Al-Malik Farrakhan Cease Fire... Don't Smoke Brothers & Sisters, Inc. Ceremonial Resolution of 2025

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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

26-80

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

September 17, 2025

To recognize, honor, and celebrate 30 years of Al-Malik Farrakhan and Cease Fire… Don’t
Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. for service to the District of Columbia.

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. has been in
existence since 1993, and became official on April 7, 1995;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan, known as “The Fighter,” was paralyzed by the Los
Angeles Sheriffs in 1986, and returned to Washington, D.C. in 1993 as a wheelchair user,
devoting his life to service and advocacy;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan has devoted countless hours to improving the quality of
life for the ex-prisoner population, having been appointed to numerous positions that focused on
the plight of ex-prisoners, and successfully campaigned to keep the death penalty out of the
District’s sentencing structure in at least 5 high-profile cases;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan facilitated the first truce meeting between 5 local rivals
to start the peace process, the first time in history that any mayor, through Cease Fire, hosted
rival gang members in the office of the Mayor, resulting in a major impact upon the lives of
youth at risk and gang members throughout the metropolitan area;

WHEREAS, along with Roach Brown, Sidney Davis, Tyrone Parker, Hanif Watkins, and
Yango Sawyer, Al-Malik Farrakhan facilitated the first Ex-Prisoner for Mayor Marion Barry
Committee, a group that focused on the rights of ex-prisoners and the concerns of prisoners in
penal institutions throughout the country, as well as those returning to the District of Columbia
following incarceration; assisted the Mayor-elect in recognizing and supporting the concerns of
ex-prisoners; organized a voter registration drive that engaged halfway house residents, the D.C.
Jail, Lorton Youth Center I–3, and Occoquan, Virginia resulting in over 4,000 new voters were

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registered and voted for the first time in their lives; and served on the Mayor-Elect’s Transition
Team Fact-Finding Task Force on Corrections and Parole;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan hosted the first Ex-Prisoner and Persons with
Disabilities Awards and Appreciation Program for the Honorable Marion Barry;

WHEREAS, with Roach Brown, Sidney Davis, and Tyrone Parker, Al-Malik Farrakhan
assisted Occoquan Correctional Institution Warden John Henderson to reduce tension during a
prisoner disturbance in 1995, and Lorton Correctional Institution Warden Vince Givens during a
prisoner work stoppage in the summer of 1995;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan served as Chair for prisoners and ex-prisoners from
1995–2000;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan developed the “Adopt-a-Prisoner for Life Project”
under the National African American Leadership Summit / Local Organizing Committee of the
Million Man March;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan, along with Roach Brown and Sidney Davis, helped
organize and register 5,000 Million Man March participants;

WHEREAS, with Roach Brown, Al-Malik Farrakhan led the Ex-Offenders March to the
Million Man March, which engaged 1,500 ex-prisoners in Washington, D.C.;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan hired and paid 19 ex-prisoners to work the Million Man
March;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan testified before the D.C. Council on ex-prisoner
concerns from 1995 to 2003;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan acted as a consultant, along with other CDSTB
members, for Young Brothers and Sisters (Y.S.B.) magazine regarding “How Mandatory
Minimum Crack Drug Sentencing Affects Minorities,” in 1999;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan organized a coalition to oppose the Truth in Sentencing
Bill 13-696 and turned in 5,000 petitions opposing the bill between 1997–1998, and the coalition
won;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan served on the Juvenile Justice Committee sponsored by
Judge Eugene Hamilton from 1998 to 2000;

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WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan served as Chair of the Committee on Law, Justice, and
Prison for the Million Families March;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan organized a coalition to oppose Bill 13-240, the
“Distribution of Marijuana Amendment Act of 1999,” in 2000, and the coalition won;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan made numerous media appearances on behalf of the ex-
prisoner population between 1995 and 2004;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan organized a coalition to oppose police killings,
harassment, and brutality against Black people in Black and Latino communities, and demanded
immediate review of police killings of unarmed youth between 1980 and 2003 that were ruled
justifiable homicides;

