An Army of Normal Folks - The Crazy Pastor Teaching Us The Right Kind of Crazy (Pt 2)

Episode Date: April 7, 2026

Pastor Corey Brooks has helped transform the most violent area of Chicago into one that’s not in even in the top 35! And he’s done it by being utterly crazy—sleeping on a rooftop for 343 days in the Chicago winter to raise money, literally walking across America, and building a $40 million community center in the hood because they deserve it. Brooks will teach you how to act crazy (if you need to), as long as it’s just and for a just cause.Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/#joinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everybody is Bill Courtney with an army of normal folks, and we continue now with part two of our chat with Pastor Corey Brooks right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. So during our first interview, one of the most hilarious things I've ever heard, and I've repeated this story 10 or 12 times. And I bet you know what I'm about to say is you tried to convince your wife to come on. on the top of the building and hang out with you in the tent for an occasional conjugal visit. Yeah, yeah. Hey, I'm Nora Jones, and I love playing music with people so much that my podcast called Playing Along is back. I sit down with musicians from all musical styles to play songs together in an intimate setting. Every episode's a little different, but it all involves music and conversation with some of my

favorite musicians. Over the past two seasons, I've had special guests like Dave Grohl, Leve, Mavé, Mavis Staples, Remy Wolf, Jeff Tweedy, really too many to name. And this season, I've sat down with Alessia Cara, Sarah McLaughlin, John Legend, and more. Check out my new episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the Phantom at that point. Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom in that.

That's so funny. Share each day with me each night, each morning. Say you love me. So come hang out with us in the studio and listen to playing along on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A silver 40-caliber handgun was recovered at the scene. From IHeart podcasts and Best Case Studios.

This is Worshack, murder at City Hall. How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. July 2003, Councilman James E. Davis arrives at New York City Hall with a guest. Both men are carrying concealed weapons. And in less than 30 minutes, both of them will be dead. Now everybody in the chamber is ducks.

A shocking public murder. I scream, get down, get down. Those are shots. Those are shots, get down. A charismatic politician. You know, he just bent the rules all the time. I still have a weapon and I could shoot you. And an outsider was a secret.

He alleged he was a victim of flat down. That may or may not have been political. That may have been about sex. Listen to Roershack, murder at City Hall, on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the famous author, Roald Doll. He thought up Willie Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? Neither did I.

You can hear all about his wildlife story in the podcast, The Secret World of Roll Doll. All episodes are out now. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been. What? Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. The guy was a spy.

Binge all 10 episodes of The Secret World of Roll Dahl. Now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything. Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know.

You mean the, like, the president? You think Canada has a president. You think China has a president? Lozwe-Rousette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying,

not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Yeah. It is an actual poem. Better version of play stupid games,

win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And she said, nah. No way.

No way. I just told somebody about that story. Yeah. Would you like that? I told somebody asked me last night, they was like, how did your white handle the, you know, being on the roof all that time? And I was like, and I just told them, look, she was not coming up there because she was thinking people are going to say, were having sex and she was like she was not going for that so the only time she would come is if one of our kids would come up there with her so because the kid was a barrier between you and her she was

like yeah so i'm just i'm just wondering as she reconsidered in the uh RV you know what we've not I have not gotten any in the RV but that's not a bad idea because the RV is really nice it's got a big old bed back there is yeah but maybe after we get these guys out of it. Yeah. And we clean it really, really good. Yeah. Then maybe I might try to take a trip across the country in the RV.

You weren't down with the conjugal events on the roof. But we got an RV. We got a mobile command unit. With TVs and bathroom and everything. So, yeah. There ain't no tent. It's got walls on a door. You can lock.

You got to worry about anybody seeing anything. I'm working for you, brother. Man, maybe we can convince her. If you see the RV rocking, don't bother knocking. If you see the RV rocking, don't bother knocking. Lord of mercy. Has anybody just, like, as you're passing through, walked along with you for a few miles or anything?

Yeah, yeah. We had somebody walk with us yesterday. In Memphis? Here in Memphis. Cool. And he used to work for St. Jude. He now lives in Chicago, but he has some friends here. So he walked with us.

