Philadelphia to ring in new school year with National Million Father March
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — As many children get ready for the first day of school on Aug. 26, House of Umoja Inc. is inviting area father figures out to their offices to help usher in the new school year with the National Million Father March on Monday.
In their 17th consecutive year of hosting the Philadelphia observance of the national march, House of Umoja community members will meet at 7 a.m. at 5625 West Master Street to march to Overbrook High School at 5898 Lancaster Ave. The march will include a carpool component for those unable to do the walk and to help form a motorcade.
"I am also a father with children in the Philadelphia public schools and I know the importance of walking our children back to school," organizer Anthony Bannister-Fattah said. "First day of school there's a lot of anxiety, there's a lot of nervous energy and uncertainty."
Mobilizing fathers to support children's schools, House of Umoja encourages participants to escort their children to their schools, meet with their child's teachers and principal, grab a copy of the academic calendar and enhance their children's literacy skills level by reading to and with their children.
"While participating, your presence matters as statistics show that children perform better academically and socially when fathers are involved," Bannister-Fattah said.
This year's theme is "Reading is Resistance" with the primary focus of the 2024 National Million Fathers March focusing on improving literacy rates of children throughout the Philadelphia School District.
"This year there has been a lot of banning of books from Beloved toThe Color Purple - a lot of African American books are now on the banned books list. Not only African American books but also books like George Orwell's 1984 are also on the lists so we understand that if you don't use it, you'll lose it so it's important to increase the literacy of our children."