Former gang leaders and community leaders give Queen Mother Falaka Fattah (in wheel chair, husband David to right), founder of House of Umoja, a standing ovation at the 40th anniversary event for the Imani pledge. (credit: Cherri Gregg-January 1, 2014)
Chaka Fattah was born Arthur Davenport, the fourth of six sons of a U.S. Army sergeant named Russell Davenport and a journalist and activist named Frances "Frankee" Brown. His mother worked for the Philadelphia Tribune and as an occasional publicist for musicians such as Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. The Davenport marriage failed while Arthur was still young, and his mother became deeply involved in the civil rights movement. At a 1968 national conference on black power, she met a fellow activist named David and married him two months later. Together they founded the magazine Umoja, a Swahili word for unity. They also decided to take new names that would emphasize their African roots. Frankee Brown became Falaka Fattah; Arthur became Chaka Fattah, named after the Zulu warrior Chaka.