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13 March, 2024

HOUSE OF UMOJA, INC. ANNOUNCES “NEXT STEPS” FOR “READING IS RESISTANCE” COMPONENT OF PHILADELPHIA’ S OBSERVANCE OF NATIONAL MILLION FATHER MARCH



CONTACT:

 Queen Mother Falaka Fattah

President and Chief Executive Officer

House of Umoja, Inc.

(215) 473-5893

E-Mail:  falakafattah@aol.com

  

          PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – The House Of Umoja, Inc. (www.houseofumoja.net) is following up its 24 February 2024 launch of its “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative in observance of African American History Month with an announcement of “next steps” for the multi-tiered initiative.   Components of the “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative encompass the “Planting Seeds Of Peace” Campaign; participation in Barbershop Books; and creation and coordination of “Block Book Clubs”,  will be orchestrated under the umbrella of the National Million Father March (https://fathersincorporated.com/million-fathers-march/) by the House Of Umoja, Inc.  Commencing in 2007, the House Of Umoja, Inc. serves as the leader and organizer of the National Million Father March in Philadelphia which encourages Fathers to undertake a proactive role in their child’ education.   which has been observed in the City of Philadelphia commencing in 2007. 

  

Planting Seeds Of Peace Campaign

           Inauguration of the “Planting Of Seeds Of Peace” Campaign will occur in the Carroll Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia which is located in the Philadelphia Police Department’s 19th District.   Residents in the Carroll Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia will see black posters and postcards with white-lettered inspirational quotes on poles and in stores, barbershops and salons:

 ·         Reading Is Resistance

·         Listening Is Learning

·         Books vs. Bullets

·         Love vs. Hate

 

Barbershop Books

           A proposed partnership between the House Of Umoja, Inc. (www.houeofumoja.net) and Barbershop Books (https://barbershopbooks.org/about) is designed to  exponentially improve reading and writing proficiently levels and test scores of African American, indigenous, and vulnerable boys.  Headquartered in New York City and the winner of the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize, Barbershop Books provides a male-centered space within which child-centered and culturally responsive literature together with community-based programming which moves Men into the “enhancing-literacy-skills-of-boys” equation.   

 Block Book Clubs

         Inauguration of the Block Book Clubs, the brainchild of Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, President and Chief Executive Officer of the House Of Umoja Inc. (www.houeofumoja.net) is scheduled for the Summer of 2024.   The Block Book Club will be coordinated by Block Parents in the Carroll Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia.  Block Parents will receive training and resources designed to assist them in establishing and hosting Block Book Clubs.  Youths in the Carroll Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia will select Block Parents. The Block Parent is in charge of the household in which the youths will gather for the purpose of participating in the Block Books Clubs and exponentially improving their literacy proficiency levels and test scores.  At the same time, the Block Books Clubs will serve as a vehicle to identify and address issues that serve as obstacles to empowering youths and their families

          Established in 1968, the House of Umoja, Inc.’s successful track record of transforming the lives of and working with over 3,000 youths has moved universities and institutions that include, but are not limited to, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Prevention and the Center for Disease Control, to seek 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 James Earl Carter and the late Honorable Ronald Wilson 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. 

       For further information regarding the House Of Umoja, Inc.’s “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative, call (215) 473-5893; send an electronic mail communication to:  falakafattah@aol.com; or visit the House Of Umoja Inc.’s website at www.houseofumoja.net.

 

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25 February, 2024

MR. DAVID DAWUD LEE: ODE TO A SOUL WHO TRANSCENDED BOUNDARIES



            The devasting news of David Dawud Lee’s death evokes a tsunami of emotions.  Mr. Lee, a wrongfully and unjustly convicted, wrongfully and unjustly sentenced, and wrongfully and unjustly incarcerated United States citizen died just days before the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons would review his commutation application and decide whether to grant him a public hearing for commutation at a Merit Review Session  convened on Friday, 23 February 2024.   The many souls who were fortunate enough to come within Mr. Lee’s orbit were frantically hoping that Mr. Lee would move one step closer to freedom – freedom as a living and breathing United States citizen who would out of prison .   We envisioned Mr. Lee being granted a  public hearing for commutation.  We envisioned Mr. Lee receiving a unanimous vote in favor of commutation from the Pennsylvania Board Of Pardons.  We envisioned celebrating and supporting Mr.. Lee’s reintegration into society.

