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Last week's election of Donald Trump to the highest office on earth was a kind of vindication for me.
I live in Chicago, a Democratic stronghold, and the Democratic Party is even stronger on Chicago's South Side, where my church is located. For the past 70 years, Democratic policies have stifled our communities. We have been given one dependency policy after another without expecting anything in return. Too many of us have lived on the government's nipples from cradle to coffin and believe that is America. We are told that we are victims with no deadline.
But a victim of what? White supremacy? I have never seen the KKK march down King Drive. I've only seen Democrats. I've seen them say sweet things and create even more dependence. We have seen them tell us that we need this or that because we are victims. I have seen members of my community demand justice and that means more funding for addiction policies.
MSNBC's Al Sharpton criticizes “latte liberals'' who “speak for people they don't speak for''
I refused to be blinded or corrupted by this process. We also refused to turn a blind eye to the reality that it is the Democratic Party that is truly victimizing us.
That's why I've always embraced the conservative values of author and columnist Shelby Steele (from my hometown) and economist and commentator Thomas Sowell as my guide. I have applied their universal principles of upliftment, personal agency, responsibility and responsibility to my daily teaching in my neighborhood. The results were surprising, but not surprising.
After all, how can you improve yourself according to the principles of the Democratic Party? I have not yet met a single person like that.
Why are so many black people like me leaving the Democratic Party?
The price I paid for pursuing conservatism was enormous. That's why I was happy to see America elect Trump as president.
I'm not the only one on the south side who notices this. In 2016, 12.41% of Chicagoans voted for Trump. In 2024, that number increased to 22.01%.
Not only that, but no one in my community believes the Democratic lie that Trump is a racist, a bigot, and a white supremacist. When you go there, you just laugh. Instead, we are now debating serious issues like improving education, reducing violence, and thriving small businesses.
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Most of all, we realize how much the Democratic Party's culture of dependency has robbed us of our souls, and how proving our worth through work, providing for our families, and being good neighbors can enrich our souls even more. Let's talk about what you can do.
Today, I am a leading voice for conservatism in my community and broader America. I didn't ask for this. I simply believed it was the right direction. And the changes we are seeing are slow but very remarkable.
We recently lifted the first 20,000-pound steel beam, a symbol of hope and change, for our $40 million community center, which opens this summer. That may not seem like a big deal to most people, but to a community where no buildings have been built in the last 70 years, only human souls and infrastructure construction are in decline. Yes, that's a big problem.
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Trump is now president, but our work is not done yet. The president is chosen according to the qualifications of the people. I am committed to continuing my work on the South Side of Chicago.
I hope that by the end of President Trump's term, we can say that we have changed the South Side for the better in every way. That is my promise and I intend to keep it.
Click here to read more about Pastor Corey Brooks' story
