Chicago Insight August 23rd 2026

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
As well as the individuals who are doing extraordinary things
in our cities and communities. Big things have come and
are coming to Woodlawn. We'll tell you about the exciting
development called Woodlawn Central that is breaking ground just a
few blocks away from the Obama Presidential Center. And we'll
give you the details on Bronzeville's Black and Bronze Festival.

(00:20):
But first up, visions becoming reality.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
And Woodlawn.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
The Bible speaks about young people having dreams and older
people having visions. Well, a dream and a vision for
the Apostolic Church of God is becoming a reality with
a development known as Woodlawn Central, and it's just blocks
away from one of the biggest tourist attractions in Illinois
right now, the Obama Presidential Center. Joining me this morning

(00:45):
to talk about the project is a person who for
generations saw people associated with the church as have a
dream and vision about Woodlawn Central. And that is the
current pastor and happens to be my pastor of the
Apostolic Church of God, Bishop Dr. Byron T.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Brazier.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Dr. Brazier, always a pleasure to talk to you, Bishop.
And first of all, congratulations on Woodlawn Central.

Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, good morning, Darrell.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
And thank you so much for having me on your program.
And thank you for the congratulations. It has been a
long time coming.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
How long?

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Because... I've been at the church now for over 35 years,
and it's really preceded me.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
Yes, I mean, it's what my father did and had
been doing in Woodlawn in the 1960s when he established
the Woodlawn organization. And he built buildings and housing when
he fought the University of Chicago to make sure that
they didn't take over Woodlawn. And when he stood against

(01:53):
Ben Willis and the Ben Willis wagons in the 1960s,
and then went on to help other community organizations. The
Lord continued to build the Apostolic Church of God.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
I know that there's a scripture that comes to mind.
We had talked about this in terms of generational blessings here,
how the Bible speaks about blessing your children and your
children and your children's children.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
You know, our church is a church of five generations,
and it has been told to us that District Elder Clements,
who was the founder of the church in 1932, said
that he saw a cathedral full of people, those who
have come to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

(02:45):
And he saw that, and it was fascinating. then passed
on to Elder A. Hart Meadors for about a year.
Then my father, you have to keep in mind that
the story really is that our church got wiped out
when the Dan Ryan came through because our church was
on Wentworth.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
And it just so happened that Elder Meadors and my
father were very dear friends. In fact, my parents lived
in a room in his apartment when they first got married.
And in that room, my older sister and I were born.
And the legacy, you know, really begins with their relationship
because when our church got wiped out, Elder Quimmons offered

(03:32):
him to come and worship together with the Apostolic Church
of God. And when he stepped down, now my father
was in place already, already ministering to both of the
churches because they split that off. You know, one would
preach one Sunday, the other one would preach another Sunday.
And so you can see that the grace of God
has been with this church down through the years from

(03:56):
1932 until now.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
That is absolutely incredible history. And it speaks to, in
a real reality, something being prophesied at the pulpit becoming
reality because the Apostolic Church of God became one of
the megachurches, black or white, within the Chicagoland area.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
There is no doubt about that. It is certainly the
move of the Lord. Any number of churches grew during
the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. And there was a
calling on people's lives. And now we see that they're growing.

(04:37):
The testimony of the Lord and Savior is still being challenged.
And people are going off finding their own, defining their
own righteousness separate than the righteousness of God while we
remain in perilous times. And so the pandemic did not
help us very much as it came down to being
bound together as the body of Christ.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
But God is still good. He is still in control.

Speaker 4 (05:03):
And everything that the scriptures have prophesied, we are living
out even right now.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Let's speak specifically about the campus itself. This is a
massive development. What exactly was its genesis in terms of
the true vision with regard to this multi-development space?

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Well, I will tell you that.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
I was talking to my son, Byron, and we were
talking about Woodlawn and he had some ideas as to
the plan for the entire community of Woodlawn, which is
a two square mile area. And he actually put together
a plan and got the plan approved by the city

(05:52):
of Chicago. And that plan is called the 2060 plan.
plan remains on the Department of Planning's.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Website for the state of Chicago today.

