Chicago Pastor and Project H.O.O.D. founder Corey Brooks outlines four incredible life lessons he learned from an unforgettable childhood teacher

One of the most influential people in my life was and still is Joe Stokes. I remember the first time I walked into the classroom at the Washington Carver Elementary School in Muncie, Indiana, and saw the White teacher with a head full of red hair. It might have been the first time I ever saw red hair. I called him Mr. Stokes and I had no idea how influential he would eventually become in my life.

He recently reached out to me recently because he had seen me in the news and on social media. It was like no time had passed and his words instantly lifted my spirits.

He told me, "You make sense because you seek individual power and security for each person. We need to work together, but power hungry politicians don’t like what you bring. You don’t teach them to be dependent on them." He went on to say a prayer for me.

In today’s absurd culture wars, all I could think about was how thankful I had Mr. Stokes as my teacher. We hear all these bad ideas about how Black kids should be taught by Black teachers and I am thankful I grew up in a time when we did not pay attention to such nonsense.

IF DEMOCRATS SAY THEY STAND WITH MY COMMUNITY,........

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