Are you comfortable in our conditions?

As I run or ride through my beloved West Side of Chicago, I’m reminded daily of both our strength and our struggle. It’s 2025 and, while a few new developments rise on corners once forgotten, the truth remains: we are seeing the development of buildings, but not the development of people.

At 40 years old, I am still witnessing the same conditions I saw growing up: Vacant lots. Boarded-up schools. Trash that lines the streets and sidewalks — trash we throw down and then walk past without a second thought. These aren’t just eyesores; they are signals that the soul of our community is undernourished.

We’ve become too comfortable in our conditions.

Our communities are flooded with businesses that extract from us but pour nothing back in — liquor stores, beauty supply shops, corner stores, fast food joints. These places offer convenience but little value. They don’t uplift. They don’t invest. They don’t care. And somehow, we’ve stopped expecting more.

How did we get here? We’ve been taught to survive, not to build. Conditioned to believe that boarded windows and broken systems are just “the way it is.” But the truth is, this isn’t how it has to be. We cannot afford to be at peace with conditions that keep us stuck.

Real change doesn’t start with a groundbreaking or a press release. It starts with a mindset shift. If we want our blocks to look different, our schools to function differently, our young people to grow up with hope, we have to think, move, and act differently.

We need to get uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable enough to stop walking past what’s wrong. Uncomfortable enough to organize our neighbors, challenge our elected officials, hold businesses accountable and, most importantly, invest in one another.

We must teach our youth to take pride in where they live and who they are. We must model that pride by caring for our spaces, our schools, and our seniors. We must dream bigger and demand better — because we deserve it.

This is not just a call to action; it’s a call back to ourselves. The soul of our community cannot be restored without the people who live in it waking up, standing up, and rising up.

So I ask you: Are you comfortable in our conditions? If the answer is no, then let’s not just talk about change. Let’s be the change. Let’s become so uncomfortable with what we see that we can’t help but organize, build, clean up, speak out, and reclaim what’s ours.

Change starts when we stop accepting what is — and start fighting for what could be.

If you are ready to join that fight, join us for Protect Our Hood Day this Saturday, April 26 at 10 a.m. For more information please visit www.root2fruit.org.