  


       We had remained hopeful, in spite of the fact that on 3 June 2022, during  its Merit Review Session, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons voted 3-2 against granting a public hearing to Mr. David Dawud Lee, a prolific author, philanthropist, Mentor, Father, and “inside-out" Criminal Justice Reform Thought Leader.  Six months later, on 13 October 2022, Mr. Lee was again denied a pathway to a much deserved and overdue freedom when the Pennsylvania Board Of Pardons failed to reverse its decision made in June 2022 that denied Mr.. Lee a public hearing.

          

              Mr. Lee envisioned “moving forward” and “finally making it home”, and at the same time expressed the heart wrenching sentiment that his journey had been long and painful and that he had “more than enough” in his electronic mail communication to me of 8 February 2024:

 

Inbox

From: Lee, David

Date Received: 02/08/2024 08:58 AM CST

Subject:  PLEASANT GREETINGS!

Mrs. Sears it is a great pleasure to hear from you, and thank you for the very positive and thoughtful card! Yes the card came at a good moment. I also want to share that I will be up for a Merit Review Hearing scheduled for 2,23,24. I am pray to move forward and finally make it home! It has been a long and painful journey behind bars, and I have had more than enough. Once again thank you!!! Dawud

            Mr. Lee’s wrongful and unjust conviction, wrongful and unjust life without parole sentence, and wrongful and unjust life without parole incarceration was a horrifically long and painful journey.  Mr. Lee’s horrifically long and painful journey has ended, but not in the matter that we had fought for,, hoped for, and prayed for.  Mr. Lee is not walking out of prison.  He will never walk out of prison.  Mr. Lee laboriously took his last and dying breath in a cold, dank, desolate, hellish, and unforgiving place – prison

 

       So, who is Mr. David Dawud Lee?  Mr. Lee transcended his difficult set of circumstances to become  a proactive parent and a positive influence in his daughter’s intellectual, psychological, emotional, and spiritual development.  I marveled at the manner in which Mr. Lee fulfilled his commitment  to shepherd his daughter’s arduous journey from childhood to adulthood.  Mr. Lee was one of many Incarcerated Fathers throughout the United States who helped me resurrect the vision -- IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® -- and perpetuate the legacy of my late mentor L.T. Henry, who envisioned Fathers transcending the boundaries of geography, language, culture, economics, ethnicity, and religion for the purpose of working together as a collective to address and resolve unique challenges and issues which made it difficult for them to positively shape the minds and souls of their children; move their families forward; and sustain nurturing and fully functioning family units. In 2000, Mr. Lee was kind enough to present me with a soulful essay on Fatherhood that continues to resonate with me entitled, “A Spiritual Force”.     Years later in 2018, when I was asked to write a chapter focusing on incarcerated African American Fathers for a  Fatherhood research book project – Engaging And Working With African American Fathers:  Strategies And Lessons Learned (www.routledge.com-- created  by nationally recognized Fatherhood Practitioner Latrice S. Rollins, Ph.D. (https://www.latricerollins.comand published in December 2020, I immediately thought of Mr. Lee.   With Mr. Lee’s permission, I included an excerpt from “A Spiritual Force” penned by Mr. Lee that appears in Chapter 5:  "Engaging In Working With African American Fathers In Prison:  The Fathers And Children Together Experience Initiative" (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/ edit/10.4324/97804292783895/ engaging-working-african-american-fathers-prison-diane-aisha-sears).  Through “A Spiritual Force,” excerpted below, Mr. Lee powerfully articulates the unique challenges and issues that confront  Incarcerated Fathers – particularly – Incarcerated African American Fathers – who innovatively work to positively shape the minds and souls of their children.   

 

“After thirteen staggering years after being hostilely extracted from my community and my beautiful daughter’s life, I am still striving mentally to adjust to the psychologically scarring reality of me not having a presence in this precocious young life I have watched emerge through the gateway of a moist, dark maternal gateway into this chaotic world.  There have been countless nights of tossing and turning in some uncomfortable state-owned bed pondering or guessing what steps she might be taking while I waste away inside the swiftly growing ‘Prison Industrial Complex’.  Is her cultural, historical, technological, spiritual character and basic development being undertaken in a nurturing environment?  Are there problems at school, or the local neighborhood occurring that would require the attention of a caring father?  . . . I have sent home books and a weighty sum of mail with the hopes of conveying an undying love, nevertheless our relationship is still an uncertain odyssey in which we struggle to learn more about each other and the  socioeconomic dynamics surrounding our unceremonious separation.” 

