House of Umoja celebrates 40 years of service to the African-American community
By DAMON C. WILLIAMS
Philadelphia Daily News williadc@phillynews.com 215-854-5924
PHILADELPHIA'S pioneering African-American organization House of Umoja celebrates its 40th anniversary this weekend with the Collard Greens Cultural Festival on the West Philly block where it has planted seeds of change for four decades.
The group this year started what it calls a Peace Garden, a neat plot of vegetables growing at the end the 1400 block of N. Frazier Street above Master. And some of the collard greens used in the festival will come from that garden.
But the festival also will be a tribute to the perseverance of a family that has been identified with the city's African-American struggle since the 1960s.
The House of Umoja has been at the forefront of the local civil-rights movement since 1968, becoming a force during the urban gang wars of the late 1960s and early '70s."We're . . . using the youths as seeds," said founder Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, who has helmed House of Umoja alongside her husband, David Fattah. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah is their son."We're . . . planting seeds in the peace garden. It's a perfect way to celebrate 40 years of service."The three-day celebration will include panel discussions, music, cook-offs and other events.
"We are going to be celebrating ourselves, our food and culture," Fattah said. "The funds raised will go towards our long-term project."Part of that project is the long-standing effort to renovate the House of Umoja's "Boys Town" section, a row of Moorish-style, two-story houses bordering the block of Frazier Street and surrounding the group's headquarters at 56th and Master streets. The House of Umoja (it means unity in Swahili) spent $911,989 in the fiscal year that ended in June 2007 - more than half of that for salaries and consultant fees. In that fiscal year, $681,466 of its money came from government grants and contracts. A response to gang warfare
Born Frankie Ellen Brown, Queen Mother Falaka Fattah - the name means "a new day revealed" in Arabic - founded the House of Umoja in 1968.
It began as the communications wing of the third Black Power Conference, held in North Philly. Inspired by that effort, and profoundly affected by the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Fattah set up a home, without funding, for wayward African-American youth. "In terms of philosophy, I've always wanted to do something to help black people," she had said at the time. That help was sorely needed, especially in the light of rampaging gang warfare that erupted throughout black neighborhoods. In 1973, a total of 43 homicides in the city were connected to warring gangs, and in 1974 another 33 youths were killed. In all, more than 300 homicides between 1964 and 1974 were identified as gang-related.
It wasn't until 1972 when the House of Umoja received its first grant from the state's welfare department, enabling it to house and rehabilitate 15 court-appointed youths. That grant, for $126,000, helped Fattah move closer to her goal of building a replication of the ancient African city Djenne. "It will now become the first urban 'Boys Town,' " Fattah said decades ago. "It is a dream I have had for many years."
Fattah modeled the House of Umoja's "Boys Town" section after similar camps for wayward youths that were starting to appear throughout the country. The moorish motif is "not only a symbol to the youth of their proud heritage, but to bring a new awareness of that heritage to the community," Fattah said in 1979.
The House of Umoja also partnered with the old Philadelphia Youth Development Center in 1973 to train the youths; that contract was for $630,000, or about $8,500 per student."That's not a lot of money," William F. Johnson, then-executive director of the state Department of Welfare, said in 1973. "But we have been spending money on programs that weren't working. We had to try something new."
That state grant allowed House of Umoja to house 15 juvenile offenders, under the guidance of the Youth Development Center.
Other grants soon followed, including one for $244,620 in 1978. That 18-month grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was to go toward a neighborhood anti-crime program. At the time, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, said that "the only way to stop crime is to involve the people who are affected."In 1979, the House of Umoja netted its biggest grant to that point - $400,000 - from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to expand operations. But the House of Umoja's gang-mediation work took precedence over rebuilding the House of Umoja's implementation of its Boys Town."We delayed dealing with it because of our gang work," Fattah said in 1974. "Now, we feel an urgency to get started.