Speaker 4 (06:06):
But during the pandemic, he asked, he said, we should
catalyze the 2060 plan, leveraging our own properties so that
people could actually see what was actually being proposed. And
I agreed, and then I had him speak to the
church board, had him speak to the and having him

(06:28):
speak to the members of the Upper Side Church of
God and all agreed on this understanding of redeveloping our
properties as a catalyst for the South Side of Chicago
and as a catalyst for the community of Woodlawn. And
that was where it had its genesis four years ago.
And from there, we began to plan it out and

(06:48):
began to work with people. And it is more than
a notion to plan for a campus You can plan
for a building, a single building, but to plan for
a campus that's going to house 800 families, a campus
that will also have a hotel, a cultural center, a

(07:09):
senior facility, as well as a vertical farm, that takes
some planning, some rezoning, and all the other things. And
we needed a tremendous amount of support and help. My
son organized it as any developer would. But on behalf
of the church, and it is a church, this project
will allow the church to be established for at least

(07:32):
another hundred years and be of support to this community
as the plan, the 2060 plan, becomes more of a,
not just a dream or a vision, but becomes a reality.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
Speak specifically about some of these anchor developments that are
in the package. I'm speaking about the vertical farming center,
the hotel. Where are they going to be located?

Speaker 4 (08:02):
Well, the rationale for their existence is for jobs. There's
one thing that you can build buildings and residential centers
and you can have affordable housing, but people also need jobs.
And so we needed to make sure that the campus
also was a campus that had jobs. So in this

(08:26):
are 200,000 square feet of commercial space and that will
also have jobs. The vertical farm is about jobs and
then the hotel is about jobs. And so the center
of the activity for residents and for the population will

(08:47):
be on 63rd and Dorchester with the hotel and across
the street from that will be the Fine Arts building.
And so that people can come and they have access
and it's all in that one block along with a
parking garage. Because we still needed space for where our
members would park on Sunday. And so the Genesis is

(09:11):
that's where it's going to be on the kid would
side will be the vertical farm.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
So that it doesn't do.

Speaker 4 (09:19):
That people in the population of traffic does not impact
the the ability for residents to park or anything else
of that nature. So the in the senior building will
be will be on the north.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Side of 63rd Street.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
In are very much in a larger lot along with
the the majority of the commercial space and the majority
of the rental space.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
So how was it able to just get approved at
the government level?

Speaker 4 (09:52):
Well, that is very interesting. What we have is the
first piece was we were zoned for parking, so we
had to do a rezoning effort. And in the rezoning effort,
we have a plan development, and here's the new plan
development that we're offering.

Speaker 3 (10:11):
And so all the properties are now rezoned the way
that I expressed it.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
And then our phase one would be the hotel, a
residential building, and a 300-spot parking garage. That would be
phase one. And we're considering what phase two will look like.
But my belief is that all of Woodlawn Central will
be up and running or at least in the ground

(10:41):
within the next seven years.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
Wow. Now, how are you raising the capital for this?

Speaker 4 (10:49):
It's an amazing thing how the Lord blesses, and I
can't get into all the details for the financials, but
there are potentials that the church will be able to
finance this themselves, but the hotel should be owned by

(11:14):
a hotel vendor and operator. But the parking garage will
be owned by the church. Residential building will be owned
by the church. And the hotel will probably be owned
by someone else. And we'll also have equity investors that
we're negotiating with today.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
You also have the church right now, of course, backing
this effort. And you're going to have a major ceremony
in terms of the beginning of this project that's going
to be held at the church on Saturday, August 29th.
Speak about that.

Speaker 4 (11:51):
Well, we're going to, you know, we're going to have
a ceremonial groundbreaking just because of the Chicago weather. Because the,
we went through the entitlements and, you know, it was,
it took a while to get through all the different layers, again,
because of the planning for campus. We wanted to make

(12:13):
sure that when people heard about it four years ago,
they heard about it year before last, they heard about
it last year. Now that we see that we didn't
want to wait until 2027 to have the groundbreaking. So
we're going to have the groundbreaking now, then go through
the winter, and then actually go into the ground no

(12:34):
later than next year, this time.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
That sounds extraordinary. What In terms of have you heard
from the congregation as well as the residents of Woodlawn
about this project?

Speaker 4 (12:47):
Everybody really has been very excited about it. We started
socializing the project again four years ago. And it is
going to be one of the largest African-American church projects
in the country.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
As we move forward.