And we've had a lot of people walk with us along the way, especially in Atlanta. We had a nice, large group walk with us. D.C., we had a large group. Philadelphia. Are you walking along city streets or interstates? What you walk? I mean, do you ask? I mean, when people drive by and look over, what's that look like?

So mostly back roads, we try to stay away from the, main interstates because it's just too much traffic, too dangerous, so we don't do interstates. But back roads and trails, like we walked a trail. It was like a 70-mile trail in Philadelphia, I believe it was. Was it Philadelphia that trail? It was in Pennsylvania. Yeah, yeah. It was an amazing trail.

We saw Eagles. It was, that was probably one of the nicest trails that we've been on. It was really nice. So we walked, yeah, we walked the trails. when we walk back roads. Are y'all going to Mississippi? Yes. You going to do the Natchez Trace?

We did not do the Natchez Trace. Yeah. You go right past it? Yeah. Yeah. That's very cool. All right. So besides 100 pounds lost, how's this transforming you?

Not really physically, but spiritually and mentally. Well, spiritually and mentally, it's making me think a lot. I'm in my head a lot, which is good because when you're in Chicago and you're working, you never really have time to just stop and think and try to, it's always go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And stop for a second think and go, go, go, go, go, go, go. This has given me a chance to, like, really reflect and really try to figure out what is our culture of our organization going to be. So that's what I'm working on now. And that's what I've been teaching, making sure that that is spread to everyone and that it becomes contagious.

So you really have time to think about it and you really have time to figure out. And this is refreshing because it's really the first time other than the roof that I can remember just not having to do a sermon or not having to counsel someone or not having to do something. I can just really get in my head and think about America, think about the neighborhood, think about my family. what's best, you know, I call my son, my oldest son, Desmond. I have two boys. One just turned 35. The other one's 25. And my 35-year-old who runs our organization is married and he has two kids.

And I was thinking, and I told him, I said, you know what? We need to have a father-son trip every year. So just thinking about things like that. has been a blessing. You said you think about our country. What's one of the things you think about? I think about, you know, how can we make it better? How can we get people to be able to have a difference of opinion but still get along?

I really hate seeing the fighting to the degree that they're willing to kill people over having different of beliefs. I think we cannot continue down that road and be successful. I think a lot of ideas are to keep people in fighting, and so they can keep control. So we got to, that, I think about that a lot. And what is my place in helping, helping to further unity, you know? And so even I've toned down. on how I would say some things.

You know, at first, I was really dogmatic because I'm in Chicago and it's just you've got to be a little gangster in Chicago where we are. Edgy. Egy. You ain't got to be edgy. And so when anybody would come against my views, I would go hard.

But I'm learning. You can have a difference of opinion. and still get along. I'm still going to push my views, but I'm just not going to fight to the point of I'm willing to just risk it all. You grew up in Union City, Tennessee. That's South, and Union City is rural.

It's some country. I mean, I've coached football against Union City. I know what Union City looks like and feels like. It's West Tennessee, Northwest Tennessee, farming community countries. I assume that means that's what your parents I was born in New York City, but we lived in Kenton, Tennessee. Okay.

Which is about 16 miles from New City. Which means your parents' parents are from West Tennessee, too. Yes. My grandfather's from Tupelo, Mississippi. That's where Elvis is born. Tupleu, Mississippi is north of Mississippi. Yeah. If your grandfather is from Tupelo, Mississippi, it's very likely that you had direct family members that were at least sharecroppers.

And probably descendants of life. Yes. My mother had me when she was 19. My real father was never really around. So my grandfather and my uncles were the male figures in my life. And one of the things about my grandfather and all my uncles, they all worked really, really hard. And my grandfather had a third grade education, but he had a lawn business. He had a tree-cutting business. He would hunt and sell hound dogs. And he would always, he would, he would tell you constantly, always, no one knows you anything. If you're, whatever you're going to get, you got to work for it. So we would, we would pick strawberries in the summer. We would pick peas in the summer.

