*5625 West Master Street (David Fattah Way) * Philadelphia, PA 19131 * (215) 473-5893 * Website https://houseofumoja.net * E-Mail: falakafattah@aol.com
CONTACT:
Anthony Bannister-Fattah, Philadelphia Coordinator
- 2023 National Million Father March
Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, Advisor – 2023 Philadelphia
National Million Father March
House of Umoja, Inc.
(215) 473-5893
E-Mail: falakafattah@aol.com
Bilal Qayyum
President
Father’s Day Rally Committee
Co-Sponsor 2023 Philadelphia National Million Father March
(215) 667-9870
E-Mail: bilalqayyum@comcast.net
PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA --The House Of Umoja, Inc. (https://houseofumoja.net) marks its sixteenth anniversary of leading and organizing the City of Philadelphia’s observance of the 2023 National Million Fathers March in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a co-sponsorship with the Father’s Rally Day Committee (https://fathersrally.com) and a joint focus on improving the English and Mathematics literacy skills of children in Grades K through 12 who are enrolled in schools throughout the City of Philadelphia and brokering peace in the nation’s sixth largest metropolitan area. An internationally acclaimed institution that has a 55-year successful track record in addressing and reducing violence and positively transforming the trajectory of the lives of over 3,000 adolescent males, the House Of Umoja, Inc. (https://houseofumoja.net) became the City of Philadelphia’s organizer and leader for the National Million Father March commencing in 2007. For three (3) decades, the Father’s Day Rally Committee (https://fathersrally.com) has championed African American Fathers in Philadelphia who quietly and unceremoniously positively shape the minds and souls of their children and simultaneously make invaluable contributions and selfless sacrifices that strengthen and empower the communities in which they live and work The National Million Father March is an initiative created by the late Mr. Philip Jackson and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois (www.blackstarproject.org; www.fathers incorporated.com) that encourages all Fathers nationwide to take a proactive role in the education of their child. It is estimated that approximately 197,288 students enrolled in the School District Of Philadelphia will return to the classroom on Tuesday, 5 September 2023 – the first day of the 2023-2024 academic year.
On Friday, 1 September 2023 at 10:00 A.M. (E.S.T.), the House Of Umoja, Inc. will host a press conference at 5625 West Master Street (David Fattah Way) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to launch the City of Philadelphia’s observance of the 2023 National Million Fathers March. Fathers, Father Figures, community stakeholders, educators, school administrators, City and State legislators, business community members, clergy, social services professionals and providers, health and medical professionals and providers, members of the electronic and print media, Fatherhood advocates and practitioners, and public policy professionals are encouraged to attend the press conference scheduled to commence at 10:00 A.M (E.S.T.) on Friday, 1 September 2023 at the House Of Umoja, Inc. at 5625 West Master Street (David Fattah Way) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The press conference will provide Fathers and Father Figures with an opportunity to receive instructions and a registration kit in preparation of Philadelphia’s sixteenth observance of the National Million Father March which is scheduled to occur on Tuesday, 5 September 2023.
Fathers in neighborhoods throughout the City of Philadelphia are being encouraged to:
· Escort their child to school on Tuesday, 5 September 2023
· Meet their child’s teachers and the principal of their child’s school
· Foster a parent-teacher-school administrator partnership that positively enhances their child’s learning environment, creates and supports a “school-to-work” curriculum, disrupts the current “school-to-prison pipeline” curriculum, and exponentially improve proficiency levels in English and Mathematics
· Conduct “listening sessions” with their child that provide their child with an opportunity to talk about their daily experiences at school – e.g., their interactions with their classmates and teachers, their favorite subjects, their least favorite subjects, the physical condition of the school building – e.g., leaking ceilings, dysfunctional bathrooms, lack of heating, lack of supplies – textbooks, computers, etc.
· Obtain a copy of their child’s roster and the academic calendar for their child’s school, and the school’s budget for the 2022-2023 academic year.
· Commit to read with their children of all ages, custodial and non-custodial fathers.
· Review their child’s homework assignments on a daily basis.
· Review their child’s English and Mathematics literacy test scores.
· Move their child to embrace nonviolence and peace by encouraging their children sign the Imani Pledge™ (https://houseofumoja.net/imani-pledge.html).
