Falaka+Fattah

by LeAnn Grade 5

Ms. Falaka Fattah helped stop gang violence in Philadelphia in the 1960s and 1970s by creating an Urban Boystown. The Boystown was a place where boys came to live to have a better life. Ms. Fattah started with her home being a Boystown. On January 1, 1974, she organized a gang conference. After Ms. Fattah spoke, all of the boys changed their minds about being in a gangs. Because of Falaka Fattah, there are fewer gangs in Philadelphia.

Sister Falaka Fattah was born on December 28, 1931 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was an insurance salesman and her mother was a teacher. At the age of seventeen, Falaka was married. She had six sons with her husband, Russell Davenport. Russell died of a heart attack.Falaka Fattah had a given name, Frances Ellen Brown. Her name came from a famous poet named Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

In 1952 the Ku Klux Klan bombed Frances Harper’s home. Falaka Fattah wrote a poem and sent it to the Philadelphia Tribune newspaper. When the publishers of the newspaper saw her talent, they offered her a job there. Soon she became the women editor. By the time she was twenty-one, she had support for herself and her family.

In 1969, Falaka Fattah created the House of Umoja. Umoja means “Unity." She created it because her son was in a gang. She told her son’s friends to come to her home and they did. She talked to them and changed their minds about being in gangs. She found out that all they wanted was family, or someone to accept them, and she did. That’s how the House of Umoja started. The boys stayed with Falaka Fattah for months. They had a curfew, and chores. The curfew was 10:00 PM, and the chores were ordinary house chores. An important rule at the house was getting up at 6:00 AM. Only fifteen boys were allowed at the house. Ms. Fattah treated all of the boys like her own sons. No one was left out. When the gangs found out about the House of Umoja, they went there and changed their lives, too.

On January 1, 1974, the House of Umoja organized a gang conference. Ms. Fattah spoke to the boys. She told them the meaning of life, and how the boys’ parents had struggled to have a better life. All of them took her words to heart. After the conference all of the boys pledged peace. She said “At first I was extremely anxious, even afraid. Many of these boys were killers. But as I slowly looked around the room into those faces and eyes, I realized they were children.”

Ms. Falaka Fattah is still fighting against violence. The House of Umoja is still accepting boys. Ms. Fattah bought twenty three houses on Frazier street in Philadelphia to expand the House of Umoja. Ms. Falaka Fattah’s legacy will never be forgotten.

Image Sources: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47033737@N00/6366477/ http://www.houseofumoja.org/bioqueenmother.htm