We would suck corn. We would have to work. And I think instilling that in me at an early age helped me to believe that it's all on me. I don't have to, no one is going to get me anything. And I think not only did I pick that up, but my cousins have picked that up. People who grew up in that little town, somebody should really do a study on Kent and Tennessee and how many successful black people came out of Kent, Tennessee, who were born in the 60s and 70s. There are so many, this little bitty town, doctors, lawyers.

You're talking about a town of 1,900 people, but I know at least five doctors my age. Black. Black. I know at least five lawyers. You know, I know at least five. corporate guys. And I think pushing us toward education, you know,

I think about education a lot. And it's because in Chicago, the reading proficiency in our neighborhood is 6%. Six, six percent reading proficiency. And I can remember being in the second and third grade in Kent, Tennessee, and them forcing us to read over and over. over and over and over and over.

And I think those principles of hard work, education, and family gave me certain views to believe that I can do anything and achieve anything if I work hard at it. We'll be right back. Hey, I'm Nora Jones, and I love playing music with people so much that my podcast called Playing Along is back. I sit down with musicians from all musical styles to play songs together in an intimate setting.

Every episode's a little different, but it all involves music and conversation with some of my favorite musicians. Over the past two seasons, I've had special guests like Dave Grohl, Lave, Mavis Staples, Remy Wolf, Jeff Tweedy, really too many to name.

And this season, I've sat down with Alessia Kara, Sarah McLaughlin, John Legend, and more. Check out my new episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the phantom at that point. Yeah, I was definitely the phantom in that. That's so funny. Share each day with me each night, each morning.

Say you love me. You know I... So come hang out with us in the studio and listen to playing along on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. A silver 40 caliber handgun. were covered at the scene. From I-Heart podcasts and Best Case Studios, this is Rorschach, murder at City Hall.

How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. Jeffrey, who did it? July 2003, councilman James E. Davis arrives at New York City Hall with a guest. Both men are carrying concealed weapons. And in less than 30 minutes, both of them will be dead.

Now, everybody in the chamber is docked. A shocking public. murder. I scream, get down, get down. Those are shots. Those are shots. Get down. A charismatic politician. You know, he just bent the rules all the time. I still have a weapon. And I could shoot you. And an outsider with a secret. He alleged he was a victim of flat down. That may or may not have been political. That may have been about sex. Listen to Rorschach, murder at City Hall on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the famous author, Roald Doll.

He thought up Willie Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? Neither did I. You can hear all about his wildlife story in the podcast, The Secret World of Roald Doll. All episodes are out now. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been.

What? Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you. The guy was a spy. Binge all 10 episodes of The Secret World of Roll Doll. Now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about and they are experts at everything.

Here, the Nick Dick and Poll show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Kugler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean the president? You think Canada has a president? You think China has a president.

Does law a russet. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one. I like that snake.

It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually thought it was. I got that wrong. Listen to the Nick Dick and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

But I really do believe what my grandfather used to say over and over that no one is going to give me anything. That's the reason why I think that's what led me to be on a roof because I feel like you have to put some skin in the game. You can't ask people to do more than you're willing to do. So my being on the roof, my walking across America is my attempt to say, I'm giving my all what I can give. now if you can help me to just do this, but it's about giving everything I can. And I think those principles were given to me early on. And then you tie in the fact that, you know, we have faith. I had to go to church.

You know, it wasn't, you're not going to sit at home and watch cartoons, get up and go to church. That was constant. And so I think those things were just ingrained in me in the early. early age and they have grown to another level as I've gotten older. And then the flip side of it is I've also seen how as I've gotten older, how certain things have created a dependency. In our neighborhood, there's a Rome where he grew up. And we talk about this.

It's a complex called Parkway Gardens. And it's about 5,000 people. Is it a project? It's a project. What's it called? Parkway Gardens. But you see generations of poverty. And you see generations of people who feel like you owe them something and they're victims.

And that cycle is hard to break. And I see how damaging it is. to families, to kids, to a neighborhood. And so I'm able to like see it hands on. I think that's what makes me even more of who I am because I actually see it. I can remember Rome, their group was probably the first group of really kids that I really used to just, it was a bunch of them. and they used to always come to the church. Pastor, can you give me a dollar?

