Arts & Entertainment
Jahmal Cole on His Plan to Live in All 77 Chicago Community Areas: ‘I Want to Build Real Connections’
Not many Chicagoans can say they’ve lived in each of the city’s 77 community areas.
But Jahmal Cole, CEO and founder of the nonprofit My Block, My Hood, My City, is looking to do just that.
The activist and community organizer is entering his second year of the project where he will live, eat and shop in every single Chicago community for one full month. He hopes to “travel the world without leaving Chicago” by the end of his 77-month journey.
Cole calls it Live 77.
So far, he has lived in 14 community areas — including Pullman, Bridgeport, Chinatown, North Lawndale, Humboldt Park and Rogers Park. Here is a map of the 14 locations:
Jahmal Cole has lived in 14 community areas since he launched Live 77. (WTTW News)
Cole sat down with “Chicago Tonight” to share his reflections on his journey and opportunities to continue investing in Chicago’s youth.
On his current stay in Albany Park:
“They have a lot of civic energy and cohesiveness between politicians. They really do a good job at electing people that push policies that reflect the values of the residents in Albany Park, the aldermen, the state representative, the congresswoman, the senator, they went on a peace walk together the other day, a peace walk, and they were all in attendance. And so when you have that type of cohesion, I just think it makes for a lot of civic energy in the community.”
On what he’s learned from Live 77 so far:
“North Lawndale, everybody says it was really poor, but when I was there, I found it to be rich. It was rich in trust, rich in connections, rich in just a fabric between nonprofit organizations that existed. You know, also in Humboldt Park, I gained like five pounds, all I was doing was eating, … which was great, but also Ald. Fuentes, we marched around Humboldt Park together and did a lot of peace marches. I’ve learned that people say Chicago’s really segregated. But when you actually break bread with people and have a kitchen-table discussion, you realize everybody’s trying to raise their family the best they can. They try to, you know, run a small business the best they can, try to keep a block as safe as they can. So even though there’s 77 different communities, there’s really just one Chicago with 77 different ways for us to be proud of.”
On what he sees in underinvested communities:
“Can you imagine, like, what it’s like for a teenager to live, let’s say in Portage Park, where, you know, it’s very walkable, you know, you’re walking around at all times, and then you move from there, and you go to Chicago Lawn where, you know, it’s not as walkable, it’s more under-resourced. And so I think that just, we always talk about the life expectancy gap. You can feel that when you’re living in the community.”
On what he hopes will come of Live 77:
“I’ve been praying to God to have the big reveal, and I want to spread the good news. I want to learn as much as I can. I want to build relationships. There’s only so much virtual trust you can build on Facebook and Instagram. I want to build real connections. I want to understand the strengths and the challenges. I want to hear the stories. I want to hear the solutions from people with lived experiences. I want to create a road map of impact that can last for decades. There’s so many nonprofits on one side of this street that have been there for 10 years that don’t even know people on that side that have been there for 10 years, too. I want to connect them by highlighting them. It’s a listening tour. I want to listen about how I can help people better.”
On whether he would run for office:
“We’ll see. Right now, I was going to go to law school or policy school, but I was, like, the communities are my classrooms and the people are the professors and the final exams are whatever they’re doing that I could volunteer with. So y’all want to help people at the highest level. I want to understand policy better, but right now, I’m all about leading my organization. I’m all about learning from community — I’m fully invested in just that.”
