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Chicago’s South Side is drowning in excuses, dependency and decay
Fox News ^ | April 28, 2026 | Pastor Corey Brooks

Posted on 04/30/2026 8:14:28 AM PDT by re_tail20

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.

Here on the South Side, while many do struggle toward something better, the current moves overwhelmingly in the wrong direction.

The current moves toward dysfunction, not potential. Toward dependency on government, not self-reliance. Toward violence, not two-parent households. Toward the instant gratification of the drug trade, not the inner strength that comes from lasting education. And anyone who dares to swim against this current gets mocked as an Uncle Tom.

My time away revealed something I had...

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Government; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: brandonjohnson; chicago; chicagosouthbrooks; demagogicparty; illinois; jbpritzker; obamaskids
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1 posted on 04/30/2026 8:14:28 AM PDT by re_tail20
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To: re_tail20

rat city blues and the rot, the fraud and the machine keeps working overtime


2 posted on 04/30/2026 8:19:14 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: re_tail20

Face it. Most of urban America is unlivable.


3 posted on 04/30/2026 8:20:37 AM PDT by allendale
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To: re_tail20

Very accurate. Thanks for posting.


4 posted on 04/30/2026 8:23:35 AM PDT by rey
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To: re_tail20

“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.”

Because majorities in Chicago keep re-electing the same Dimrats.


5 posted on 04/30/2026 8:26:30 AM PDT by Wuli ( )
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To: re_tail20

“”””If we are to join the rest of America on the path forward, we must kill every excuse available to us. We must kill the excuse of systemic racism as an all-purpose answer to self-inflicted wounds. We must kill the excuse that past oppression permanently defines present potential. We must kill the excuse that this country is irredeemably hostile to us and wants us back in bondage.””””


Yes, those are great goals for the black community to have.

Unfortunately, their Democrat overlords are there to convince them otherwise. Namely, vote for us and we will continue to give you free money.


6 posted on 04/30/2026 8:35:52 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: re_tail20
I think I found the problem:

image host

7 posted on 04/30/2026 8:36:09 AM PDT by thegagline (Sic semper tyrannis! Trump & Vance, 2024! (Formerly) Goldwater & Thomas Sowell)
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To: Presbyterian Reporter

That passage calls for a lot of killing. Interesting choice of words from a pastor.


8 posted on 04/30/2026 8:46:03 AM PDT by Bernard ("Nothing is as expensive as that which the government provides for free." - Ronald Reagan)
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To: thegagline

I see the problem, the Asians are not pulling their weight!


9 posted on 04/30/2026 8:46:29 AM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: thegagline

You are the problem.


10 posted on 04/30/2026 8:57:27 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: ronnie raygun

In my memory, this has always been been true of the south side.


11 posted on 04/30/2026 9:03:54 AM PDT by sistergoldenhair
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To: sistergoldenhair

Isn’t he South Side immortalized in the “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” song?


12 posted on 04/30/2026 9:05:44 AM PDT by Reily
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To: re_tail20
Quit bitching and solve the problem.

You sound like a union organizer.

13 posted on 04/30/2026 9:07:06 AM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump )
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To: Reily

typo

he = the


14 posted on 04/30/2026 9:07:23 AM PDT by Reily
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To: re_tail20

“If we are to join the rest of America on the path forward, we must kill every excuse available to us. We must kill the excuse of systemic racism as an all-purpose answer to self-inflicted wounds. We must kill the excuse that past oppression permanently defines present potential. We must kill the excuse that this country is irredeemably hostile to us and wants us back in bondage. Not because our history is not real — it is — but because these excuses are anchors, not life preservers. They do not protect us. They drown us. “

Wise man. Unfortunately he’s a very rare exception in his “community” and his admonitions will fall on deaf ears.

Because, sadly it’s in the genes


15 posted on 04/30/2026 9:07:48 AM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you "care" ! Guilting you is how they control you. )
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To: BenLurkin

How the eff is thegagline the problem? For telling the truth? How, exactly?


16 posted on 04/30/2026 9:10:41 AM PDT by notdownwidems (Washington D.C. has become the enemy of free people everywhere!)
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To: Reily

And by Elvis Presley “In The Ghetto”.


17 posted on 04/30/2026 9:12:08 AM PDT by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's for sure.)
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To: re_tail20

“I saw people moving toward something better”

I see them moving to GA, FL, TX. Here in GA they are ripe to be educated about why the Chicago’s they left fail and the Georgia’s, Florida’s, etc succeed.

But the Republicans are too busy throwing dirt at each other to educate immigrants from the North.


18 posted on 04/30/2026 9:13:07 AM PDT by spintreebob
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To: re_tail20
It's the Chicago Way.....

--- ---

19 posted on 04/30/2026 9:15:41 AM PDT by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
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To: re_tail20
For those of you who aren't familiar with Pastor Corey Brooks, I can tell you factually as a former Chicago area resident, he's the real deal.

He does more to educate, protect, and keep young black youth out of crime, in school, learning, prospering, staying out of trouble and away from gangs and building school and recreational facilities for these kids to have as a safe space away from all the crime that really does infest the south side of Chicago, than anyone else. And when I say anyone else, that includes the late "Reveruuuunnnnnndddd Jacksonnnnnnn" who himself was nothing more than a parasite on the black community.

Just wanted to toss that in there.

20 posted on 04/30/2026 9:15:52 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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