CONTACT:
Queen Mother Falaka Fattah
House of Umoja, Inc.
(215) 473-5893
E-Mail: falakafattah@aol.com
“The Child who is not embraced by the Village, will burn it down to feel its warmth.”– African Proverb –
According to “The State Of America’s Children® 2020” Report issued by the Children’s Defense Fund (https://www.childrensdefense.org/policy/resources/ soac-2020-education/), 81% of poor African American children attend high-poverty schools, while only 54% of poor Caucasian children attend high-poverty schools. The report alarmingly estimates that at least 74% of African American fourth graders are not proficient in reading and mathematics. African American eighth graders suffered the same academic fate. And what happens scholastically, to these children if they become caught up in the “school-to-prison” pipeline? According to the report, youths housed in juvenile justice centers continue to have chronic poor academic performance. Approximately two (2) out of three (3) youths housed in juvenile justice centers eventually drop out of school upon their release.
Under the leadership of the House of Umoja, Inc. (www.houseoumoja.net), the City of Philadelphia’s Coordinator for the National Million Father March (http://www.millionfathers march.com; www.blacktarproject.org), which will be observed on Wednesday, 2 September 2020, the first day of the 2020-2021 academic year for students enrolled in Grades K-12 in the School District of Philadelphia, an intense focus will be placed on the academic performance of 4th grade students – particularly, their literacy skills. The Fathers ,Literacy Project, designed and facilitated by the House of Umoja, Inc., will serve as the conduit for the focus on improving the literacy skills of 4th Graders throughout the School District of Philadelphia. It will move Fathers who are unable to be physically present in their child’s life on a consistent basis – Incarcerated Fathers, Homeless Fathers, Military Fathers, and NonCustodial Fathers -- into the Million Father March equation by engaging them in reading a book with their child. Incarcerated Fathers, Military Fathers Homeless Fathers, and NonCustodial Fathers participating in the Fathers Literacy Project will develop a strong bond and relationship with their child; help improve their child’s literacy skills and academic performance; and ultimately, deter their child from being caught up in the “school-to-prison” pipeline. Through the Fathers Literacy Project, the House of Umoja, Inc. is ensuring that 4th grade students – the “Next Generation of Leaders” -- are embraced by the village and, as a result, will not be compelled to burn the village down to feel its warmth.
“Academic underperformance, particularly poor literacy skills, places fourth graders – our children – on the ‘fast track to prison’. Children not doing well in school in fourth grade, without intervention, will continue to be unsuccessful in school. The Philadelphia 2020 National Million Father March is working to ensure that all of our children enrolled in the fourth grade throughout the City of Philadelphia are reading at least one (1) grade level above their current grade. These souls represent the future of our community, our city, our nation, and our world – the ‘Next Generation Of Leaders’. Our children need to feel the embrace and warmth of the village. It is the responsibility of the village to protect them. We embrace our children by addressing the poor academic performance of our fourth grade students and their inability to read. In doing so, we protect them from the ‘school-to-prison’ pipeline. Through the Fathers Literacy Project, a component of Philadelphia’s 2020 National Million Father March, which creates a strong bond and relationship between Incarcerated Fathers, Homeless Fathers, NonCustodial Fathers, and Military Fathers and their child through reading a book together, our children – our fourth graders – will feel the warmth of the village. At the same time the village is sending a strong message that we will not allow our ‘Next Generation Of Leaders’ – our fourth grade students – to be caught up in the ‘school-to-prison’ pipeline – a system that is designed to destroy them and their future. When our children get caught up in the ‘school-to-prison’ pipeline, they are burning down the village, ” remarked Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, the founder of the House of Umoja, Inc.
Established in 1968 by Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, the House of Umoja, Inc. has a successful track record of positively transforming the lives of over 3,000 adolescent males. In 1974, the House of Umoja Inc. helped to end years of bloody and deadly gang warfare that played out in school yards and in the streets of Philadelphia by moving gang leaders to sign a peace treaty. The peace treaty took the form of the Imani Peace Pact™ which was penned by the late Mr. David Fattah. The Imani Peace Pledge™ which was utilized in 2006 to help end rising incidences of violence and reduce the number of persistently dangerous schools in Philadelphia is based on the Imani Peace Pact™. Universities and institutions that include, but are not limited to, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Prevention and the Center for Disease Control, have sought the expertise of Queen Mother Falaka Fattah and her late husband Mr. David Fattah in the areas of gang reduction, youth programming, and community organizing. Former United States Presidents The Honorable Jimmy Carter and the late Honorable Ronald Reagan have recognized the House Of Umoja, Inc. for its pioneering work which has been documented in published articles such as A Summons To Life, by Robert Woodson of the American Enterprise Institute in 1981 and The Violent Juvenile Offender by Paul DeMuro and Richard Allison of the National Council On Crime And Delinquency in 1984.
House of Umoja, Inc., since 2007, has served as the City of Philadelphia’s organizer and leader for the National Million Father March which encourages Fathers to take a proactive role in the lives of their child by escorting their child to school on the first day of each academic year, meeting their child’s principal and teachers, obtaining a copy of their child’s academic roster and the school’s academic calendar, checking homework and encouraging their child to excel academically. Under the House of Umoja, Inc.’s leadership, which began in 2007, Fathers in the City of Philadelphia join Fathers in hundreds of American cities in collaborating with school administrators and educators to help their child succeed academically.
For further information about the House Of Umoja, Inc. and Philadelphia’s participation in the 2020 National Million Father March, call (215) 473-5893 or send an e-mail to: falakafattah@aol.com.
For further information about the National Million Father March, visit the National Million Father March websites at http://www.millionfathers march.com and www.blacktarproject.org.
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