Looking for Peace.....in $15million!?

I want to start off by apologizing to Pastor Corey Brooks for a misunderstanding, I did not in any way want you or anyone else to think that the cause you are working on was the problem.  The problem is in the obvious, two similar projects from the same city for the same cause from two people that met before but only one remembers the conversation.  I am not mad at you but I feel like there are some things hiding in the dark and if you stand back a bit from the issue your Political Science degree should kick in and see what I am talking about.  Mind you that I am NOT the only one that sees it that way because I have been asked by many people what was going on and their first question was, “did he call you to join you?” 

Let’s talk about people reaching out for a second…I was truly waiting for you to reach out since my previous attempts went unanswered and you were always unavailable to see me when you were on the roof top. You could have peeked over the edge and said Hi and told me when to call you but instead it was via one of your guys on the sidewalk through a phone call he made to you.  Why would you call other people about what I wrote?  Did you honestly think that making THAT phone call was going to silence me?  Did I ever say that I moved on the command of someone else?   

Just as easily you made that phone call you could have gone to my website:

( www.walkingtopeace.com ) and done the same thing if what I wrote really bothered you. I was prepared to publicly apologize if needed because as a man of God I am always able to stand correction.  So when I sat down with some of my closest people and told them what had happened they all asked, “Why hasn’t he called you?” Then one of them said “well he must be hiding something if he is unwilling to talk about it with you!”  I’m not going to accuse you of hiding anything but will say that you must have not researched very well and that does happen.  The significance in that is when one is doing something like this you don't want to hinder someone else by doing the same thing.  I searched for 12 hours before I bought the website 2 years ago and started planning and since then I keep my eye open for others doing similar things so I could reach out to them...maybe I'm the only one with a conscious...

So now let’s talk about the building you are looking to put right across the street from your church…$15million!  WOW!  I know of some buildings not far from downtown that go for less so why $15million what makes it that price?  See what I am trying to get at is that how is it that ANOTHER building is going to be the model to “end violence” in Chicago?  I love research so I did some of the area around your church and here is what I found:  

On a basic search on Google for churches in the area I found within a 1.7 mile area from your church 71 places of worship…71!

Since 2007just within 1 square mile of your church there have been 66 homicides here’s the link:  http://homicides.redeyechicago.com/search/?d=1&address=6600+S.+King+drive That is just shy of FIVE people to make it one person per church in the area!  Do you not find that disturbing?  How is it that there are so many places of worship and most likely in buildings and with all of those buildings violence has not ended?  Is the power of gangs and drugs bigger than God Himself!?  We got people that pray in tongues and shout to the Lord but all of that has not touched on the pulse of violence within the community?  I’m not making fun of how people worship but I have had a couple of pastors that say people that do that worship the right way.  What is it about this $15million building that ONE church is unable to do with the Power and Faith in God?  I’m sure there’s a great political answer to this and I could even come up with one but then I would be lying and showing the world that No with Jesus NOT everything is possible unless you have a $15million building sitting across the street from your church. 

There are two elementary schools within blocks of your church and one does better than the other but they both have asbestos issues…how could $15 million affect that? Here are links to the info in case you might want to address the issue: 

http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=610065

http://schoolreports.cps.edu/AsbestosInspectionReport_2010/24441-Emmet%20til_McCosh%20Annex.pdf

http://www.cps.edu/Schools/Pages/school.aspx?id=609813

http://schoolreports.cps.edu/6MonthAsbestosSurvey/22361.pdf

Within your zip code the percentage of vacant housing units is 13.51% that’s 3389 potential places of crime, drug houses, etc…  If you were to take $15 million and invest into half of these property’s (which is1695) you would be placing about $8850 into each home.  The average property value in the area falls within $50,000 to $99,000 and considering that these properties are vacant possibly due to the housing crisis you might get them for cheaper.  Wouldn’t you think reducing the vacant properties by half in a community is more effective than building ONE $15 million building?

Park Way community Center is located at 500 East 67^th street about 2 blocks away from your church.  This center was part of Jane Addams Hull House and as all of Chicago knows that place closed its doors recently.  Here’s a thought, rather than letting another building just sit there indefinitely why not figure out how you can obtain that building and you won’t need the $15 million! Isn’t that a great idea?

