Chicago’s South Side is drowning in excuses, dependency and decay |
Opinion
Chicago’s South Side is drowning in excuses, dependency and decay
Rooftop Revelations: There is no external force orchestrating our destruction from the shadows
By Corey Brooks Fox News
Published April 28, 2026 10:00am EDT
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Rooftop Revelations: My walk across America reveals the cure for chaos isn’t more government
Corey Brooks, Project H.O.O.D. founder and pastor shares the lessons he learned in Mobile, Ala.
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As I recover from foot surgery in Chicago, my break from the Walk Across America has given me time to do more than reflect. I’ve seen so many things on my walk so far through small towns, big cities, ghettos, suburbs, open-air drug markets, posh farmers markets and even the occasional country market. Throughout it all, I’ve seen Americans of so many stripes, and they’re all moving forward, moving with a sense of purpose in their work and in their belief in God.
And when I returned home to the South Side of Chicago, I was struck by the stillness I felt here.
It pains me to say this, but it was as if I had never left. The same problems remained. People complained about the same issues they complained about the year before, and the year before that, not recognizing that fateful pattern of doom. Although my team has greatly reduced violence in our immediate community, it remains high on the surrounding blocks. Herds of teens continue to raid the Loop, wreaking havoc and destroying what others have built.
The pattern is obvious and undeniable. On my Walk Across America, I saw people moving toward something better, no matter if it was one step a day or 20,000. They moved forward in the faith of a good life and an eternal reward.
THE REAL CRISIS BEHIND AMERICA'S UNREST BEGINS IN THE CLASSROOM
Here on the South Side, while many do struggle toward something better, the current moves overwhelmingly in the wrong direction.
My time away revealed something I had grown too........