"Gaining political clout
The House of Umoja began to flex its political might when it took on then-Mayor Frank Rizzo's bid for a charter change that would allow him to run for a third successive term, and supported the MOVE cult during its confrontations with police in the mid-'70s.In 1970, the House of Umoja joined other grassroots groups to create an electable slate of black candidates. Four years later, David Fattah ran unsuccessfully to replace Hardy Williams as a state representative from the city's 191st Legislative District. In 1979, he tried to oust then-City Council President George X. Schwartz, but Common Pleas Judge Stanley Greenberg said Fattah didn't have enough valid signatures.After Rizzo's charter-change defeat in 1978, Fattah and state Rep. David P. Richardson formed the Black United Front to promote African-American causes. Fattah said then that "the black community held the keys to the success" of the charter-change defeat. "The black community was being used [by Rizzo forces] as a whipping boy. It was a cause to us."It was a time when police brutality often was directed against the city's black residents.The black wards had overwhelmingly voted "no" to the charter change, with more than 96 percent of the voters in those wards turning down the measure. At the time, lawyer Charles Bowser said that "Rizzo brought us together, but I think that the important thing about the black vote is that it . . . was a denunciation of polarization."Black voters are not controlled voters."House of Umoja's most controversial tactic was its early support of MOVE, including staging a rally outside MOVE's Powelton Village headquarters in 1977. A year earlier, Falaka Fattah had urged police, MOVE members and the community to cool the tension. She urged the city to drop all pre-confrontation warrants as a peace offering. In 1978, the police barricaded MOVE's headquarters, leading to confrontations."They are for disorderly conduct, not appearing in court," Fattah said then. "Certainly not the kinds of things that should be on the top of the FBI's wanted list."
A changing emphasis
Adapting to a changing Philadelphia and the varying needs of its youth, the House of Umoja is slowly moving from its anti-gang roots to an emphasis on green peace - using neighborhood gardens as a base for peacefully settling conflicts - neighborhoods and intergroup harmony.These days, only a handful of youth live in Boys Town, which had been home to more than 3,000 youths during the last 40 years. The place has had new paint jobs and rebuilt facades, but Fattah points to the peace garden as the most tangible sign of regrowth."We are going to use this garden to feed people," Fattah said, noting that the garden was once a trash-strewn eyesore. "The garden shows people what they can do, and it gets people excited. We wanted young people to see the value of growing, and as a people, it's a way to connect generations."
Posted on Fri, Jul. 25, 2008
Planting the seeds of peace: House of Umoja celebrates 40 years of service to the African-American community
By DAMON C. WILLIAMS
Philadelphia Daily News williadc@phillynews.com 215-854-5924
PHILADELPHIA'S pioneering African-American organization House of Umoja celebrates its 40th anniversary this weekend with the Collard Greens Cultural Festival on the West Philly block where it has planted seeds of change for four decades.
The group this year started what it calls a Peace Garden, a neat plot of vegetables growing at the end the 1400 block of N. Frazier Street above Master. And some of the collard greens used in the festival will come from that garden. But the festival also will be a tribute to the perseverance of a family that has been identified with the city's African-American struggle since the 1960s.The House of Umoja has been at the forefront of the local civil-rights movement since 1968, becoming a force during the urban gang wars of the late 1960s and early '70s."We're . . . using the youths as seeds," said founder Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, who has helmed House of Umoja alongside her husband, David Fattah. U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah is their son."We're . . . planting seeds in the peace garden. It's a perfect way to celebrate 40 years of service." The three-day celebration will include panel discussions, music, cook-offs and other events."We are going to be celebrating ourselves, our food and culture," Fattah said. "The funds raised will go towards our long-term project."Part of that project is the long-standing effort to renovate the House of Umoja's "Boys Town" section, a row of Moorish-style, two-story houses bordering the block of Frazier Street and surrounding the group's headquarters at 56th and Master streets.The House of Umoja (it means unity in Swahili) spent $911,989 in the fiscal year that ended in June 2007 - more than half of that for salaries and consultant fees. In that fiscal year, $681,466 of its money came from government grants and contracts.
