The block where I pastor on the South Side of Chicago is known infamously around my city, around America, and even internationally, as "O Block." It was gangsters who gave O Block its name. The "O" is for Odee Perry who, in 2011, was gunned down on the block by a 17-year-old female assassin named Gakirah Barnes. She soon met her violent end not far from the block.
Those deaths launched an incredible and unmatched spree of violence — 19 individuals were shot on O Block from 2011 to 2014. I knew many of them. Not one criminal charge was brought and not one weapon was recovered. What most people forget about this time was how terrifying it was for everyday working-class Chicagoans.
Yet the name O Block continues to live on in infamy. Largely because several rappers, from King Von, Chief Keef to Lil Durk were raised on the block and have gone on to achieve great fame. And because we’re still home to some of America’s largest gangs.
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But I have always had mixed feelings about the O Block name. On one hand, the name reflects the reality of the violence in our neighborhood. When one says he’s from O Block he is saying, I’m a survivor in one of America’s most violent neighborhoods and this brag carries social currency in many circles. However, this brag is grounded in violence, somebody’s spilled blood, and how far can one go with brutal violence as one’s foundation? Perhaps that is why when one visits O Block they see colorful RIP murals honoring rappers slain far too early.
On the other hand, the name of O Block has come to symbolize a certain kind of fatalism. The kind that seems to suggest that we can never be more than the violence that gave the block its name. I see this mindset all around me and it is so self-defeating. It’s almost as if violence, not Jesus or America, is the force that we organize ourselves around and what good can that lead to?
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The one thing I’ve always believed in is the power of choice. No matter how small or invisible that fork in the road may be, we always have a choice. Even when faced with a certain death, we have a choice about how we carry ourselves forward.
That is why my choice of late has been to reject the fatalism of O Block by renaming it Opportunity Block. Nowhere in America would we see a neighborhood named after a violent act and that is why we must take back our common humanity.
After all, while you may hear of five or so famous O Block rappers or of the gangs, what about the rest of the people in my neighborhood? I know a woman who just became a police officer, overcoming teen pregnancy. I know a woman who left the police force to become an electrician. I know a young man who escaped poverty to become a top construction worker. I know a young man who escaped death on O Block to move out to California to study at NASA. I know so many more but you never hear those stories behind the wall of fatalism that gives O Block its notorious name.
That is why it is time to tear down the wall of O Block to reveal all those aspirational South Siders seeking to better their lives and against incredible odds. They are the true heroes, the true Americans, the true seekers of the American Dream and that is why from now on, I will seek to preach the virtues of living on Opportunity Block.