Pastor, give me, can I get $5? And legitimately, they all wanted some candy or something to eat or some noodles or something. But I realized, no, we're not going to be giving you anything. I'm going to tell you. Same thing my grandfather told me, no one is going to give you anything. You got to work for it.

So it took me some time. But after about a year, those same kids would come, and they would start saying, Pastor, can I have a job. Pastor, you got some work for me to do because they knew I'm not going to give you a dollar. I'm not going to give you $2. I'm not going to give you $5 if you don't work for it. And so we would have, you can go to our church any given day, and you'll see kids sweeping something, doing something because they know you're not getting it if you don't work.

If you want $5, okay, you need, you need, you need, you need, you need. You need an outfit for Pitchard Day, okay, that's fine, but you're going to work for it. So if I open up my phone and show you, you'll see kids in my phone saying, Pastor, picture day is coming up, what can I do around the church to earn some money? What can I do on the block to earn some money? And that's, I think that's where it came from. That was a long answer, but that's my soapbox answer. How much have you raised so far towards your $25 million goal?

We raised a little over $3 million so far. So you got 22 million to go. Yeah, we got 22 million to go. How can the Army and normal folks help? Please, please spread the word. I tell people we need three things. We need time. If you can donate any time, give us any ideas.

We greatly appreciate it. We definitely need people's talents. You don't have to live in Chicago to help us out. But we have people who mentor some of our kids from other places like Florida and other places. So we need your talent. And we need treasure. We need, you know, since we're not, depending on government, we have to figure out creative ways to get funds to sustain all the things that we're trying to do.

And we want to have something that's sustainable. We want to have something that lives on way after I'm gone. So it's important that we have a big endowment. And it's important that we build this structure debt-free. So if people can get a check. How do people find you? What are they? Oh, Projecthood.org.

Project hood. That's H-O-O-O-D. Project Hood, H-O-O-D.org, and they can find out how to give and how to be a blessing to us. Part of the purpose of your walk across America is to inspire other communities to build stuff like Project Hood and their areas, a world-class community center. Have you heard of anybody else who's been inspired by that yet? You know, a lot of people who have asked us, can they start Project Hood chapters? And so, which is one of the things we wanted to do anyway. That's kind of cool.

Yeah, it is kind of cool. That's kind of like the Army and normal folks service club chapters. So we want to start some Project Hood chapters. And, of course, my team, they always, every day, remind me that they want to start one in Miami. I'm trying to make sure that it's because of work and ministry and mission. I don't know about Miami now. But they come to me every day talking about, you know, they got these educational problems in. Miami and yeah they got them in Memphis too now I don't they and so I don't know they didn't they

haven't said Memphis yet but they constantly keep saying Miami man I'd be careful you better send the best ones in Miami um all right that's walk across America that's project hood since our last interview in 2024 I've remained inspired by you I'm curious what's the last two years like just for you, for Corey Brooks? A lot of growth, you know, sharpening what I believe and why I believe it and why I do what I do. So I've grown tremendously in my thought process. I've enjoyed helping more people and being able to see the center go up, you know, not so much because we're building a big facility, but because I think.

I think a, like yesterday I put a tweet out that said, I am probably, I am so blessed because I get to build something that's going to outlast me that's going to help thousands of people. And for me, that's what life is all about. Tell me about, is that I don't want to butcher. Chris, Chris. Christian. Yeah, Kristen. Christian. Chris.

We called him Chris. He was shot and killed. And the. How long ago? That was two years ago. In the neighborhood? Yeah, I'm the South Side. And they caught, they finally caught the guy that shot him, and he's on trial right now.