A response to gang warfare
Born Frankie Brown, Queen Mother Falaka Fattah - the name means "a new day revealed" in Arabic - founded the House of Umoja in 1968.It began as the communications wing of the third Black Power Conference, held in North Philly. Inspired by that effort, and profoundly affected by the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Fattah set up a home, without funding, for wayward African-American youth."In terms of philosophy, I've always wanted to do something to help black people," she had said at the time.That help was sorely needed, especially in the light of rampaging gang warfare that erupted throughout black neighborhoods. In 1973, a total of 43 homicides in the city were connected to warring gangs, and in 1974 another 33 youths were killed. In all, more than 300 homicides between 1964 and 1974 were identified as gang-related.It wasn't until 1972 when the House of Umoja received its first grant from the state's welfare department, enabling it to house and rehabilitate 15 court-appointed youths.That grant, for $126,000, helped Fattah move closer to her goal of building a replication of the ancient African city Djenne. "It will now become the first urban 'Boys Town,' " Fattah said decades ago. "It is a dream I have had for many years."Fattah modeled the House of Umoja's "Boys Town" section after similar camps for wayward youths that were starting to appear throughout the country.The moorish motif is "not only a symbol to the youth of their proud heritage, but to bring a new awareness of that heritage to the community," Fattah said in 1979.The House of Umoja also partnered with the old Philadelphia Youth Development Center in 1973 to train the youths; that contract was for $630,000, or about $8,500 per student."That's not a lot of money," William F. Johnson, then-executive director of the state Department of Welfare, said in 1973. "But we have been spending money on programs that weren't working. We had to try something new."That state grant allowed House of Umoja to house 15 juvenile offenders, under the guidance of the Youth Development Center.Other grants soon followed, including one for $244,620 in 1978. That 18-month grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was to go toward a neighborhood anti-crime program. At the time, U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, said that "the only way to stop crime is to involve the people who are affected."
In 1979, the House of Umoja netted its biggest grant to that point - $400,000 - from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to expand operations.
But the House of Umoja's gang-mediation work took precedence over rebuilding the House of Umoja's implementation of its Boys Town.
"We delayed dealing with it because of our gang work," Fattah said in 1974. "Now, we feel an urgency to get started."
Gaining political clout
The House of Umoja began to flex its political might when it took on then-Mayor Frank Rizzo's bid for a charter change that would allow him to run for a third successive term, and supported the MOVE cult during its confrontations with police in the mid-'70s.In 1970, the House of Umoja joined other grassroots groups to create an electable slate of black candidates.Four years later, David Fattah ran unsuccessfully to replace Hardy Williams as a state representative from the city's 191st Legislative District. In 1979, he tried to oust then-City Council President George X. Schwartz, but Common Pleas Judge Stanley Greenberg said Fattah didn't have enough valid signatures.After Rizzo's charter-change defeat in 1978, Fattah and state Rep. David P. Richardson formed the Black United Front to promote African-American causes. Fattah said then that "the black community held the keys to the success" of the charter-change defeat. "The black community was being used [by Rizzo forces] as a whipping boy. It was a cause to us."It was a time when police brutality often was directed against the city's black residents. The black wards had overwhelmingly voted "no" to the charter change, with more than 96 percent of the voters in those wards turning down the measure. At the time, lawyer Charles Bowser said that "Rizzo brought us together, but I think that the important thing about the black vote is that it . . . was a denunciation of polarization."Black voters are not controlled voters."House of Umoja's most controversial tactic was its early support of MOVE, including staging a rally outside MOVE's Powelton Village headquarters in 1977. A year earlier, Falaka Fattah had urged police, MOVE members and the community to cool the tension. She urged the city to drop all pre-confrontation warrants as a peace offering. In 1978, the police barricaded MOVE's headquarters, leading to confrontations.
"They are for disorderly conduct, not appearing in court," Fattah said then. "Certainly not the kinds of things that should be on the top of the FBI's wanted list."
A changing emphasis
Adapting to a changing Philadelphia and the varying needs of its youth, the House of Umoja is slowly moving from its anti-gang roots to an emphasis on green peace - using neighborhood gardens as a base for peacefully settling conflicts - neighborhoods and intergroup harmony.These days, only a handful of youth live in Boys Town, which had been home to more than 3,000 youths during the last 40 years. The place has had new paint jobs and rebuilt facades, but Fattah points to the peace garden as the most tangible sign of regrowth."We are going to use this garden to feed people," Fattah said, noting that the garden was once a trash-strewn eyesore. "The garden shows people what they can do, and it gets people excited. We wanted young people to see the value of growing, and as a people, it's a way to connect generations."
