Ex-Chicago Activist Jedidiah Brown Plans 'Walk Home' From Atlanta

ATLANTA — Last month, Jedidiah Brown came out to me regarding his status as an ex-Chicagoan exploring a happier and less-stressful life after freeing himself of the "activist" label that defined him back home.

News of his newfound closeness to his true self — a bisexual man with a Georgia driver's license, no longer laser-focused on fighting for justice and change in his hometown — got the attention of folks in Chicago.

"I got a barrage of calls. I spoke with people from the mayor's office, regular citizens who didn't know I was gone and people who said the void of me being gone was clear," Brown said.

"It made me look for the first time in a while at violence in Chicago. And, man, after a year of taking care of myself, getting my finances straight, I couldn't turn my back on what's going on at home."

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Since my June visit with Brown, Chicago's summer has been particularly bloody, including the peak of violence over the Fourth of July weekend when more than 100 people were shot, 19 fatally. In July, so far, 569 people have been shot, 95 fatally.

"It brought back memories of when I would call for external resources and support as an activist back home, and how those cries didn't get heard outside the fishbowl of Chicago," Brown said in a phone interview. "People are still moving away from Chicago like me. And I felt that even though we left, we shouldn't turn our back on home. We can't."

Brown decided he would make the 1.5 million-step fundraising trek from the steps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home in Atlanta to Chicago. Fellow activists are expected to join him on the journey that has rallies planned in Chattanooga, Nashville, Louisville and Indianapolis.

Brown said he hopes Chicagoans who have relocated to those cities will come together to contribute toward a goal of collecting $100,000 for the fight against gun violence and poverty.

Pastor Corey Brooks praised his friend's effort to raise awareness and support from outside Chicago, which he called "a tough thing to do."

"When people leave Chicago, even for the 'burbs, it's sometimes for traumatic reasons. When they leave, they just move forward," Brooks said. "So, what he's trying to do is going to be tough. But anytime anybody tries to help other people, it's always a great idea."

Any proceeds will be distributed to established Chicago organizations and used to launch his own mentoring project aimed at helping city youth develop as entrepreneurs.

In the last few weeks, Brown says he's raised $6,000 online for his "Walk Home."

"When I get to Chicago, we hope to have a rally where we can talk about accountability, bringing families back together and not just pointing a finger at racism as ways to stop violence in Chicago. Because it can be stopped. I believe that," Brown said. "We'll talk about what we can do, and hopefully bring home resources and support to start doing it."

The 680-mile journey is set to start Thursday.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."

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