Here’s my point, you will not end violence by building a $15 million dollar building and it is not a lack of faith on my part but more of a lack of faith for those that believe $15million is the answer.

Pastor Brooks I am challenging you because when we met you admitted that all of this was new to you and all you wanted to do was the right thing.  I still believe that somewhere in you that is alive and one thing I told was that there are plenty of pastors in Chicago with empty lots but never do anything.  How did they get them? Because they did a favor of standing behind the mayor at a news conference and they were blessed with buying a city lot for $1 dollar and I said don’t be one of those pastors… 

You are an educated man and you know as well as I do that another building is NOT the answer to violence.  If the building has the sole purpose of giving affordable housing or opening a day care center to replace the shutdown of Park way center then it is just that but to say you will end violence by using this building as a model is just another story that many of us out on the streets have heard before.  You want to create change that will affect the community to deal with our society’s ills? Why not build a healthy grocery store that buys from local farmers and build a roof top garden to teach youth in the area the importance of eating right so they can pass that along to their families?  These ideas I’m offering to you and would hope that you could acknowledge that I am not mad at you just disappointed that you fumbled what could have been.  

At this point I do not expect you to reach out because you might have people around you telling you not to in fact I'm sure she's telling you that and you know who I mean.

Pastor Brooks I wish you well in your journey and I truly hope that you look deep down inside and think about what I am saying here. I have my past as well and it is rooted on the streets and I do not shy away from that.  I also have a deep spiritual background and have been in church my whole life so when I speak I use the fact I can find and write from my heart.  I didn’t seek millions for my project because that was not the purpose the purpose is to address the root causes of violence.  I welcome you to reach out if you care to and next time you need to address something I said talk to me not someone that you may think will handle me.

Peace/AMOR

Gerardo

Looking for Peace.....in another building!?

In 2010 after many hours praying and talking with those close to me an idea came to me about having a Walk across America to talk about violence in our society and today the Chicago Tribune, among other media outlets, wrote a story about Pastor Corey Brooks wanting to do the same thing.  What is interesting is that in December of 2011 I met with Pastor Brooks along side my Brother Min. Michael Muhammad, Bishop Carlton Pearson, and Clint Bargmann.  As we sat there I had mentioned to pastor Brooks about my Walking to Peace project ( www.walkingtopeace.com ) and gave him details as to how long it would take and so on.  Today in the news article he shared some of those same details as I did with him that December night.  Now, I’m not complaining about the pastors but I do bring into question when someone takes an idea and makes it their own from someone else. 

The difference between us is a few things, one is that he has an actual congregation behind him that will support and fund his time.  Two, he already has made a name for himself within the media because he has someone like Ms. Hartman guiding him.  Three, he is looking to raise $15million to build a community center across the street from his church.  So the basic message is that there needs to be a building that houses a community center for the community to be better…really?

Lets look at how many buildings we have in the US that does the same thing:  YMCA has 2686 sites and the Boys and Girls Club have 3954 sites so that adds up to 6640 sites across the US that are community centers, will a new building across the street from a church make a difference?

If it takes a building to bring attention to violence in community then wouldn’t a church be the PERFECT place?  Many pastors want to deal with the issue of violence but are usually afraid to do so because it is a tough thing to do so they create a community center to deflect the real issues at hand and make it look like something is being done.  I’m not saying he shouldn’t try but he should be genuine in his approach and since he is not it brings up a lot of red flags. 

The real issue at hand is racism in our society and how systematically we have created violence to affect only certain neighborhoods and certain people.  Lack of equal funding to all public schools in the US is another issue and anyone with a bit of intelligence knows that the proper foundation of a society is based in the education of it’s citizens. The message that is being used is one to fool everyone to believe that a community center will “stop the violence” and that is just a message of a poverty pimp.  If building a community center could achieve such a thing then we shouldn’t have the violence that we do have considering that in just alone in two different organizations we have 6640 centers that could “stop” the violence.  See a building can’t do that neither will $15million in the bank. 

