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Organizers say the youth corps, still in its infancy, marks the beginning of a new era for the House of Umoja, which opened in West Philadelphia in 1969. It’s been credited with brokering peace between the city’s most violent gangs at that time. For decades it offered housing, mediation services, and educational assistance to gang-involved boys. Now leaders want to teach teens to act as positive role models and discourage gun violence among their peers.

Working on a solution to gun violence and want to share it? Get in touch with gun violence prevention
reporters Sammy Caiola and Sam Searles.
Hameen Jackson has his heart set on professional football. For a while, he was waking up at 6 a.m. every day to run so he could stay in shape for the field. He’s got game footage on his phone, and he doesn’t hesitate to pull it up when asked.
But the 15-year-old lost track of his mission this spring when he broke into a U-Haul lot and stole a van with some friends. He was placed in jail overnight and put on probation.
“It’s easy to get in trouble but it’s hard to get out,” Jackson said. “I just realized that...”

Concerned that her son could get roped into more serious crime, his mother Consuela Johnson placed him in the House of Umoja Youth Peace Corps, a new network of young people being taught to change the culture of gun violence among their peers. Jackson was part of the program’s first cohort, which wrapped in June after two months of career preparation, conflict resolution, and other after-school learning sessions.
“I want him to come out as a good boy, and to know that just because you made one bad mistake, that doesn’t ruin your life forever,” said Johnson, who is employed by the House of Umoja. “Him being here … he’s with other kids that never got in trouble...”

Organizers say the youth corps, still in its infancy, marks the beginning of a new era for the House of Umoja, which opened in West Philadelphia in 1969. It’s been credited with brokering peace between the city’s most violent gangs at that time. For decades it offered housing, mediation services, and educational assistance to gang-involved boys. Now leaders want to teach teens to act as positive role models and discourage gun violence among their peers.
“You’ve have to have the young people talking with the young people,” said Jacqueline Taylor-Adams, development director for the House of Umoja and program director of the peace corps.
It’s a tall order, with the city’s shooting rates at a record high and youth facing a slew of pandemic-related stressors. Former gang leaders who still work with the House of Umoja say the landscape of gun violence is different now — there are fewer formal groups, and the power and respect that used to be earned by climbing the ranks is now hastily acquired by carrying a gun. Some teens are afraid to be seen as weak, and social media can quickly cause petty interpersonal conflicts to escalate to gunfire...



John Johnson, a 68-year-old former Umoja resident who goes by the nickname “Baby John,” says the city can’t give up on young people.
“It is different, kids nowadays. But they can be touched,” he said. “If one don’t [listen], another one will. There’s always somebody who takes heed of what we say.”
Gun Violence Prevention Tactics From Umoja Leaders

1. Clean up the block. When streets are tidy and active, trouble stays out
2. Provide a haven. Many young people just need a place to feel safe and heard
3. Provide a meal. Breaking bread makes peace talks go more smoothly
4. Focus on work. Studies, chores, and job prospects can deter young people from engaging in crime
5. Teach leadership. Help young people become good role models for one another

After a long history in violence prbit.ly/WHYYArticleTeenPeaceevention, the House of Umoja remains respected by other grassroots organizations, and newer groups continue to seek advice from matriarch and master peace broker Queen Mother Falaka Fattah... READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE https://bit.ly/WHYYArticleTeenPeace 
This is a WHYY (PBS Broadcast • NPR) article in the Gun Violence Prevention section of the digital blog.

PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) –  14 June 2022 -- By resolution of the City Council of Philadelphia, Friday, June 17, 2022 at 12:00 noon at the corner of Frazier and Master Streets, the City of Philadelphia will host a ceremony as the city renames the 5600 block of Master Street as David Fattah Way and the 1400 block of Frazier Street as Queen Mother Falaka Fattah Way.
 
“RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the legacy and dedicated service of David Fattah and Queen Mother Falaka Fattah to Philadelphia youth be memorialized and the 5600 block of W. Master Street shall henceforth be known as “David Fattah Way” and the 1400 block of N. Frazier Street shall henceforth be known as “Queen Mother Falaka Fattah Way.”
 
Under the leadership of Queen Mother Falaka Fattah and her late husband Mr. David Fattah and  headquartered at 5625 Master Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States, the House of Umoja is an internationally acclaimed institution that has a fifty-four-year successful track record of positively transforming the lives of over 3,000 urban male youths and reducing gang violence. The House of Umoja, Inc. has designed and implemented innovative and solutions-based initiatives that are heralded as Global Models that promote peace, address many of the key challenges confronting boys and adolescent males which prevent them from maturing into productive and successful adults,  foster community development and economic sustainability, and create intergenerational collaborations.  
 
