28 AUGUST 2019 - 10:00 AM (E.D.T.) PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCING PHILADELPHIA'S OBSERVANCE OF 2019 NATIONAL MILLION FATHER MARCH HONORING LEGACY OF LATE MR. DAVID FATTAH, SR. AND MOVING CITY'S SCHOOL CHILDREN TO COMMIT TO NONVIOLENCE

HOUSE OF UMOJA, INC.

5625 W. Master Street

Philadelphia, PA  19131

(215) 473-5893

Facsimile: (215) 879-5340

E-Mail:  falakafattah@aol.com

Website:  www.houseofumoja.net

P R E S S    A D V I S O R Y

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:

Queen Mother Falaka Fattah

House of Umoja, Inc.

Coordinator for City of Philadelphia – 2019 National Million Father March

(215) 473-5893

E-Mail:  falakafattah@aol.com

Mr. Bilal Qayyum, President

Fathers Day Rally Committee

(215) 696-5362

WEDNESDAY, 28 AUGUST 2019 – 10:00 A.M. (E.D.T.) PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANNOUNCE PHILADELPHIA’S OBSERVANCE OF 2019 NATIONAL MILLION FATHER MARCH HONORING LEGACY OF THE LATE MR. DAVID FATTAH, SR. AND MOVING CITY’S SCHOOL CHILDREN TO COMMIT TO NONVIOLENCE

          PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 24 August 2019 – The House of Umoja, Inc. (www.houseofumoja.net), the leader and organizer for the 2019 National Million Father March in Philadelphia, will hold a press conference on Wednesday, 28 August 2019 at 10:00 A.M. (E.D.T.) in its office at 5625 West Master Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Calendar Year 2019 marks the 12^th year that the National Million Father March has been observed in the City of Philadelphia.   This year’s observance will usher in the 2019-2020 academic year which begins on Tuesday, 3 September 2019 by honoring the legacy of the late Mr. David Fattah, Sr.  who served as the City of Philadelphia’s Coordinator for the National Million Father March beginning in 2007 and passed away on 5 December 2018 and moving all children enrolled in schools throughout the School District of Philadelphia by signing the Imani Peace Pledge ™.  Mr. Fattah, the Co-Founder and Patriarch of the House of Umoja, Inc., was an educator who held two Master Degrees in Education, a Secondary Principal's Certificate, a Special Education Certificate, and a Teaching Certificate for Elementary Education from Temple University and a Master’s Degree in Education and Administration from Cheyney University.  He penned the Imani Peace Pact ™ which was signed onto by members of Philadelphia’s gangs in 1974 and helped to end years of bloody and deadly gang warfare that played out in the school yards and streets of the nation’s fifth largest metropolitan area.   The Imani Peace Pledge ™ is based on the Imani Peace Pact™ -- a document crafted forty-five years ago by Mr. Fattah.    

          Philadelphia’s observance of the 2019 National Million Father March is supported by Philadelphia City Councilman The Honorable Curtis Jones, Jr.  The Fathers  Day Rally Committee (https://fathersrally.com),  headed up by Mr. Bilal Qayyum, along with People for People, Inc., Daddy University, Inc.; The Strong Families Commission, Frontline Dads, Jarell Seay Love and Laughter Foundation, Black Male Community Council of Philadelphia, Black Men Uniting Black Men, Fathering Circle, Different Kind of Democrat represent a sample of the organizations collaborating with the House of Umoja, Inc. in orchestrating the 2019 National Million Fathers March in the City of Philadelphia.   Fathers in Philadelphia are being asked to escort their child to school; meet their child’s teachers and the school’s principal; obtain a copy of their child’s roster and the school’s academic calendar; and encourage their child to commit to nonviolence by signing the Imani Peace Pledge ™.  Leading by example, the House of Umoja, Inc. will help Fathers and their child ring in the first day of the 2019-2020 academic year on Tuesday, 3 September 2019.  Fathers are asked to assemble at 7:00 A.M. (E.D.T). on Tuesday, 3 September 2019 at the House of Umoja, Inc.’s office at 5625 West Master Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a march to an area school. 

              “On Tuesday, 3 September 2019 – the first day of the 2019-2020 academic year, we are asking every Father throughout the City of Philadelphia to participate in the 2019 National Million Father March by taking their child to school; meet their child’s teachers and the principal of their child’s school, obtain a copy of their child’s roster and the school’s academic calendar, and encourage their child to become an ‘Ambassador Of Peace’ by signing and honoring the Imani Peace Pledge™.  We are also asking teachers and school administrators to make copies of the Imani Peace Pledge™ available to students in their school and encourage them to sign and honor it.   Our schools must be ‘violence-free zones’ -- a place that is conducive to learning and equipping our children with skills that will help them successfully navigate an information and technology-driven global marketplace.   Philadelphia’s children and youth are our city’s ‘Next Generation Of Leaders’.  What better way to prepare them for their leadership role when they mature into adults than encouraging them to become ‘Ambassadors Of Peace’ by signing and honoring the Imani Peace Pledge™!  Our communities are our village and its leaders, among other things, work to create and maintain safety, sustainability, and peace.  As ‘Ambassadors Of Peace’, our children and youth are being groomed for leadership – leadership which rebuilds and protects the village by creating and maintaining safety, sustainability, and peace.  During his lifetime, my husband, David Fattah, worked tirelessly to educate our children – the ‘Next Generation of Leaders’ and to create an environment for them that was safe, peaceful, and conducive to learning.  Education, mentoring the ‘Next Generation of Leaders’ and creating a nurturing and safe environment for everyone in the City of Philadelphia serve as components of my husband’s expansive legacy,” remarked Queen Mother Falaka Fattah.

“Educating our citizens on the importance of having a father in the lives of our children and family and providing the best example of role models of fathers is a top priority.  The Fathers Day Railly Committee is collaborating with the House of Umoja, Inc. in its leadership and organizing role for Philadelphia’s observance of the 2019 National Million Father March  To that end, we are helping Fatherhood groups in Philadelphia reach Fathers who will benefit from being a part of their children’s education through the National Million Father March,” said Mr. Bilal Qayyum, President of the Father’s Day Rally Committee.

             The brainchild of the late Mr. Philip Jackson, Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago, Illinois-based Black Star Project (www.blackstarproject.org) which offers academic and mentoring programs for children, workforce development projects, and school services, the National Million Father March was created in 2003.   Observed in over 600 cities throughout the United States, the National Million Father March encourages Fathers to take a proactive role in the education of their child.  For further information concerning the Black Star Project and the National Million Father March, visit its website at www.blackstarproject.org.

      Established in 1968, the House of Umoja, Inc., an internationally acclaimed organization, was selected by the Black Star Project to lead and organize the National Million Father March in Philadelphia due to its successful track record of transforming the lives of and working with over 3,000 youths.   The House of Umoja, Inc’s successful track record 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 Jimmy Carter and the late 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.   For further information about Philadelphia’s observance of the 2019 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 www.houseofumoja.net.

            For further information about the Fathers Day Rally Committee, visit its website at https://fathersrally.com.

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