I have been planning for my trip since 2010 and the evidence is in the length that my website has been up and I’ve been blogging about it since January of this year 2012.  I wasn’t looking for $15million because I am well aware of the fact that money will not change anything if you’re going to flush it into a building.  Is a building helpful?  Yes!  But pastor Brooks already has a building, his church!  Is the Faith not strong enough to support the idea that the work that needs to be done can be done from his church?  With out money or a building I have been able to do a lot in my life in working to reduce violence in our society.  I have been asking for funds since January just so that I could eat, sleep, and have clothes on my back to go on this trip to talk to YOU about violence in our society but the funds are few.  Is it because I lack a name?  Would it help if I disclosed “who I am” or rather who I am see as by certain people?  I shouldn’t have to do anything other than to have an honest heart and genuine feelings about changing peoples lives but it seems like people are NOT interested in that.  It is much easier to band-aid an issue and recreating the system that keeps violence alive in our society.  I am sorry that I do not have a name in the news that excites you, I’m sorry that I haven’t marched down a street chanting “stop the violence,” I’m sorry that I want to tackle the root of the problem, but it’s just that I am tired of the bullshit.  Are you really interested in saving the “good kids” only and let the “bad kids” go to prison and hell?  I don’t remember seeing Jesus walk with the rich and celebrities of His time but apparently it’s in someone else’s bible.

I do not apologize for what I am saying and if you are thinking that I am a bit upset then you have guessed right because it is not about pastor Brooks and it’s not about me it is only about the people that have been used and abused all of these years because WE have refused to talk about the real issues at hand.  I know it’s hard but WE have to do it because things will get worse and it’s not only the “gang members” that make it worse it’s also the politicians that use street organizations for their dirty work.  It’s the pastors that allow weapons to be brought into their place of worship, it’s the community based organizations that limit who they serve based on a profiling system they put into place, it’s the lack of WILL to be Faithfull that the Almighty Creator Lord God WILL place His hand over those that are honest and believing that He will protect them in this work.

Pastor Brooks you are well aware of the fact that we spoke about this and I offered in depth knowledge to what goes on here in Chicago as did others that night on the roof top.  You are well aware, because I placed my business card in your hand, that I was working on this issue and that ONLY when our communities come together will WE be able to make a really difference.  You are well aware that certain people around you may not want you to involve yourself with certain people based on their bias and if you are not then you should at least realize that she sat next to you that night.  You should know that I am NOT interested in the $15million because if that were the case I would have had it by now simply by exposing the truth.  I’m not mad at you but I am disappointed in you because it seems like you have allowed the politics of Chicago consume you and that will only lead you to one place.

I tired seeing you before but was told that you didn’t have the time to speak with my Brother Min. Michael Muhammad or me but you did have our numbers and well the phone never rang either.  Don’t allow yourself to be used by these people that want to charge you PR fees that are in the thousands of dollars because I don’t remember Jesus having to pay anyone…if anything He loves us freely.

Peace/AMOR

Gerardo HisH

Looking for Peace.....through the barrel of a loaded gun.

BANG- BANG- BANG---no it’s not a song on the radio but it is the sound of poverty that many people blame on violence.  Where does this violence come from?  Is it from a foreign country?  Is it extraterrestrial?  It is a form of expression that is human in nature but something has to draw it out.  Here’s an example; you and I are walking down the street and one of us gets mugged what would you most likely do?  Well chances are the one that is not being mugged will take action to stop the attack.  The mugger might turn around and start to attack the other one defending and now it’s a fight.  The defender now sees that they need to not only defend their friend but themselves as well.  The defender will take whatever action they feel is right to stop the attack.  In moments like these you have no time to think you just react and you will see how quickly one can become violent.  So how does that relate to gang violence?  Glad you asked…

Gang violence is NOT the first choice of a “gang member” or of the overall gang structure itself.  It is the end result of an accumulation of anger and frustration within that community.  Anger and frustration of what you ask…another great question thanks!

POVERTY and government MISMANAGEMENT of funds and responsibility within these communities!

Yesterday on the South Side of Chicago the congregation of a church sang "I Am on the Battlefield for My Lord" (according to a Chicago Tribune article today) and that church members may be putting themselves in harm’s way…really?  How long have we been marching down our city streets to “stop the violence?”  A very long time and nothing has changed because the root cause hasn’t changed which is poverty.  You CANNOT expect that a march will actually stop violence because the Brothers and Sisters out there are out there because they are lacking some basics in their lives.  We can’t magically think ourselves out of poverty there needs to be real action from people that are in positions that are obligatory to help people in need.  How many more pastors do we need to see on TV, while wearing their best suit, talk about ending violence?  It has become a joke at this point because it’ll be in the news one day and the next everyone is too busy to take real action.  What is real action?  You are just full of great questions today!  Thanks for asking!