Speaker 4 (13:07):
And this is a massive effort. But I will tell
you that it is all the Lord's doing. I wanted
people to know that there's this video that's been out
about my father that's been circulating through social media. And
I must say that they captured all the major things

(13:28):
that he did. And there were some other things they
didn't capture, naturally. But all the things that were there
are true. But the thing that they left out was
his anointing from God to do the things he did.
And the AI kind of thing, they don't give credit

(13:49):
to God, but I want the people to know that
it was the Lord that blessed my father to do
the things that he did. It was out of that
anointing that he had, that he was a man of
faith that walked by the Spirit, that walked in the
will of the Lord through the power.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
Of the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Indeed. And Speak about the importance of partnerships here, not
only corporate, but also governmental as well as residential.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
It is, you know, the partnerships on any project like this,
you have sources and you have constituents.

Speaker 3 (14:30):
And when we.

Speaker 4 (14:30):
Began our socialization four years ago, it was based on
the 2060 plan that everybody had agreed to.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
And when.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
You have a vision for what can be done. People
will tend to buy into the vision based on their
own understandings and based on where they are. So a
governor will see something different than a congressman or different

(15:01):
than a mayor or different than a county board president.
And each one of them will see something that's different
that appeals to them.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Because people follow vision. They don't follow activity. They follow vision.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
And when a community, when stakeholders, when politicians, as well
as the business community sees the vision, there's a collective
working that takes place that then allows the project to
come to the surface.

Speaker 1 (15:37):
And what is your final takeaway or your best takeaway
from this development that you want the listeners here to understand?

Speaker 4 (15:45):
It's all by the grace of God, Darrell. I just
can't express that any further. If I tried to give
myself credit, it would be a disaster. When you consider
the thing that you're doing, you consider the legacy of
that has been passed down that was about bless your

(16:06):
children and your children's children. And you see where my
father was and you see where my son is. And
I'm kind of stuck in the middle, you know, and
they were builders. I'm the maintainer. And now here's another
visionary that's coming up. You can only do that by

(16:26):
the grace of God.

Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah. And finally, what does the, just beyond expectations, viability,
and attractiveness of the Obama Presidential Center being literally steps
away mean for you?

Speaker 4 (16:45):
You know, we don't know that yet. And what that means,
we believe that the hotel and the commercial spaces, that
there'll be people who will want to be in Woodlawn Central,
live there, work there, shop there. because it's an entity

(17:07):
of itself, but to include the Obama Center as a
part of woodlawn and the park system, the Museum of
Science and Industry, the University of Chicago, and now you

(17:28):
have this major development that's taking place all in the
same community.

Speaker 3 (17:33):
It's mind-blowing.

Speaker 4 (17:35):
But Woodlawn is a wonderful community. If you pick Woodlawn
up and took it anywhere, it will prosper because of
the 300-acre park, because of its proximity to the lake,
because of all the natural resources, the traffic system, the

(17:58):
transportation system, the school system, all those things make up
how a community continues to prosper and to grow. And
I'm thankful that the Obamas have elected to build in
Jackson Park. And I'm thankful that the Lord opened up
the door for Woodlawn Central.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
Indeed.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
Well, we want to encourage people, if they want to
attend the ceremonial groundbreaking for Woodlawn Central, It's going to
take place at the Apostolic Church of God. What time, Bishop?

Speaker 3 (18:31):
10 o'clock.

Speaker 1 (18:34):
10 o'clock, Saturday, August 29th. We truly appreciate you, Dr. Brazier,
and congratulations on an era of new possibility with Woodlawn Central.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Thank you so much. I think that's a good way
to put it.

Speaker 1 (18:47):
There was a time when Chicago's Bronzeville section was one
of the black music capitals of the nation. Next week,
Chicago's Armstrong Park will be the place to be for
music food, fun, and information with Black and Bronze, a
Bronzeville music festival. Joining me this morning to talk about
everything that's available there is Pavia Goldman. She is head

(19:11):
of PR and media influencer relations for the Black and
Bronze Festival. Pavia, how are you doing?

Speaker 5 (19:18):
I am thriving. Thank you so much for having me
on today, Daryl.

Speaker 6 (19:22):
I'm excited to talk with you.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
It is a pleasure also on this side. We really
want to inform people about things that are happening in
our neighborhoods. And this sounds like a must attend event.
What was the reason for creating the festival?

