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Pastor Declares Chicago Block Violence-Free, Calls for National Model

5/18/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Pastor Corey B. Brooks declared the South Side block around the Robert R. McCormick Center a 100% violence-free zone at a gathering of 750 men.
Brooks spent 94 days on a roof in 2011 to protest gun violence, drug and sex trafficking in Woodlawn.
He says the center should become a national model, urging communities to act without waiting for aid, after the area left Chicago’s 35 dangerous blocks list.

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Story summary

Pastor Corey B. Brooks declared the South Side block around the Robert R. McCormick Center a 100% violence-free zone at a gathering of 750 men.
Brooks spent 94 days on a roof in 2011 to protest gun violence, drug and sex trafficking in Woodlawn.
He says the center should become a national model, urging communities to act without waiting for aid, after the area left Chicago’s 35 dangerous blocks list.