Fathers step up to lead march - to school
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.
|