So your godson? Yeah, Christian was my godson. My son, is my son, Kobe's one of his best friends. So he stayed with us quite often. And he was a good kid. He wasn't engulfed in gangs, and he was a good kid. and it's just wrong place, wrong time. With all that you have done for the community,

and it's your godson. I mean, did you allow yourself to go to the, why him, why me? That's a good question. I don't know if I said why him or why me, but I've definitely said I want to help prevent people from getting shot and killed. And when you ask that question,

I'm definitely angry. Angry, without a doubt. Not angry at God, just angry at God. Boy, I do. I get angry at God sometimes. I know I'm not supposed to. I get angry at God. I don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, I get

me wrong. at God. A lot. But this, this incident, I was probably a little bit more reflective on how we can prevent it from happening because it was, I don't want anybody to feel like his mother felt. I don't want anybody to feel like my son felt, you know, went into depression. Ty, since we've been on this trip, he just, one of his best friends was shot and killed on the west side. He was going to work.

and I can relate to watching him seeing that hurt, you know. And I don't want any way to hurt that happened. You're just going to work and you get shot. I mean, so much violence, the vast, vast, vast majority of violence is done against somebody by someone they know. Yeah. So in Chicago, it's kind of different. It's definitely by people that we know.

But we have neighborhoods. And these kids grew up in this neighborhood. and these kids grow up in this neighborhood. And you don't have to be in the game, but you're in the game because that's your neighborhood. You're affiliated by neighborhood. Yes, by neighborhood. So you're telling me you can get just shot

just for leaving your neighborhood. Yes. Yes. So it's literally turf. Turf. Turf. Yes, turf beef, social media beef. Even if you're not in it.

Even if you're not in the life. And you're literally not in your own business. just going to work. Absolutely. I'm going to shoot you just for driving down that street. Absolutely. Especially if they know he's from over there, you know, or she's from over there.

That is so freaking ridiculous. It's crazy. Yes, it's real crazy. We'll be right back. Hey, I'm Nora Jones, and I love playing music with people so much that my podcast called Playing Along is back. I sit down with musicians from all musical styles

to play songs together in an intimate setting. Every episode's a little different, but it all involves music and conversation with some of my favorite musicians. Over the past two seasons, I've had special guests like Dave Grohl, Leveveh, Mavis Staples,

Remy Wolf, Jeff Tweedy, really too many to name. And this season, I've sat down with Alessia Cara, Sarah McLaughlin, John Legend, and more. Check out my new episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the Phantom at that point. Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom in that.

That's so funny. Share each day with me each night, each morning. Say you love me. You know I... So come hang out with us in the studio and listen to playing along on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. A silver 40 caliber handgun was recovered at the scene. From IHeart Podcasts and Best K Studios.

is Rorschach, murder at City Hall. How could this have happened in City Hall? Somebody tell me that. July 2003, Councilman James E. Davis arrives at New York City Hall with a guest. Both men are carrying concealed weapons.

And in less than 30 minutes, both of them will be dead. Now, everybody in the chamber docked. A shocking public murder. I scream, get down, get down. Those are shots. Those are shots. Get down. A charismatic politician. You know, he just bent the rules all the time.

I still have a weapon, and I could shoot you. And an outsider with a secret. He alleged he was a victim of flat down. That may or may not have been political. That may have been about sex. Listen to Rorschach, murder at City Hall, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the famous author, Roald Dahl.

He thought up Willie Wonka and the BFG. But did you know he was a spy? Neither did I. You can hear all about his wildlife story in the podcast, The Secret World of Roll Doll. All episodes are out now. Was this before he wrote his stories? It must have been.

What? Okay, I don't think that's true. I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Binge all 10 episodes of The Secret World of Roll Doll. Now on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you listen to podcasts about AI and tech and the future of humanity, the hosts always act like they know what they're talking about, and they are experts at everything.

Here, the Nick Dick and Poll Show, we're not afraid to make mistakes. What Coogler did that I think was so unique. He's the writer-director. Who do you think he is? I don't know. You mean it to, like, the president? You think Canada has a president.

You think China has a president. Those law crusette. God, I love that thing. I use it all the time. I wrap it in a blanket and sing to it at night. It's like the old Polish saying, not my monkeys, not my circus. Yep. It was a good one.

It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish saying. It is an actual Polish saying. Better version of Play Stupid Games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong.

Listen to the Nick, Dick, and Paul show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. But here's the thing. You know if you're from neighborhood A, you ain't supposed to be a neighborhood B, even if you're not getting affiliated, right? Off time, yes. I mean, you know. Yeah, yeah. If you're sitting there saying it that obvious.

