Pastor and Project H.O.O.D. founder Corey Brooks says mentorship is an underrated pathway to change in America and calls on critics of the violence and poverty in Chicago to get involved rather than sit back and complain.

It takes no skill to bash Chicago and its high murder rate. The bashing takes place year after year and the words hardly ever vary. I often wonder who these people are and if they believe that they are having an impact. They are not wrong when they say the root problems are fatherlessness, lack of education or immorality, but they are not telling us anything we don’t already know.

Several years ago, I met one of these complainers – a keyboard warrior, or whatever you want to call it, and he said to me, "Pastor Brooks, what then should I do?" My response was instant, "Come on down to 66th and King Drive and mentor one of my kids." He laughed and said that’s not going to change anything.

I could only shake my head at his denseness. I think we’ve become a society where we sit back and expect others, the government, or institutions to make sweeping societal changes. But the reality is that lasting changes often take place by focusing on the individual and strengthening each one to the best of their abilities. Mentoring is a proven, key way to achieve this. And it is far too underrated in our........

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