Leading by example, the House of Umoja, Inc. (https://houseofumoja.net), the City of Philadelphia’s Coordinator for the 2023 National Million Father March and The Father’s Day Rally Committee (https://fathersrally.com), on Tuesday, 5 September 2023, will ring in the 2023-2024 academic year with a symbolic march to Overbrook High School, located at 5829 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fathers are being asked to assemble at the House of Umoja, Inc.’s office located at 5625 West Master Street (David Fattah Way) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania no later than 7:00 A.M. (E.S.T) ) on Tuesday, 5 September 2023 . The symbolic march will commence at 7:00 A.M. (E.S.T.) at the House Of Umoja, Inc. at 5625 Master Street (David Fattah Way) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and conclude at Overbrook High School which is located at 5829 Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Cognizant of the lackluster academic performance of children enrolled in the School District Of Philadelphia which is evidenced by declining scores in Reading and Mathematics Literacy Skills proficiency state-wide and national tests, the Philadelphia National Million Father March -- under the leadership of the House Of Umoja, Inc. (https://houseofumoja.net) and co-sponsorship of the Father’s Day Rally Committee (https://fathersrally.com) will continue to focus on improving Reading and Mathematics literacy skills of all children attending Philadelphia’s schools during the 2023-2024 academic year.. An alarming lackluster academic performance of Philadelphia’s school children has been graphically explored by CBS News (see “Philadelphia Schools Near Bottom In Academic Performance,” at https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/ news/philadelphia-schools-national-assessment-of-educational-progress-nations-report-card/) and the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a non-partisan, non-profit news site that focuses on state government and state policy issues (see “Philadelphia Student Scores On State Reading And Math Exams Down From Pre-COVID Levels”, at https://www.penncapital-star.com/education/philadelphia-student-scores-on-state-reading-and-math-exams-down-from-pre-covid-levels/). The House Of Umoja, Inc. (https://houseofumoja.org) in its leadership role for the City of Philadelphia’s observance of the National Million Father March, monitors the academic performance and Reading and Mathematics Literacy Skills proficiency levels of children enrolled in the School District Of Philadelphia on annual basis. In response to the alarmingly consistent academic underperformance of Philadelphia’s children together with a disturbingly consistent decline in state-wide and national tests that determine the Reading and Mathematics Literacy Skills proficiency levels of children enrolled in the School District of Philadelphia, the House Of Umoja, Inc. (https://houseofumoja.net) is working to identify and help address the underlying causes of the downward decline in education for school children in the nation’s birthplace and sixth largest metropolitan area.
“An urgent need exists to examine, understand, and holistically address the intellectual, psychological, and spiritual impact that the current gun violence emergency is having on our children. The current gun violence emergency is traumatizing everyone -- including and especially our children. How is the current gun violence emergency affecting our children’s ability to learn? We need to connect the dots between the traumatizing impact that the current gun violence emergency has had and continues to have on our children and their consistent academic underachievement and poor performance on state-wide and national tests that measure their proficiency levels in English and Mathematics literary skills. An article published on the website of Education Week at https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-this-is-what-happens-to-a-students-brain-when-exposed-to-gun-violence/2022/06 that is entitled, ‘This Is What Happens To A Student’s Brain When Exposed To Gun Violence’ comes to mind. Among other things, the article points out that for our children, ‘the experience of, or excessive worry about, toxic stressors like gun violence affects three key brain functions which students depend on for learning.’ The article further states that ‘ . . . the brain’s emotional response function goes into overdrive: It shows heightened reactions to emotional stimuli and has greater difficulty disengaging from them, ultimately resulting in greater reactivity to threat and therefore greater perceived stress. Because the brain’s emotional processing areas are also critical for perspective-taking, social interactions, and for attention, learning is impaired.’ Let’s be clear, our children are bright, willing to learn, and quite teachable. One could say that the consistent academic underperformance and the disturbingly consistent decline in state-wide and national tests that determine the Reading and Mathematics Literacy Skills proficiency levels of school children in Philadelphia is actually a very telling verdict on the current gun violence emergency in Philadelphia which is entering its third consecutive year. When our children do well, our families, our neighborhoods, and our city does well. So goes the children, so goes the village,” Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, the CEO and President of the House Of Umoja, Inc. remarked.
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 about Philadelphia’s observance of the 2023 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 Father’s Day Rally Committee, visit its website at https://fathersrally.com; call its office (215) 667-9870; or send an electronic mail communication to: fdrc2022@gmail.com or bilalqayyum@comcast.net.
For further information concerning the National Million Father March and Fathers Incorporated, visit its website at www.fathersincorporated.com or send an e-mail to: info@fathersincorporated.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment