelphia dropped a bomb on a Black neighborhood, killing 11 of its own citizens — including five children — Rev. Dr. Robert Turner will rise tomorrow morning and walk.
Beginning at dawn on May 14, 2026, Turner will depart from Columbia, Pennsylvania — recognized as one of the first communities where the term “Underground Railroad” was spoken — and walk approximately 40 miles to the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. He will arrive in the spirit of the freedom seekers who once crossed the Susquehanna River in search of a justice this Commonwealth has yet to fully deliver.
The walk coincides with the launch of a formal Pennsylvania Statewide Reparations Petition, calling on the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Governor, and local governments across the Commonwealth to acknowledge, account for, and materially repair centuries of racial harm.
“Forty miles for forty acres,” said Turner. “We walk because the work is unfinished. We walk because eleven people were killed by their own government on May 13, 1985, and no one was ever held accountable. We walk because Columbia lit the first lamp on the road to freedom — and we are not yet free.”
ABOUT THE WALK
Tomorrow’s march is part of Rev. Dr. Turner’s ongoing series of monthly 40-mile walks connecting sites of profound Black historical significance to state capitols across America. Previous walks have included the 43rd Annual Walk for Reparations in April 2026 — a 40-mile march from Prince Edward County to the Virginia State Capitol commemorating the 75th anniversary of Barbara Johns’ student walkout at Robert Russa Moton High School.
The Pennsylvania walk begins in Columbia — a community whose free Black residents and abolitionist allies made it one of the most vital stations on the Underground Railroad, and where the railroad’s very name was first voiced. The walk ends at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, where Turner will deliver the petition and call on elected officials to act.
ABOUT THE PETITION
The Pennsylvania Reparations Petition is grounded in the four pillars of Turner’s book, Creating a Culture of Repair: Taking Action on the Road to Reparations (Westminster John Knox Press, 2024):
- Acknowledgment
- Accountability
- Redress
- Transformation
The petition calls on Pennsylvania to:
- Pass a formal resolution acknowledging the Commonwealth’s role in slavery, redlining, urban displacement, and the MOVE bombing.
- Establish a Pennsylvania Reparations Study Commission with a 24-month mandate for legislative recommendations.
- Create a Pennsylvania Reparations Fund with dedicated state appropriations.
- Deliver complete reparative justice for MOVE survivors and descendants.
- Formally recognize Columbia, PA as a founding site of the Underground Railroad.
- Ensure Black community governance over the design and implementation of repair.
ABOUT REV. DR. ROBERT TURNER
Rev. Dr. Robert Turner is the Pastor of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, Maryland, a Commissioner of the National African American Reparations Commission, and the author of Creating a Culture of Repair: Taking Action on the Road to Reparations (Westminster John Knox Press, 2024). He previously served as pastor of Vernon AME Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma — home of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — where his reparations activism took national shape. His monthly 40-mile marches have become a signature act of prophetic witness, connecting sacred Black geography to the halls of legislative power.
ABOUT THE MOVE BOMBING — MAY 13, 1985
On May 13, 1985, Philadelphia city officials authorized the dropping of a military-grade explosive device on a residential row house occupied by members of the MOVE organization in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia. The resulting fire — which authorities ordered firefighters not to extinguish — killed 11 people, including five children: Tomaso, Conrad, Delisha, Netta, and Tree. Sixty-one homes were destroyed, and more than 250 residents were left homeless. No city official was ever criminally prosecuted. Survivors and descendants have never received full justice or complete compensation.
EVENT DETAILS
WHAT: 40-Mile Walk for Pennsylvania Reparations — Columbia to Harrisburg
WHEN: Wednesday, May 14, 2026 — Departing at dawn
WHERE: Beginning in Columbia, PA (Susquehanna River crossing); ending at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg
WHO: Rev. Dr. Robert Turner, Pastor, Author, Reparations Commissioner
Media are invited to join the walk at any point along the route or meet Rev. Dr. Turner upon arrival at the Capitol.
For interviews, high-resolution photos, or a copy of the full Pennsylvania Reparations Petition, please contact:
Rev. Dr. Robert Turner
Instagram: @Revdrrobertturner