“WHEREAS, both David Fattah and Queen Mother Falaka Fattah founded the House of Umoja to serve as a sanctuary for Philadelphia youth involved in gang activity to give them a support system based on a family;
 
WHEREAS, After founding the House of Umoja, David Fattah served as its Director of Community Outreach for 50 years. In 1974, he negotiated the Imani Pact between members of several rival gangs in an effort to bring about peace in the city;
 
WHEREAS, Queen Mother’s work with the House of Umoja earned her over 100 awards and the respect of and admiration of two U.S. Presidents: Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan;
 
The House Of Umoja, Inc.’s indelible imprint in history will continue. Cognizant of the fact that our children are our “Next Generation Of Leaders,” the House Of Umoja discloses it’s transition plan and priority for the next two (2) years, the programmatic and physical development of Fattah Peace Academy. The transition began with the model program the UMOJA INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY developed by Queen Mother Falaka Fattah based on the experiences and success of the House of Umoja. April 19, 2022, the House of Umoja launched its “A Value Of Human Life After School Program,” the Umoja Youth Peace Corps, a component of the dynamic and multi-faceted curriculum offered by the Fattah Peace Academy. 
 
WHEREAS, David Fattah’s and Queen Mother Falaka Fattah’s dedication to teaching, mentoring, and nurturing over 3,000 young African Americans. David Fattah’s unwavering commitment to the strength and safety of Philadelphia communities and Queen Mother Falaka Fattah’s serve to the No Gag War in 74 Campaign, which influenced the lives of thousands, should be memorialized;”
 
Queen Mother Falaka Fattah states, “As the House of Umoja embarks on its 54th anniversary, the honor and acknowledgement of the street renaming ushers in an era of Hope and Healing for the House of Umoja.”

For further information about the House of Umoja, Inc., visit the organization’s website at www.houseofumoja.net or call (215) 473-5893 or send an e-mail to:  falakafattah@aol.com.
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) –  14 May 2022 —  Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, humanitarian, award-winning journalist, and Founder of the House Of Umoja, Inc., an internationally acclaimed institution that has a fifty-four year successful track record of positively transforming the lives of at least 3,000 urban young males and reducing gang violence through its 1974 No Gang War Campaign that saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Philadelphia, will be inducted into the South Philadelphia High School Alumni Cultural Hall Of Fame 2022 on Sunday, 15 May 2022 at 2401 Swanson Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Festivities from 1:00 P.M. until 5:00 P.M. and include a banquet dinner in addition to an induction ceremony. Queen Mother Falaka Fattah will be represented at the induction ceremony by her grandson, Mr. Anthony Bannister-Fattah.

When asked to identify role models who influenced her, Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, who will the only female to be inducted at the South Philadelphia High School Alumni Induction Ceremony on Sunday, 15 May 2022, pointed to two women – her Mother, an educator, and Mrs. Casey, a Latin teacher at South Philadelphia High School.

“As I accept the honor that my alma mater, South Philadelphia High School has bestowed upon me, my thoughts are turned to two role models who influenced me – my Mother and my Latin teacher, Mrs. Casey. My mother was a fully certified educator in an one room school in Virginia. When she relocated to Philadelphia, the Philadelphia School District refused to accept the certification she received in Virginia. She did not abdicate from her role as an educator and supplemented the education my brother and I received in Philadelphia’s school system. My Mother would ask us to share with her what we were learning in school. She would take us on a field trip that corresponded with a particular subject we were learning and employ her teaching skills to explore in great depth with us the particular subject we were learning at school during the field trip she created. The second individual who influenced me was my Latin teacher, Mrs. Casey at South Philadelphia High School. There are two things out of the many things that I learned from her that stand out. I learned the importance of words and words are very important. It is probably the reason that words mean so much to me. ‘Noblesse oblige’ one of the many Latin phrases I learned in Mrs.. Casey’s classroom, continues to resonate with me. Translated into English, ‘noblesse oblige’ means ‘noble obligation’ and ‘noble obligation’ is the obligation of honorable, generous, and responsible behavior. ‘Noblesse oblige’ is how I have approached everything in my life,” Queen Mother Falaka Fattah remarked.

