The HistoryMakers

The Honorable Chaka Fattah, United States Congressman of Pennsylvania's 2nd Congressional District was born November 21, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fattah's mother Falaka Brown Fattah and stepfather, David Fattah raised him in the commitment driven environment of The House of Umoja (Unity), one of the only urban boy's homes in the country. Fattah was a leader in The House of Umoja's "No Gang War Campaign" and "The Youth Movement to Clean Up Politics." Fattah attended city public schools, the Community College of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania's Fels School of State and Local Government where he earned a Master's Degree in government administration. He also completed the Senior Executive Program for State Officials at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

In 1977, at age 21, Fattah ran for, unsuccessfully, City Commissioner. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1982. In 1988, he was elected to the State Senate and in 1995, Fattah beat an incumbent to win the congressional seat. Now in his sixth term, Fattah is the architect of educational initiatives such as GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), passed in 1998, which gives low-income high school students the opportunity to attend and succeed at colleges and universities. He also established CORE Philly, which is a one-time scholarship grant designed to help students pay for their college education. One of Fattah's top legislative priorities is the Student Bill of Rights, which proposes that all students in public school systems of every state in the union have equal access to qualified teachers, up-to-date textbooks, computers and libraries. Fattah supported the Reauthorization to Higher Education Act and the Workforce Investment Partnership Act. Fattah co-sponsored the African Growth and Opportunities Act, the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997, and the District of Columbia Financial and Management Assistance Act, which became law in 1995. Fattah designed and introduced "Read to Lead", a free summer reading program, which provides books and classroom instruction to more than 5,000 students at his annual Fattah Conference on Higher Education. Since 1986, Fattah has held this annual conference, which has helped to motivate thousands of Philadelphia's youth to pursue a college education. Fattah serves on the House Appropriations Committee. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education and is on the Board of Trustees of Lincoln, Temple and Pennsylvania State Universities and the Community College of Philadelphia.

Identified by Ebony magazine as one of the 100 most important African Americans and by Time magazine as one of the 50 most promising leaders in the country, Fattah is married to Renee Chenault-Fattah and has four children.

Fattah was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on May 5, 2005.