The problem is, the problem is, when people who are not even engaged in that lifestyle, like me, for instance, I feel like I ought to be able to go anywhere in Chicago. But there are some people who will say, man, he's for O'Block. Even as a pastor? Even as a pastor.

There are some, there are some young guys out there that, You're telling me the metaphorical collar isn't enough of a color to protect you? No. Absolutely not. Because they'll feel like they'll feel like a man, he's feeding O Block. He takes care of him. He's not doing that for us over here. So even in our neighborhood, for instance, I had to fight through that.

These guys thought that I was doing more for the guys on the block. So I had to go build relationships and hire guys from these other blocks. So to let everyone know, no, I'm for everybody. And I want all of us to work together. And we had to hire not just one or two guys. We've hired like for purpose, on purpose, four or five from each click. And we take them through training. We take them to trauma counseling, conflict resolution, violence prevention,

of that so that they can help us to live. That's one of the ways that we've been able to lower the violence in our neighborhood by getting all the clicks involved in the work. But at first, it was like, man, Passa's just helping those guys. So we had to get beyond that. I mean, honestly, that's disgusting. It is. And that is all over. That's one of the reasons why Chicago has such a problem. It's hard for people to get a handle on it because they're not dealing with all the people in their neighborhood. Are you trying to get kids from other neighborhoods to come to the community center to start changing that whole cycle? Oh, for sure.

Cycle? Yes, for sure. That's the whole idea. So we'll be able to do it. We still have to work on maybe some, like I can think in my mind, some areas that we really would have to work on to get them, you know, into the center. But they're kind of farther away, but we still would have to do some work. there's still such a conflict, but it can be done. The police have to love you.

Aren't you making their life job easier? Yeah, I'm, I'm, the police, yeah, yeah. I'm pro-blue, so. Well, besides that, what I'm saying is, I mean, if you're helping reduce violence, you're making their jobs easier. The police and Woodline definitely will say, hey, Pastor Brooks and Project Hood and New Beginning's church have definitely helped this whole.

whole entire community, without a shadow of a doubt. In that world, so I have a friend, a close friend who was involved in the L.A. Police Department back when L.A. was gangland. It's changed a lot, but back when it was really same type dynamics. Right. And one of the things he said is we all have to wear our colors. In other words, the gangs wore their colors, but the cops were their blues. That's cops' colors. The pastors out there always wore color because that was their colors. And there was a respect for the colors, meaning the gang guys wouldn't just go out and shoot up the cops,

and they wouldn't go beat up the clergy because they understood what each of those represented. There was this light, odd street line of respect based on the uniform you wore, and one of the uniforms may be a blue bandana. but it's still kind of the uniform, you know what I'm saying? What I'm hearing from you is in Chicago, those lines have been blurred, and that doesn't even count anymore. Definitely. Those lines are blurred, and there's such a lack of respect.

Then it's all breaking loose. For sure. Yeah, for sure. So, I mean, you were literally setting up this in the middle of an urban war. Yes. Yes. You've been scared? One time I was extremely scared

When we were trying to Right before we got ready to take over Or me going up on the motel There was this guy Across the street And he was hitting on this girl And you know Not hitting on her like picking her up like beating on her

And so I hollered Over at him to stop and I'm not going to keep telling leave her alone. And then I said, so he didn't know I was the pastor. Then I said, this is our neighborhood. We're taking this neighborhood now. But I meant that as a church and the pastor.

Yeah. He thought you were an O.G or something. Yeah. So he came over in the middle of the street, pulls out his gun, puts it on me. And my wife and my kids were in the truck. And I said, so you're going to shoot me in front of my wife and kids. And as soon as I said that somebody over there, somebody across the street said,

Pastor, Pastor, are you all right? And the guy said, man, you're the pastor. And I said, yeah, he said, man, you better stay out these streets and stop acting like you are gangster. Be the pastor. Put the gun up. And then I knew who it was. so then I, we went and paid him a visit so he could, no, never do that again. We didn't fight or anything, but we definitely, I definitely had to call some guys to go pay him a visit on 63rd.