During her award-winning journalism career, Queen Mother Falaka Fattah was a writer and editor for The Philadelphia Tribune and a writer for The Philadelphia Bulletin, The Philadelphia Independent, and The Philadelphia Afro-American. In 1968, she launched UMOJA Magazine.. It was during that same year, September 1968, that the House of Umoja, Inc. was founded to address rising and deadly violence driven by gangs in the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States. For five decades, the internationally acclaimed institution has designed and implemented timeless solutions-based Global Models for eradicating violence, fostering community development, creating economic sustainability, and addressing many of the key challenges that prevent boys and adolescent males from reaching their full potential and maturing into productive and successful adults. 

In 2007, the House Of Umoja, Inc. became the City of Philadelphia’s organizer and leader for the National Million Father March an initiative created by the late Mr. Philip Jackson and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois (www.blackstarproject.org; www.fathersincorporated.com)/. the National Million Father March encourages Fathers to take a proactive role in the education of their children and continues to redefine and reshape Fatherhood in the United States. Impressed with the House of Umoja, Inc.’s successful track record in reducing and eradicating gang violence and providing life lines for urban adolescent males, Mr. Jackson decided to expand the National Million Father March to Philadelphia and immediately offered the leadership and organizing role to the House of Umoja. The the National Million Fathers March was created in 2003 by the late Mr. Philip Jackson the Founder and was the Executive Director of the Chicago, Illinois-based Black Star Project (www.blackstarproject.org). The Black Star Project offers academic and mentoring programs for children, workforce development projects, and school services and is observed in hundreds of cities throughout the United States. The National Million Fathers March encourages Fathers to take a proactive role in the education of their child. The national leadership mantle for the National Million Fathers March has been donned by Fathers Incorporated (www.fathersincorporated.com) which is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Currently, to address Philadelphia’s gun violence emergency, the House Of Umoja. Inc. is facilitating the UMOJA Youth Peace Corps, a component of the Fattah Peace Academy and the UMOJA Intentional Community. An after school program for youths that provides them with a well-rounded array of training ranging from conflicts resolution, communications, mental and physical wellness, Blockchain Basics, entrepreneurship, dog training, and art therapy, the UMOJA Youth Peace Corps is an influencer leadership initiative centered around peace, the family of community, culture, and healing. The initiatives designed by the House of Umoja, Inc. to help bring peace to the City of Philadelphia is based on a collaboration in the 1970s between the House Of Umoja, Inc., community organizations, and incarcerated individuals serving life without parole sentences in Pennsylvania correctional facilities. It was a collaborative effort that resulted in the orchestration of a peace conference attended by gang leaders throughout the City of Philadelphia on 1 January 1974 and a peace treaty negotiated by the House of Umoja, Inc. Facilitated by Queen Mother Falaka Fattah, gang leaders attending the peace conference signed the Imani Peace Pledge™ and ended decades of bloody and deadly gang violence that played out in Philadelphia’s schoolyards and streets. The pledge was penned by the late Mr. David Fattah, the patriarch of House of Umoja, Inc. In 2022, collaborative efforts among community organizations, the House Of Umoja, Inc., and members of SCI Phoenix LIFERS, Inc. (www.lifersincpa.org), a nationally recognized “inside-out” Criminal Justice Reform, Reentry, and Restorative Justice think tank that mirrors the collaborative efforts of the 1970s are focusing on moving a new generation of youths and young adults to peace and resolve Philadelphia’s gun violence emergency.

Over the years, institutions that include, but are not limited to, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Prevention and the Center for Disease Control have sought the House of Umoja, Inc.’s expertise on gang violence reduction, youth programming, and community organizing. Former United States Presidents The Honorable James Earl Carter, Jr. and the late Honorable Ronald Wilson Reagan recognized the House of Umoja, Inc. for its pioneering work that has been documented in published articles such as “A Summons To Life,” by Robert Woodson of the American Enterprise Institute (www.aei.org) in 1981 and “The Violent Juvenile Offender,” by Paul DeMuro and Richard Allison of the National Council On Crime and Delinquency (www.nccdglobal.org), in 1984.
For further information about the South Philadelphia High School Alumni Cultural Hall Of Fame 2022 call 267-861-0391 or visit the South Philadelphia High School Alumni’s website at www.sphsalumni.org.
For further information about the House of Umoja, Inc., visit the organization’s website at www.houseofumoja.net or call (215) 473-5893 or send an e-mail to: falakafattah@aol.com.