Rooftop Revelations: We will not let freedom die
Pastor and Project HOOD founder Corey Brooks says his journey through the Fredericksburg battlefield during the Civil War in Virginia reminded him of the “freedom” soldiers gave to Americans, telling citizens to let their “heroism” be a lesson to all.
The sun is setting as I walk the Richmond Slave Trail in Virginia. I walked across America to raise money and awareness for Project HOOD to create opportunity in Chicago’s forgotten neighborhoods. But today, in the former capital of the Confederacy, this walk feels different. As I follow the path where enslaved Africans were marched in chains to auctions and fear, I feel like I am walking with spirits and grace, and I have thought more deeply and intensely about God.
Richmond is a city of ironic and historical conflict. Once the heartbeat of division, where the Confederacy plotted to preserve slavery, I now walk the streets, a black preacher from the South Side of Chicago marching for unity and hope. My walk is not about erasing the past – it’s about getting rid of it, praying step by step.
The Slave Trail winds along the James River, past plots where slave pens once stood, through areas where people were bought and sold like livestock. Those enslaved ancestors did not choose their march; it was forced upon them with iron chains. My walk is voluntary, but it is no less a struggle against modern chains: poverty, dependence on the government, violence and hopelessness.
As Galatians 5:1 declares, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” The first struggle for freedom was physical slavery; the current one is spiritual, economic and educational slavery. Project HOOD is part of that modern emancipation from devastating liberal policies – breaking cycles so our children move toward opportunity.
WITHOUT GOD, THE DREAM OF NEW YORK BECOMES HOLLOW. MY WALK THROUGH AMERICA PROVES IT
Scripture has been my constant companion on this road and has turned miles into meditation. Like Abraham in Genesis 12:1-4, God told him, “Go from your country, from your people, and from your father’s household, to the land that I will show you.” Sometimes walking by faith means trusting the next mile to God, not the whole map. I left Chicago without knowing every detail, believing that faith would reveal the path. Every blister, every kilometer is faith in movement.
Scripture has been my constant companion on this road, turning miles into meditation. (iStock)
Then there is Joshua in Jericho (Joshua 6:1-20). God commanded him to march around the city for seven days, and on the seventh the walls collapsed. Joshua’s walk was not about distance, but about obedience and endurance. Some walls don’t fall by shouting – they fall by steady steps of faith. Here in Richmond, I think of the enslaved people who trudged silently along these paths, persevering for a freedom they might never see. They longed for freedom in a way that should shame those around me Chicago neighborhood who are free and yet choose not to fully utilize this gift.
AS I WALK THROUGH AMERICA, THOMAS SOWELL’S WARNING STILL ECHOES TODAY
On the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), the disciples walked in confusion after the crucifixion until “Jesus himself came up and walked with them.” I started this walk to raise money, but along the way I have grown my faith – as I encounter Christ more and more along the way. With the smiles of strangers, as locals share stories of Richmond’s progress, Jesus joins me. An older woman, a granddaughter of slaves, walked with me for a block. “You walk for all of us,” she said. At that moment the journey revealed Him.
Paul’s missionary journeys (Acts 13-21) remind me that this is a calling. “And so we too are called to preach this good news to others” (Acts 13:47). Paul endured persecution to sow hope. I walk through my weakness to create opportunities. The road was hard for him – shipwrecks, abuse – but divine. But like Psalm 23:4, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” I have walked through shadows and silence, but never alone. God’s rod and staff – His presence – holds me every step of the way.
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Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.” Although it says “run,” the spirit is perseverance. I don’t race for records – I run for redemption. The ground beneath Richmond remembers both slavery and freedom – and calls on this generation to choose which voice we will follow.
The path through Richmond is the road to revival. (iStock)
The path through Richmond is the road to revival. As 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people who are called by my name…” will humble themselves and pray. If Richmond can change – from auction blocks to avenues of freedom – so can America’s struggling neighborhoods. But revival starts with one step, one prayer, one heart at a time.
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As I leave the Slave Trail, my legs are tired, but my spirit is soaring. The slaves who marched here not only held out; they prophesied. Their unbroken faith declared that one day their children’s children would walk freely through the same streets, trading iron chains for opportunity.
I walk with them, for them, and for every child in Chicago who deserves the opportunity to discover their purpose in life. After all, freedom begins when a purpose is born.
CLICK HERE TO PASTOR COREY BROOKS