 

Mr. Lee has provided practitioners, professionals, researchers, students, and policymakers in the fields of social work, public health, law, Criminal Justice, Restorative Justice, Prison Reform,  Fatherhood, and education, many of whom are providing or will provide in the future, resources and services to African American Fathers who are reading or have read Engaging And Working With African American Fathers:  Strategies And Lessons Learned (www. routledge.com),  with a powerful lens to view the unique challenges and issues that Incarcerated African American Fathers are addressing on a daily basis – under the most difficult and untenable set of circumstances.  Consequently, he has moved Incarcerated African American Fathers into the National and Global Dialogues on Fatherhood and placed Incarcerated African American Fathers at the national Fatherhood policymaking table.

 

             He cared deeply about all children as demonstrated by his financial contributions to the Kaupas Camp (see “Incarcerated Men Join Giving Circles To Redefine Themselves”’ published by the Federal News Network at https://federalnewsnetwork.com/ businessnews/2021/12/incarcerated-men-join-giving-circles-to-redefine-themselves/).  Mr. Lee’s financial contributions along with those of his colleagues at SCI Coal Township who are members of a philanthropic organization, Lifeline, which Mr. Lee co-founded, has sent each year, for approximately one (1) month, nearly sixty (60) youths who reside in and/or near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania to the Kaupas Camp at Bucknell University.   The young souls, who are the beneficiaries of the philanthropy of Mr. Lee and his colleagues, spend time at Bucknell University learning aboutinter alia, ecology and music.  They participate in clinics in a variety of sports that include basketball and field hockey, all of which are managed by athletic coaches at Bucknell University.   When reached for comment about  his and his colleagues’ philanthropy, Mr. Lee modestly stated:  “If we have an opportunity to send a child to camp, to experience something that I never experienced in my lifetime, that is a wonderful thing.”   

 

          Under Mr. Lee’s leadership, Lifelines Project (https://lifelines-project.org), an organization he co-founded,  developed and implemented a successful mentoring program,  “Dare To Care” which has a fifteen (15) week curriculum for incarcerated souls at SCI Coal  Township.  A prolific journalist, Mr. Lee is the co-author of a recently released book, “WEology:  Transformative Justice In Practice.”  His thought provoking essays educate and inspire his readers.  

 

           Mr. Lee was truly a Soul who transcended boundaries.  He is a Sou who will never walk out of prison, despite our fighting for his right to walk out of prison as a freedom . . .  despite our fervent hopes and prayers that he would “finally make it home”.  On 8 February 2024, fifteen days before the Pennsylvania Board Of Pardons was scheduled to review Mr. Lee’s commutation application and vote to grant him a commutation public hearing, Mr. Lee gutwrenchingly declared:  “I have had more than enough”.

 

       When does  “more than enough” become “more than enough” for us?

20 February, 2024

HOUSE OF UMOJA, INC.’S AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH OBSERVANCE PROMOTES LITERACY THROUGH LAUNCH OF “READING IS RESISTANCE” INITIATIVE; ADDRESSES BANNING OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE IN SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES


Anthony Bannister-Fattah (left) speaks at the entrance to Overbrook High School after leading a march to highlight the importance of fathers in preventing violence. He is accompanied by City Councilmember Curtis Jones (center) and Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (right). (PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF WHYY/Emma Lee). 


CONTACT:

 

Queen Mother Falaka Fattah

President and Chief Executive Officer

House of Umoja, Inc.

(215) 473-5893

E-Mail:  falakafattah@aol.com


 

 

           PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – – Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – the birthplace of the United States of America – the House Of Umoja, Inc. (www.houseofumoja.net), a globally acclaimed institution, will launch its “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative in partnership with The City Root (https://wwwthecityroot.com), an online publication which is founded by Mr. Kevin Chevalier who serve as the publication’s Publisher and Editor, in observance of African American History Month on Saturday, 24 February 2024 from 6:00 P.M. through 10:00 P.M. at the Ultra Silk Gallery, 3808 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania..    “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative is the brainchild of Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, President and Chief Executive Officer of the House of Umoja Inc. and a component of Philadelphia’s observance of the National Million Father March.   Addressing the rise in the banning of African American literature by schools and public libraries that is occurring in cities throughout the United States will also be explored by the House Of Umoja, Inc. during its observance of African American History Month on Saturday, 24 February 2024 at the Ultra Silk Gallery at 3808 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.   The American Civil Liberties Union in Massachusetts (www.aclum.org) provides a list of literary works penned by African American authors that are being removed from schools and public libraries on its website. A number of schools and public libraries in Western Pennsylvania; Bucks County, Pennsylvania; and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania have removed literary works penned by African American authors.  The arbitrary removal of books in schools and public libraries that has occurred in Pennsylvania, which raises constitutional issues, is being met with legislative push back.  Pennsylvania State Senator The Honorable Amanda Cappelletti has introduced legislation into the Pennsylvania General Assembly which prohibits schools and public libraries from banning books (see “Montgomery County State Senator Wants PA To Prevent Schools, Libraries From Banning Books” at https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/bill-prevent-book-bans-school-libraries-pennsylvania).  The book bans initiated by school boards in Pennsylvania are also being challenged by parents and community activists who have filed right-to-know requests to gain access to information regarding the various school boards’ decision to ban books (see “Moms For Liberty’s Extreme Agenda Gets Pushback From Pennsylvania Community,” at https://wwwadvocate.com/news/pennsylvania-pushback-moms-for-liberty). 

           

         Launching of the “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative by the House Of Umoja, Inc. on Saturday, 24 February 2024 at the Ultra Silk Gallery, 3808 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will take the form of a panel discussion entitled, “Books vs. Bullets:  1968 To Present”. Panelists who are invited to participate in the dialogue include:

 

·         Mr. Anthony Bannister-Fattah – Coordinator, Philadelphia National Million Father March – House Of Umoja, Inc.; Director, Community Outreach - House of Umoja, Inc.

 

·         Ms. Brielle Kimmins - Daughter of the late Philadelphia anti-violence activist Mr. C.B. Kimmins

 

·         The Honorable Curtis Jones, Jr. - Philadelphia Councilmember; Vice Chair of the Philadelphia City Council’s Committees on Parks and Recreation and Cultural Affairs;  Chairman of the Philadelphia City Council’s Committees on Public Safety; Commerce and Economic Development; and former resident of the House of Umoja, Inc.

 

·         Dr. Maurice Brian Henderson – Founder and President of National Men Of Color; Executive Director at National Black Art Spoken Word Tour; author; playwright; and  former resident of the House of Umoja, Inc.

 

·         Baba Hakim Tendaji – House Of Umoja, Inc. Site and Security Manager;  former resident of the House of Umoja, Inc.

 

·         Anwar Johnson – Clinical Social Worker, UMOJA Youth Peace Corps; Founder and Lead Clinician, The Greater Undoing Therapy Services (https://thegreaterundoing.com); Clinical Therapist, Black Men Heal (https://blackmenheal.org).

 

·         Mr. Gregory Bucceroni – Under the auspices of the City of Philadelphia Managing Director’s Office – Town Watch Integrated Services Program, established City of Philadelphia Neighborhood Town Watch Programs, School Safe Corridor Patrols; Business Watch Crime Prevention Programs; and Community Support Services.  Former resident of the House of Umoja, Inc.

 

·         Ms. Jacqueline Taylor-Adams – Panel Moderator;  Program Director – UMOJA Youth Peace Corps

 

         The House Of Umoja, Inc.’s launching of the “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative comes at a time when the globally acclaimed organization ushers in its 17th year as the leader and organizer of the City of Philadelphia’s observance of the National Million Father March which was created by the late Philip Jackson, Executive Director of the Black Star Project, (https://www.blackstarproject,org), headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.  In 2007, Mr. Jackson selected the House Of Umoja, Inc., which has a 56 year successful track record in addressing and reducing violence and positively transforming the trajectory of the lives of over 3,000 adolescent males, as the City of Philadelphia’s leader and organizer for the National Million  Fathers March.    Commencing in 2007 through 2018, the late Mr. David Fattah, Sr., the Patriarch of the House Of Umoja, Inc., served as the City of Philadelphia’s Coordinator for the National Million Father March which encourages Fathers to become proactive in the academic affairs of their child and to create a partnership with their child’s teacher and the principal of their child’s school to help their child excel academically.

 

             “Reading Is Resistance” is an initiative that serves as a vehicle all Fathers – Single Fathers, Incarcerated Fathers, Divorced Fathers, NonCustodial Fathers, Married Fathers, and Custodial Fathers – in Philadelphia can utilize to improve their child’s reading and writing literacy skills and ensure that their child is reading at least one grade level above their current grade.   Fathers are being asked, among other things, to select books that they and their child can read together; to read to their child; and have their child read to them.    Fathers are being asked to:

 

1.    Set rising academic expectations for their child for each quarter of each academic year which their child must meet.