Real action consists of several avenues though the list is not a full list it’s at least a start:

Education- not only making sure that every public school in your community is fully funded but also educating yourself and others about the root reason and cause to the violence.  It is about drugs but go deeper and realize that Heroin is NOT grown on the West Side but brought in from other countries, what do you do there?

Being active- this is tough in poor communities because people are working odd hour jobs and usually more than one job.  But with technology today being active can be done many ways anywhere from signing a petition for better city services to keeping a community center open.

Be a community- back in the 1990’s there was an enormous push for Block clubs because people started to use “it takes a village…” slogan and those of us that worked in the hood quickly saw how these same adults that cursed the gang members became a gang of their own with their Block clubs.  Community is about caring for everyone that is in it and comes through it no matter who they are.  Find how that can work in your community.

Being responsible- this is mostly for people with those titles that commit them to helping those in need.  I find it hard to understand how it is that I have to try and convince a pastor to helping the community.  It’s amazing how people will say “we just need to pray about it and let God do what God does” have you ever thought that just maybe God empowered you to become a preacher so that YOU can answer the action in that prayer!?  DUH!!!!!  AS for the others as in politicians, teachers, etc…you are in these positions to help people and if you took it and get bothered by having to do a little more than expected then you didn’t understand your position.  Public service, human services, education, health services should NEVER be a job it should be a position within the community to be a resource.

Martin Luther King Jr. was on the battle field but it was to demand the human right of acknowledgement from not only this government but from this society.  The battle field for these church members should not be against their own people in their own hood it needs to be in front of every government office and demand human equality to provide as they have promised.  No one is begging for free anything but when you have been denied for so long your demands become stronger and louder.

BANG-BANG-BANG to me is the sound of a Brother screaming for education and a future, not hope, but an actual future where they will become successful.  I had someone say that the opportunities are out there and you just have to grab them and I do agree that they are out there.  My issue is this, if the government was willing to spend, since the Nixon administration, $1 trillion dollars on anti-drug “programs”   why is it NOT willing to equally fund public education across the board?  So the opportunity of going to a top rated public school is out there but if my child goes to a public school that is underfunded and has an array of other issues then how does one obtain that opportunity?  You say they just have to work harder…really?  But why don’t we as adults work harder to make sure these schools have everything they need?  Why are we putting the burden on the children?  I’m not saying we need to hand people things on a silver platter but we do need to remain responsible to what we as a society have promised ourselves and our future.

How would things change if 16 and 17 year old youth would have the right to VOTE?

Let’s find out…..

Peace/AMOR

Gerardo

Looking for Peace.....I AM KING.

The evolution in one’s life sometimes takes on a previous role and makes it better and adds on what you have learned since the last time.  Over the weekend I was honored to have been ordained as a Deacon in the Universal Anglican Church by the Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Craig Bergland.  I come into this position as many others before me that are “like” me that have had a life in the streets and “found” Jesus and left that life for the church.  I haven’t found Jesus because I never lost sight of Him, always by my side whether I was doing good or bad.  Never have I heard Him reject someone for who they are instead He showed me how to LOVE ALL.  I also have not rejected or eliminated my “life” from the street because I do not find it necessary to do so.  At the risk of offending everyone I believe that for me to be a strong man of God I have to be a King so a King I am!

What does it mean to be a King?  Well there are a lot of different types of Kings throughout history and currently there are 34 countries or places on Earth that have the potential of having a King.  There are only 6 that carry Absolute power over their domain and one of them is HH Pope Benedict XVI.  Yup the Pope is a King in his own way but nonetheless he is one. 

Being a King is not an easy thing because there are a lot of different expectations from a lot of different people both negative and positive.  Most expectations of my Kingship are negative and the people within my Nation have created that expectation but not out of desire but out of despair.  Some of them are to blame but most have just followed blindly into an arena of disaster and one of my duties is to help them out of that arena both as a Deacon and as a King.  

I may not seem to be a King in your eyes and even if I wore my emblem on my chest you might still disregard me and I accept that because it is not for you to see…

The road I have traveled to be a King started when I was 10 years old and at 37 I hold my head up high because I know clearly what it means to be this sort of King.  I am not embarrassed by it and I make no excuses because no one else makes excuses for being an American when America screws up so why should I?  My Nation is one born out of despair, pain, courage, persistence, and faith so when my CROWN is held it is not only my hands holding it but the hands of those before me.