That's crazy. But it's important that our listeners understand. It sounds like a little fairy tale thing. Dude gets on a roof, changes a hotel into a thing, isn't things great? I mean, it's the real deal. Yeah, it definitely was a real deal. So when we're asking folks to support you, we're asking folks to support you in the middle of an ongoing urban fight

for the souls of these kids. Yeah, it's an ongoing urban fight. That's the way to describe it. It's a war that we have to win and we cannot afford to lose. because if we lose it, generations are going to continue to be going down the wrong road for a lot of generations to come. I guess you do like walking down a trail every once in a while,

just collect your thoughts. Yeah, for sure. Five young people were charged in Chicago transit system robbery with help of a pastor. That was not long ago. Tell me about that. So wrong. Rome knows these kids.

So we have some kids. They're always at the church, and they're part of our church, part of our ministry. And I get it. A text message, Pastor, are these your kids? From the police department.

I wait to answer it because I'm not really sure. Then I see about 30 minutes later on the news. they got pictures of these kids who had attacked this individual on the subway or the train on the train yeah and I knew when I saw the pictures I'm like oh man

yeah these are our kids matter of fact one of the kids was Rome's nephew right cousin and so I knew I'm like oh man so I didn't want the police once they found out, they must have knew they were my kids.

I don't know how they found that out. So they had baines. They knew they lived in Parkway. So I didn't want them to be to rush up in Parkway and just. Lord knows what's all right. It would have been crazy because it was, it would have to bring a lot of police to get those kids. So I called the police station back and told them, I know the kids, give me some time.

Let me talk to their parents and see if we can get them all together. So I was able to get the parents together and all of them except for one. We went and we turned them in and that probably was the best thing that could have ever happened for those kids because we haven't had any more trouble. I had any of those kids. They all got probation, did their probation time and then were able to get it wiped off their records. for doing the right thing. And what would have happened had your organization not been involved in that community, just step in and kind of negotiate that deal?

It would have looked like SWAT team, beating folks up, guns, something. It would have been SWAT going up into Parkway Gardens for some kids, and it would have been national news. It would have been, it would have looked really, really, really bad. Well, forget, look. It could have become really, really bad. It would have been good. It would have been bad because, yeah, it would have been bad.

That just would not have been a good look. But that's the point. By having people on the ground in these areas trying to make things better and developing relationships, even in the worst of circumstances, there's an opportunity to make them more palatable. Yeah. And, you know, and shout out to Chicago PD, too, because they couldn't have to call me. They could have instantly just said, we're going up in there to get those kids. And even after the one kid did not want to go turn yourself in, they still gave me some days. They're going to give you some more days to see can you convince them.

Ultimately, I did, but thankfully it was only because they gave me the time to do it. But initially, those four kids, we were able to go and turn themselves in. All right. Been a call out for the Army to help you. Ken Griffin, one of the wealthiest men in America, has given Project Hood millions. And obviously, that's of massive importance to you guys. But as our listeners listen, an Army and normal folks, who aren't Ken Griffin, who don't have millions of dollars to give, I think Joe Sass, the Chicago Crossing Guard, likely made an even more sacrificial gift.

And I think it's his example to our listeners of how important the average person, the normal person can be to all the organizations we talk about, but specifically Project Hood is your walk across America trying to get this really vital place paid for. Tell us about Joe Sass. So Joe Sass was a security crossing guard. And I guess the water main or something had broke. It was icy or something. And instead of him turning kids around, he was picking them up and taking them across the street.

And somebody saw it and reported it to the news and the news did a story on it. And then another group decided that they wanted to do a fundraiser for him and really bless him because it's not like he's getting paid a tremendous amount of money. No, it's a crossing guard, right? And so they wanted to raise money to be a blessing to him, which was a great. great idea. But he said, that would be fine, that would be okay. But I want half of whatever is raised to go to Project Hood. He had been helping us in the past, and he had saw some things that we were doing on the news, and he knew about the center. And so half the money that was raised, he donated it to Project Hood. How much were we talking about? I think he donated.

