He aims to live in a house called the Margaret T Cook house – ‘the house of sinners’ – and get involved in restoring 100 houses to the community
His commitment: to live in a house in the most dangerous part of his Chicago neighbourhood called “the house of sinners”.
This small weatherboard house “got ripped off from the foundation, down to the studs, and left hollow in places” says the African-American father of four and former pastor of his neighborhood’s predominantly African-American Chicago church. “I never thought I would see it again.”
Standing on a patch of concrete where the house once stood, Reverend Elie Jordan tells me: “I consider this house as a burden; the house was my son’s, but as I stand here today, I can’t let it lie.”
Sixty years ago, on 5 July 1971, 3 children were killed by a black gunman in the Chicago neighbourhood of Englewood, three hundred and sixty miles from where the lord goes dancing. Nine others were also shot. And the next year, July 7 1971, on the same day, another black shooter gunned down three boys.
The following day, a staggering 7 people were killed by black gunmen in Englewood, Jordan’s home town. During the course of the 70-year long bloody Chicago history of murders, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in Chicago, and 14 percent of them – the sharpest proportion of any American city – have been black men.
The two problems – a stubborn and resistant unemployment rate, and violence – are deeply linked.
Chicago murder rate up 40% in three years as city faces its toughest year on record Read more
But, in a remarkable and inspiring gesture, Reverend Jordan – “A strong priest at my church who can’t say no” – wants to see his hometown transform its crime rate through politics, crime fighting and salvation.
His goal is a 100-house initiative, with more than 80% of the participants having served time in prison. The mission of his house, he says, is, “to walk around with clean shoes in our neighborhood”.
He wants the 100 people living in the Margaret T Cook house to feel part of the “kingdom of heaven”.
“My aim, my dream, my mission” is to help as many residents as possible be productive, provide employment, “eat home-cooked meals” and attend churches “so God can live here”.
Just as his goal is to make his gang-ridden neighborhood, Bronzeville, a desirable place to live, Reverend Jordan, a Roman Catholic priest, is looking to use his faith to change his community.
His 100-day pledge (it ends on the last Sunday of April) is timed to coincide with the presidential election of Donald Trump. But he intends to stay on for 100 days, and intends to challenge anybody who doesn’t live up to his oath of allegiance.
He will even drop by President Trump’s “church” in Chicago. “He is a religious person himself, and has different views and ideas than I do,” says Jordan, “but it is time for real change.”
Will he be able to hit his target?
“Yes. My 100 days is not 100 hours, it is 100 years. This house will heal the broken heart of Chicago,” he says with a smile.
For more information about him or how to take part in his 100-day project, see his website, http://elievesteele.com/programme/.