Legendary House of Umoja Launches ''Green'' Campaign
by KYW's Karin Phillips
The House of Umoja is approaching its 40th anniversary with a new campaign that combines the work for peace and helping the environment. To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the House of Umoja has launched a "Think Green Peace" campaign", which will combine peace-making and greening on a number of levels.Queen Mother Fattah:"Our children are our seeds. So we look at the young people in terms of their growth and development. And we're celebrating life instead of concentrating on death. Green is also for economic development."Green is also, says Fattah, for transforming vacant lots in the Carroll Park section of Philadelphia. There will be several events this year leading up to the September 22nd anniversary. Kyw1040 News Radio
The House of UMOJA, an internationally acclaimed organization, is dedicated to the positive development of youth, reducing violence and abusive behavior, providing interventions in negative behavior and improving the quality of life for economically disadvantaged urban male youth and their families. Its comprehensive program has provided a positive living environment for boys ages 15-18 who unfortunately lack a sufficient family structure and it has operated on the principle of the extended family. Its rich 37-year history of service has been acknowledged with over 100 awards for work with at-risk youth, ending gang warfare and community service.
Recognized by the Superior Court[view]
The House of Umoja through the Peace in the Hood program has developed a working model to help diffuse violence in Philadelphia Public Schools, developed the Faith of Our Fathers Peace Campaign and embarked on a comprehensive neighborhood school effort to persuade today’s students to make a commitment to non-violence
The strategy for Faith
of Our Fathers Peace Campaign is based on the strategies
Umoja used during its peace campaign “No Gang War
‘74” which virtually eliminated street gang
turf wars here in Philadelphia almost three decades ago
and strategies have proven successful nationally through
the National center for Neighborhood Enterprise. “No Gang War In ‘74”
called for gangs in the city of Philadelphia to sign a peace
pact, the Imani Pact. Over 100 gangs in Philadelphia signed
a tangible contractual agreement to the community that they
would no longer engage in gang war. It is the unbroken promise
of those young people who today are fathers that is proof,
reasoning and example for today’s youth...Prior gang member[view]
In 1982, when he was 25, Chaka Fattah became the youngest person to join the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
But his life took a momentous turn before that, at age 13.
That was when his parents decided to ditch their given Colonial names in favor of something more identifiable with their African heritage.
So, Arthur Davenport became Chaka Fattah, named for a legendary Zulu warrior. His father changed his name from David Davenport to David Fattah; his mother went from Frankie Brown to Falaka Fattah.
Now a U.S. representative, Chaka Fattah has remained dedicated to the House of Umoja, and he's looking forward to this weekend's festivities.
"It's a celebration of a 40-year dedication that my family and parents have had," Fattah said in a phone interview this week. "From providing a home and being active at the community level to deal with problems that young males face, while also dealing with the violence in school and the neighborhoods."
'A tremendous legacy'
Fattah said the House of Umoja has transformed the lives of thousands of young men who have passed through its walls.
"I run across young men who came through the program and have done remarkably well, changing around their lives and circumstances," Fattah said. "The program has been one of the stars in the city and country.
"It really is led from the heart, and it is a tremendous legacy for the Fattah family."
Fattah said the House of Umoja always employed a "dual competency" by providing housing and direction for young men having trouble finding their way.
"Over the life of the program, there have literally been thousands of young men who were given roofs over their heads," Fattah said.
He recalled that some of the wayward youths often shared food and clothing with him and his five brothers, David, Walter, Robin, Kenneth and Stefan.
"When it was gang warfare, the House of Umoja was there, and today it's part of the antiviolence activity in West Philly," Fattah said.
"Their expertise is called on from Portland to Los Angeles to the Indian reservations. They even had people over from Ireland who were involved in the Catholic/Protestant conflict there."
Fattah would like to see his parents' dream of a fully operational "Boys Town" - a section of housing for wayward youths that surrounds the group's headquarters on 56th and Master streets - come to fruition. Still, Fattah can only be so involved from his perch in Congress.
"I have over the years, all these years, been active and involved," Fattah said. "There are some things I can do, and as a state rep, there's some things I can't do because it's my family involved," he said.'
"Obviously, there are some other efforts going on where I can be quite helpful, but there are certain restrictions on what I can do as far as providing funding."
Buildings need repair
Fattah said the help is most needed in rehabilitating the House of Umoja's more than 12 buildings.