I am a KING of Peace.

I am a KING of Love.

I am a KING of honesty.

I am a KING obedient to his people’s needs.

I am a KING willing to sacrifice.

I am a KING righteous to the word of the Almighty God.

I am a man given a CROWN to be a KING within my LORDS house.

Peace/AMOR

Gerardo

Looking for Peace.....with my eyes closed.

Be silent and close your eyes.....can you feel that?  It is you feeling alive and well. Heart beating giving you life to function and that is more than Trayvon and many other victims of violence can never feel again. 

What are you going to do about it?


Peace/AMOR

Gerardo

Looking for Peace.....in waiting for you to take action.

So why did I ever think taking a cross country trip to talk about Peace would be of any value?

Mostly because I can see that our society is unaware of what Peace means and I say that with 100% assurance.  There are plenty of examples of this and I guess I will keep on talking about Trayvon because it is still somewhat fresh in our minds.  Today the media reports that both video and sound from the day that Trayvon was murdered is being enhanced to basically see who was right in all of this.  Could you imagine if we had this technology back when Jesus was crucified?  Let alone when He resurrected because I’m sure they would be enhancing the video images from the security cameras to see if it really happened.  It would be a tough sell for Christians today if there was video back then!

We are not being honest with ourselves and this will lead into a phase in this society that many of you may not welcome.  Back in the 1980’s the biggest cultural fear was music videos because now the music had images to it and people were making the connections quicker about the meaning of a song.  One of the biggest was Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” video the church flipped out on this one and I remember hearing older people in my church talk about it in whispers as if God couldn’t hear what they were saying.  Today Face Book and Twitter are the new evils and in the next 10 years it will be something else but the side effect to all of this is a complete disconnection of society and reality.   I believe that is why it has become so easy for someone like Rick Santorum to still be around.  Our society is completely disconnected from one another and in each corner everyone thinks they are an American. 

I can see this a bit more clearly these past couple of years because the Nation I belong to also has fallen into this hole.  I can firmly say that I was part of the ruling class within my Nation and didn’t see the “ugly” side of that Nation very often.  When I would speak with the greater population of this Nation I would hear stories that made me wonder if we belonged to the same Nation.  As I would reach out and investigate I would find some confirmation of the stories and I would ask ‘why are we allowing this to happen?’  I never got a good answer other than ‘it is what it is’ which would drive me up the wall.  I began to see that across that Nation everyone swore they were the best example of that Nation and would try to prove it.  All in all back in the Nation’s capital only one or two would say that they were the ONLY example of a true member of that Nation I would then say “it’s not much of a Nation if you the only real one in it!”  It wasn’t to diminish the Nation but to poke a hole in that persons bubble because the true members are the ones out there trying their hardest to do what is right regardless of where they are at. 

As I have taken steps back to see the bigger picture I can see the similarities between the two Nations and it’s almost identical at some levels.  Leaders in both Nations have and continue to go to prison, both Nations have had and/or continue to have their hands involved in illegal activities for their own profit, ego’s and unchecked testosterone levels exist in both Nations, and the women in both Nations are treated as servants and second class citizens.  The only difference between the both is the National song and the colors to the flag!

So with all of that why do I still think there is value in changing that?  Because the generation before have failed me and my generation and left us with a load that we are unprepared to carry but are trying the best we can.  I cannot do that to my children, my nephew, your children, and the future of this society I will not run away because someone was shot or because things got too hard.  I have lost many around me both in death and political maneuvers but I keep going because I got down on my knee one day and pledged that I would do as much as I can do create Peace.   Those around me know that I have a unique perspective on the “why” things happen and I by no means am an expert on everything but I got a good look at the “production” of this play we call America.

I’m not going to ask you for money nor will I ask you for your time simply I ask that if you are in any way serious about Peace or serious about being a person of Faith no matter what that means to you, then STEP UP! Sitting back and waiting for Peace to happen will NEVER happen, YOU have to take action!  For my Christian Brothers and Sisters, what would you be calling yourself today if no one traveled to other countries to spread the word of Jesus? 

Peace/AMOR

Gerardo