2.    Determine if their child requires tutoring in any of their subjects and, if required, arrange for their child to receive tutoring in the subjects they are having difficulty mastering.

3.    Review their child’s daily homework assignments, particularly homework assignments that require the application of reading and writing literacy skills to ensure that their child (a) has fully completed the homework assignment; (b) prepared the homework assignment in a  legible manner; (c) understands the tasks that must be completed in the homework assignment; and (d) understands the information and instructions received in the classroom that is required to correctly complete the homework assignment;

4.    Review their child’s test score results in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science literacy skills tests administered annually statewide.

5.    Familiarize themselves with the central administration of the Philadelphia School District’s polices governing their child’s graduation, promotion, and retention.  As an example, the policies governing the graduation, retention, and promotion of students in Grade 9 through 12 which Fathers should know are provided below, and excerpted from “Marking Guidelines School Year 2020-2021 Grades 9 Through 12” (https://www..philasd.org/curriculum/wp-content/uploads/sites/825/2020/10/marking-guidelines-9-12-final-10.8.20.pdf), authored by Dr. Malaika Savoy-Brooks, Chief of the Philadelphia School District’s Office of Academic Support:

 

Board of Education Policy

 

Graduation Policy

 

A 12th grade student shall graduate if they:

● Successfully complete a Multidisciplinary Project or a Service Learning Project

● Earn a total of 23.5 credits, which include:

o 4 in English

o 3 in Mathematics

o 3 in Science

o 3 in Social Studies

o 1 in African American History

o 2 in World Language

o 2 in Arts and Humanities

o 1 in Physical Education

o 0.5 in Health

o 4 in electives

One elective must be a college preparatory Mathematics or Science course, an IB course, an AP course, or a terminal CTE course.

 

Schools or programs may predetermine specific subject area elective credits.

 

*A change in the graduation requirements, Act 158 of 2018, establishes additional requirements for high school graduation effective with the graduating class of 2022. The law creates multiple alternative pathways to graduation for students who are not proficient on the three Keystone Exams in Algebra I, Literature and Biology. See the PDE website for more information. . . .

 

 

Promotion and Retention

 

The Board of Education (the “Board”) of the School District of Philadelphia is committed to excellence in student achievement and recognizes the importance of a district-wide promotion policy which supports students’ grade placement in a setting most appropriate for personal, social, academic, and physical growth.

 

Guidelines

 

. . . A determination of promotion and/or retention of students will occur annually at the close of the school year. In regard to the timing of such action, exceptions to this policy can be made by the assistant superintendent after consultation with the principal, teacher(s), parent(s)/guardian(s), and with the approval of the Superintendent.  . . .

 

Promotion Policy

 

Promotion from grade to grade is based on credits earned:

● Promotion from 9th to 10th grade – 5 credits

● Promotion from 10th to 11th grade – 11 credits

● Promotion from 11th to 12th grade – 17.5 credits


         Established in 1968, the House Of Umoja, Inc.'s successful track record of transforming the lives of and working with over 3,000 youths has moved universities and institutions that include, but are not limited to, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (https://ojjdp.ojp.gov) and the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov)  to seek the expertise of Queen Mother Falaka Fattah and her late husband Mr. David Fattah, Sr. in the areas of gang reduction, youth programming, and community organizing.  Former United States Presidents The Honorable James Earl Carter and the late Honorable Ronald Wilson 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,


          For further information about the House of Umoja, Inc.’s “Reading Is Resistance” Initiative and its organizing and leadership role for the City of Philadelphia's observance of the National Million Father March, contact the House of Umoja, Inc. at (215) 473-5893 or send an e-mail to falakafattah@aol.com, or visit the organization’s website at https://houseofumoja.net.

 

            For further information about The City Root which is a partner in the House Of Umoja, Inc.’s African American History Month observance which is scheduled for Saturday 24 February 2024, visit the publication’s website at https://wwwthecityroot.com

HOUSE OF UMOJA, INC. ANNOUNCES “NEXT STEPS” FOR “READING IS RESISTANCE” COMPONENT OF PHILADELPHIA’ S OBSERVANCE OF NATIONAL MILLION FATHER MARCH

CONTACT:   Queen Mother Falaka Fattah President and Chief Executive Officer House of Umoja, Inc. (215) 473-5893 E-Mail:  falakafattah@aol.co...