I think it was $6,000 that he donated, that he could have kept for himself. And he had no reason that he had to give it to us. But it was a tremendous generosity. And that, you're right, that's, that was a big, big thing to do. You're faster. Close us with a story I'm going to butcher, and I'm going to let you clean it up. it's it's about wealthy men dropping off a small piece of their fortune but a very very very very poor woman giving the only amount she had and how her gift although by value paled a comparison of the wealthy man's gift was a far greater gift than even the wealthy men's gift yeah there's a story in the bible of this lady who it was during the giving, a lot of people were giving.

A lot of people were apparently giving much larger gifts. But this lady gave what was called two mites, too minimal, too small. Two dimes. Yeah, two dives. It was a real small. And when Jesus saw it, he said, this lady has given more than everyone.

because she's given from her lack. And that is what generosity is all about. We can give, but most time people give from their abundance. But when you're just a normal, everyday average person, we give sometimes from our lack. And I think that's what a lot of probably your listeners are doing. That's what are probably a lot of the people who give to our organization. have done. You know, they're not super wealthy people. They don't have a lot of wherewithal and a lot of

abundance, but they're giving five and 10 and 25 and 50, and they're helping a major cause. And so I appreciate those people who give out of their lack. I tell our church, matter of fact, I believe in that principle so much. I tell them that if anybody asks us what type of church we are, I tell them, tell them we're the church at Macedonia. because a lot of churches give out of their abundance. But the church at Macedonia, they didn't really have it, but they gave more than everybody. And that's the type of person I want to be,

and that's the type of church I want to have. One more time, project hood.org? Projecthood.org. Projecthood.org. I'm going to sign off this way. I'm looking at three guys in their early 20s, Rome, Rob, and Ta. Rob how are you?

24. 24. There you go. Rome looks like he could play left guard. Pretty big guy. He's got kind of a little little trash stash and kind of beard. He's got his hair rode up a little bit. And he's from where you heard he's from.

Rob's a white dude. He's also sporting a goatee, needs a little fill-in maybe in a couple years, dude. Where are you from? Milwaukee, but I live on the south side of Chicago. Milwaukee lives in Chicago. Ty has got longer dreads. He's got a tat on his neck. I don't know what it says.

He's got the stash. He's got two studs in his ears. It looks a lot like the kids I've coached. I'm not going to ask, but I can't imagine Rob and Tom. come from a whole lot of wealth. But these young men are walking across America with Pastor Corey Brooks, give what they got. Support them. Give.

Help Project Hood finish up the center that actually changes one of the most difficult parts of our country and can be a guiding light to how we can continue to work to better our neighborhoods. So that's my plea. And I think Rome, Rob and Tile walking around with you are really incredible example of the legacy that you're leaving, Corey. Thank you. I appreciate it. So everybody, Pastor and founder of Project Hood in Chicago, and his crazy 57-year-old self walking across America to raise awareness and money for the children in his very difficult community. dragging along some 20-somethings with them,

giving what they can. Brother, I'm so glad you're walking through Memphis on your way, ultimately to Santa Monica. Yes. From Times Square to Santa Monica. And I can't thank you enough for spending a little time with me on your, on your treads across. And I hope Ms. Brooks will consider that the conjugal gets at this time won't be as bad as they

would have been on the roof. Just please. Yeah. I mean, I'm begging the way. woman for you, brother. Begging. Corey, thanks for being here. Thank you, coach. I appreciate you. And thank you for joining us this week.

If Pastor Brooks has inspired you in general, or better yet to take action by financially supporting his work at Projecthood.org, joining him during his walk across America, which you can explore there too, or taking off and walking somewhere on your own and doing something like this in your own community or doing something righteously crazy like him, although I wouldn't suggest sleeping on a roof, but whatever, let me know. I really do want to hear about it. You can write me anytime at bill at normalfolks. us. If you enjoyed this episode, which I cannot imagine how you did not enjoy this episode, but if you did, share with friends on social. Subscribe to the podcast, rate it, review it. Join the army at normalfokes.com.

Do any and all of these things that will help us grow an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. Until next time, do it you can. Hey, it's Nora Jones, and my podcast Playing Along is back with more of my favorite musicians. Check out my newest episode with Josh Grobin. You related to the Phantom at that point. Yeah, I was definitely the Phantom in that. That's so funny.

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