"It's a community organization that began without substantial support, and over the years has sought to revitalize some of the buildings, which are in a constant state of repair, and you need funding," Fattah said. "When you house and support thousands of young boys, it can be challenging. There's a capital campaign going on right now to revitalize the block."
Fattah honors what his parents have built.
"As people applaud and celebrate this commitment of 40 years, it's important and appropriate to think about what each of us can do individually to make their own contribution in terms of helping people and guiding youths in the right direction," the congressman said. "It means a lot to the young people we come in contact with.
"It really is just a man and a woman that decided they have a responsibility to all children, but a broad responsibility for the children of Philadelphia."
Among thousands of fathers nationwide who walked their children to the first day of classes as part of the "Million Father March" were Abdus-Salaam Washington (right) and Arthur Johnson at Kenderton School in North Phila. It was a morning that Abdus-Salaam Washington had been looking forward to for months - the one on which his four children would return to school.
And he was eager to walk the three younger ones from his home in Tioga yesterday morning to nearby Kenderton School and to a day-care center near his job at an Erie Avenue barber shop. "I love my kids, and I enjoy walking them to school," said Washington, 30, after dropping off son Mikal Sims, 8, and daughter Cierrah Washington, 6, at Kenderton, at 15th and Ontario Streets in North Philadelphia.
Washington was among hundreds of fathers in Philadelphia who walked their children to the first day of classes as part of a national effort to encourage fathers to be active in their children's education, and to increase safety for children on the way to and from school.
The program, called "A Day of Male Responsibility - Million Father March," was coordinated in Philadelphia by the House of Umoja, a West Philadelphia organization dedicated to improving the lives of young people, especially young men.
Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, whose family operates the House of Umoja, said, "The idea came out of a program in Chicago about four years ago." She said it was launched by an organization known as the Black Star Project.
Fattah's husband, David Fattah, who leads the project in Philadelphia, said that in addition to encouraging greater parental involvement in school and increasing safety for children, the project "is about bringing people together."
Falaka Fattah said representatives of 218 cities nationwide had pledged to join the project this year. She said that last year, about 300,000 men in 200 cities participated.
She said, "Research has shown that children who have fathers involved in their educational life do better in school and in life."
At a kickoff rally this weekend outside the Philadelphia School District offices on Broad Street near Spring Garden Street, Anthony Murphy, a leader of Townwatch Integrated Services, an anticrime group, said having more fathers involved in their children's lives would help reduce violence. "Men are standing up. . . . It is our role," Murphy said. "Today is our day to say to the men, 'Stand up with your community. Without you, our homicide rate will rise.' "
Yesterday, as he walked toward Kenderton, Washington held the hands of his daughters, Dominique, 3, and Cierrah, as Mikal walked beside them. Washington joked with Cierrah and Mikal about the school uniforms they were wearing - light blue shirts, and navy blue pants and skirt. "When we went to school, you just came the way you came," Washington said. Washington, who also has a 15-year-old son, Tymere, who attends Bartram High School, said he supported the Day of Male Responsibility even though he would have walked with his children anyway, as he has done on most school days. "My wife and I both work, and since the school is near my job, I take them," Washington said. "We need more fathers involved at school," Washington said of the project. "It's definitely necessary. And I've been seeing a lot more fathers with their kids at school."
Washington said he was always concerned about the safety of his children on their way to and from school. "The murder rate in this city is crazy," Washington said.
Jim Scott, the school district's director of community relations, said the project brought out about 5,000 fathers. The project "went very well," said Scott, noting that this was the school district's first year in promoting the effort. "I think we had a great number of fathers taking their kids to school."
Falaka Fattah said yesterday that the project had prompted people to take action. "I think the project was tremendous because it ignited momentum over the last few weeks," Fattah said.
The feedback from the project around the country has been very positive, she said. "People felt that [the project] was something that everybody should be proud of," Falaka Fattah said.
Since 1979, House of UMOJA has been working diligently
to renovate and restore our facilities to replicate
the ancient African city of Djenné (jenn-nay),
a 13th century city once considered the most beautiful
and safest university city in the world. It was
the ruler’s prayer that everyone who came
to Djennè would leave in better condition
than then when they came.
The House of UMOJA Story, coments from President Ronald Regan 