WHEREAS, with Tyrone Johnson, co-owner of Universal Madness, Al-Malik Farrakhan
organized the first Historic Ex-Prisoners Family Benefit honoring the legendary Jim Brown,
NFL football player, actor, and activist, and celebrated the life of the late Petey Greene, a legend
from the D.C. community, and honored 62 local ex-prisoners who, quietly and without seeking
glory or fame, made enormous impacts within their communities since leaving prison in 2004;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan formed a coalition to fight the Preponderance of
Evidence Rule (28 C.F.R. 219(c)), and D.C. Law 15-353, the “Child and Youth, Safety and
Health Omnibus Amendment Act of 2003,” on criminal background checks in 2004–2005;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan was voted Chair, and Tyrone Johnson was voted Co-
Chair, of the Ex-Prisoners Local Organizing Committee for the Millions More Movement at
Muhammad Mosque No. 4 in Washington, D.C. in 2005;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan founded Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers &
Sisters, Inc. in response to the rapid rise of violence and crime among Black and Brown youth
involved in the criminal justice system as an organization dedicated to creating a support system
for at-risk youth, gang members, and ex-prisoners by offering alternatives to violence;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. has received
numerous accolades and acknowledgments for its work, including mayoral proclamations
recognizing the organization’s “Jim Brown/Ex-Prisoner Day,” “Fight for the Fighter Day,” and
“Increase the Peace – Stop the Violence Day”;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. began with 50 gang
members from five area gangs, who met under the leadership of Al-Malik Farrakhan in the office

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of Mayor Marion Barry on February 28, 1995, declaring a Cease Fire that remains in effect to
this day;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. started the first
Black-owned bottled water business in 1995, securing ongoing contracts with businesses and
individuals, teaching entrepreneurial skills to members;

WHEREAS, the Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. mediated at
forums to address problems between Korean and Black communities, coordinated martial arts
training that provided 15 Black youth with sponsorship to study Tae Kwon Do under Korean
business leaders, and successfully implemented violence prevention and cultural sensitivity
projects that reduced Black and Brown gang and turf conflicts;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. coordinated and
facilitated voter registration drives for ex-offenders and youth populations;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. awarded recognition
to Mayor Marion Barry, Jim Brown, Harry Belafonte, Petey Greene, Rock Newman, Don King,
State Senator Tommy Broadwater, Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Frances Cress Welsing, among
others, at its Ex-Prisoners Family Benefits, presenting each with the “Key to the Hood Award”;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. adopted the Amer-I-
Can Foundation for Social Change curriculum, created by Jim Brown, to combat gang violence
and provide at-risk youth and ex-offenders with life management skills, education, and support
to lead productive lives, and organization members patrolled hot spots across all four quadrants
of D.C. at all hours to engage with gang members, identify leaders, and promote peace;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. was one of the first
organizations in Washington, D.C. to advocate against police violence, organizing more than 50
rallies and marches against police brutality;

WHEREAS, Al-Malik Farrakhan ran for at-large D.C. Council in 2002;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. supported
community needs by reopening Upshur Recreation swimming pool, cutting grass, and installing
basketball nets;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. has held its annual
coat drive for nine years, giving away 3,600 coats and 72 bicycles, primarily to children of the
incarcerated;

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WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. held the annual
“6th Month Moratorium to Stop the Killing” cookout and boxing event has, for 17 years, drawn

5,000 attendees each August without incident, making it the largest event for ex-prisoners on the
East Coast;

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. donates turkeys and
turkey baskets during Thanksgiving, serves 150 hot meals annually, and over 15 years has
distributed more than 2,250 meals, 2,000 baskets, and 1,300 turkeys to seniors, ex-prisoners, at-
risk youth, and others in need; and

WHEREAS, Cease Fire… Don’t Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. and other ex-
prisoners proclaimed December 1st as a day to honor the late Mayor Marion Barry, Jr. and his
late son Christopher.

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Al-Malik Farrakhan Cease Fire... Don't Smoke Brothers & Sisters,
Inc. Ceremonial Resolution of 2025”.

Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia recognizes, honors, and celebrates Al-
Malik Farrakhan and Cease Fire... Don't Smoke The Brothers & Sisters, Inc. for 30 years of service to
the District of Columbia.

Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately.