The Battle of Pastor Brooks vs the Government

It pays to be the leader

Hi all,

Yesterday, I received a text from Pastor Corey Brooks that said, “This is the city’s response to what I’m doing.” I clicked on the accompanying link to an article and saw this headline:

I was surprised to learn that this new community center would be built mere blocks from Pastor Brooks’ $40 million Leadership and Economic Opportunity Center.

I read in the article that “Sunshine Gospel Ministries is planning a three-story, $38 million community center on vacant lots…The Sunshine Community Center would have a fitness area, visual and graphic arts classrooms, a recording studio, a tech room, lounges for youth and adults, a café with a stage for performances and a demonstration kitchen for healthy eating instruction, among other facilities.”

Those words could have been copied from Pastor Brook’s master plans, which actually includes more, such as job-training facilities.

Even the mockup photos for Sunshine seemed to mirror the design of the pastor’s center.

I should note that Sunshine has been around for some time and has done many good deeds as a nonprofit. However, as the article states, Sunshine will be entirely government funded.

From the article: “A $13.5 million state grant, secured with help from then-state Rep. and now-Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th), will support the project.” In addition, Sunshine has applied for more government grants, including a $5 million Chicago Recovery Grant, and will seek government financing, including $2 million in tax increment financing.

Pastor Brooks has raised nearly all the funds through private donors and institutions. His goal all along has been to build the center debt-free and without political or governmental restraints.

The question here is why is the city supporting an endeavor so close to an identical project currently being built?

Is this dirty Chicago politics as usual? It is not a secret in Chicago that Pastor Brooks practices conservative principles in a heavily Democratic city. There has been friction.

It is also not hard to imagine that these powers which have failed to serve the underserved communities for so long would feel threatened by this display of American ingenuity on the non-profit side.

Why couldn’t the city have pushed this project to another neighborhood where there is stronger need?

One could be easily outraged that the city is doing this — it’s almost like giving the pastor the middle finger. I admit that was my knee-jerk reaction. After all, we’re so easily outraged these days.

However, after thinking about this, this move, as flawed as it is, perhaps signals a positive change in the larger culture. After all, nothing was getting done on the South Side for decades until Pastor Brooks decided to do something. It was his efforts over a 12 year period that ushered massive, undeniable change on his block — violence down, employment up, and more opportunities than ever. And now, the first construction, in who knows how long, is taking place on his block.

Other South Siders are taking note. I know of another man who now wants to take his successful non-profit to another level and his source of inspiration? Pastor Brooks. And there are several others.

Maybe it is not a bad thing that the government is now following Pastor Brooks’ lead. Lord knows what they were doing before was not working. Old patterns are being broken. Questions are being asked. That is how the culture shifts back the other way.

There is no doubt that this government funded center will test the pastor and keep him on his toes. But he has two things on his side: the support of the American people from all over and his unwavering belief in the principles that make the American Dream possible.

All my best,

Eli