Chaka Fattah was born Arthur Davenport on Nov. 21, 1956, to Russell and Francis Brown Davenport. In the late 1960s his parents chose to change their “slave” names and adopted the last name Fattah. When he was 13 his mother changed his name to Chaka, after the legendary warrior king who built the Zulu tribe into a powerful military force.

The late 1960s were also a time of extreme gang violence in the city. The Fattah family became involved when the situation got personal and they learned one of their sons had joined a gang.

“We were asking the same questions people are asking today,” said Queen Mother Falaka Fattah. “Why are our children killing each other?

“I asked my husband to research the problem. He hung out in the streets and brought home a lot of pertinent information. Then one night, he told me our son Robin, who was 16 at the time, had joined a gang.

“That made it all very personal. The more I found out about the problem, the worse I felt. I realized this was about life and death and I stopped looking at what other people were doing and asked myself, what could we do?

“At first I was worried because Chaka was two years younger and I thought this would affect him, but it didn’t. I began to understand that this group of boys was important to my son, so we invited them to come and live with us. We made them a part of our family. That’s how the House of Umoja began.”

The House of Umoja Boys Town initially operated for three years without public or private support. In 1970 it incorporated, as a nonprofit organization and today it is internationally known.

Queen Mother Falaka Fattah said that much of Chaka’s personality, his outlook on life and his vision of public service was birthed during those times.

“I think his family has a lot to do with it,” she said. “We were trying to save his brother’s life and the lives of these other young men. Chaka saw a lot of the trauma these young men had gone through and I think what he does now grew out of that.

“I know it’s in the depth of his being to want to help others. When we started bringing the gangs together for conferences Chaka was actively involved in that. His ability to persuade and to negotiate came out of that.”

She said Chaka was always serious as a young man and didn’t take things lightly. His father, David, agreed and related an incident during the gang peace conferences in the 1970s that developed into a brawl.

“He helped us a lot, especially with the first gang conference, and all the gangs were present,” the elder Fattah said. “At the second conference a free-for-all ensued and Chaka was right in the thick of it, trying to calm things down. It got very reckless.

“The next day the Moon gang came out and apologized and signed the 30-day peace treaty, which they kept. Chaka was all up in that.

“By 1973 we got the gangs in prison involved and they agreed to stop fighting. Eventually 32 gangs signed the Imani Pledge and they kept the peace. Chaka was a part of that.

“He’s had 20 years to study all aspects of the urban situation. Do I see a lot of myself in him? Yes, in the things I taught him. He’s very analytical, he’s good at thinking outside the box.”

Chaka Fattah is an experienced legislator. He served as a representative in the Pennsylvania House from 1983 to 1988 and as a state senator from 1988 to 1994.

When elected to the House in 1983 he was 25 years old, making him the youngest candidate ever elected to the Pennsylvania House.

Fattah was not supported by the local Democratic Party and his insistence on running despite the insistence of party leaders that he drop out is believed to be the genesis of his feud with Mondesire, who then worked for former U.S. Rep. Bill Gray.

He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1994, representing the 2nd District in Philadelphia.

“I was raised by parents who literally opened the doors of their home to help people,” Fattah said. “Community and public service has always been a part of my life. I think everyone should try to help others.

“In 1971 when Hardy Williams ran for mayor, I was involved in that campaign. When in 1977 there was an effort to recall then-Mayor Frank Rizzo, I was involved in that. I got the political impetus from early involvement with community leaders during the Rizzo years.”

But Fattah said what really excited him was a trip to Washington, D.C., during the 1972-73 campaign to change the legal voting age to 18.

During that time there were extensive efforts in the high schools to reach young voters who were about to turn 18. Fattah said he went to the nation’s capitol to help coordinate other high school efforts.

“I came home excited,” he said. “I also was involved in Charles Bowser’s campaign to become mayor, and all of this was before I turned 21. I was eager to be a part of the political process.”

His political mentor once he was elected to the Pennsylvania House was K. LeRoy Irvis.

In 1977, Irvis, a legislator from Pittsburgh, was the first African American to be appointed Speaker of the House. He died in March of last year.

Irvis served Pittsburgh’s Hill District for 15 straight terms and sponsored more than 1,600 bills. He is most known for bills promoting civil rights, fair housing, education, public health, highway safety and modernization of the penal code.

Fattah said Irvis took him under his wing.

“Irvis really positioned me as a junior member of the legislature to become knowledgeable about how government works. He positioned me to become successful.” said Fattah, who added that Irvis helped him get on the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

“Education is the centerpiece of my political career. Irvis helped me understand how the educational system works, how college finance works. You could say it kind of gave me a graduate degree in education.

I'm just happy this numbnuts ended up not being the shoo-in for mayor that so many thought he'd be.

LOL!