Speaker 3 (19:38):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (19:38):
So the festival was founded out of our urgent need
to document and expand the narrative around Bronzeville, around Chicago,
and especially Black Chicago. And we have taken that call very,

(20:01):
very seriously. We want to bring a lot of joy
and delight to our communities and make sure that our
stories are being told in a way that expands the
narrative in a really positive way.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Now, we want to tell people that Armstrong Park is
located in the heart of Bronzeville at 4433 South St.
Lawrence Avenue, and the festival is taking place next Saturday
from 1 to 7 p.m. I love the fact that
you divided the festival into parts commemorating Bronzeville legends like
Ida B. Wells and Sam Cooke. Talk about that. Yes, yes.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
We have several different areas of the park. One of
the areas that we are super excited for people to
experience is the Ida B.

Speaker 6 (20:48):
Well Courts at Black and Bronze Fest.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
You know, she's a journalist. She's going to be upset
that you took the S off of her name there.

Speaker 6 (20:56):
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
For the wordplay, we had to make some creative decisions, but...
But this is a section of the festival that will
be completely dedicated to wellness.

Speaker 6 (21:11):
We will have yoga.

Speaker 5 (21:13):
We'll have Pilates and three-on-three basketball tournaments and dunk contests
all happening throughout the day. And then we also have
our Sam Cook food court and a Sam Cook off
between our hot food vendors where there is the opportunity
to win $ 500.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
Now, that sounds exciting. Give me some more details on
that because everybody or many families at least have one
would-be chef, if not a real chef.

Speaker 6 (21:45):
Oh, yes. So the SAM Cook-Off is.

Speaker 5 (21:48):
is really focused on elevating the hot food vendors that
we have partnered.

Speaker 6 (21:54):
With in the park. So one of them is.

Speaker 5 (21:58):
Ivory Parker, who makes delicious gourmet pizza puffs, a very
Chicago food tradition. And these vendors, our hot food vendors,
will be competing amongst themselves for.

Speaker 6 (22:12):
The $ 500 prize.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (22:12):
And....

Speaker 1 (22:17):
One of the major components of this entire festival is
its music. And I mentioned at the top of the
program that literally Bronzeville was the music hub and showcase
of America's major Black talent.

Speaker 6 (22:31):
Yes, yes.

Speaker 5 (22:33):
Bronzeville has given Chicago and the world so much from jazz, gospel,
R & B, and then across literature, entrepreneurship, the.

Speaker 6 (22:42):
Whole range of cultural legacy.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
And Bronzeville has nurtured folks like Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole,
and the festival and our programming reflects that with a
lot of intention. We have four different genres of music
that will be highlighted during Black and Bronze Fest this
coming Saturday.

Speaker 3 (23:02):
So give me the schedule. I'm sorry?

Speaker 1 (23:05):
I said give me the schedule.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
Yes.

Speaker 5 (23:08):
So we will have a jazz segment. We'll have gospel music.
There's a soul segment, and then we close out the
day with a hip hop segment. And each segment will
be incorporating music from our musical pioneers, while also infusing

(23:31):
brand new music that these independent artists have created themselves.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Who are some of the artists?

Speaker 5 (23:38):
So our founder of the festival, Jessica Laurel Anderson, is
headlining the soul segment. She is an incredible independent artist
with multiple albums out and has toured with huge names
like the Sunday Service Choir. And we are also going

(24:01):
to have a wonderful artist named V Armstrong performing with us.
Our Our jazz artist is an up-and-coming woman in the industry.

Speaker 6 (24:13):
She's performing all.

Speaker 5 (24:14):
Over the city, and everyone is so, so, so talented.

Speaker 1 (24:22):
Capital raised and the monies exchanged here also help benefit
the community. How so?

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yes, yes.

Speaker 5 (24:29):
So we have founded a nonprofit called Kin 43.

Speaker 6 (24:35):
And that is.

Speaker 5 (24:36):
The organization that is putting on the festival all funds,
whether that's ticket purchases or just direct donations to the festival,
will be funneled into Can43.

Speaker 6 (24:50):
And we are.

Speaker 5 (24:53):
Working to invest in independent artists, putting on programming, investing
in their artist development. We are also partnering with organizations
throughout the community to to elevate wellness and investing our
dollars back into our community through small business investment as well.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
Now, we know that this is the second annual Black
and Bronze Festival. What were you able to learn from
the first time it occurred?

Speaker 5 (25:24):
We had so many learnings from last year's festival.

Speaker 6 (25:28):
It was an incredible.

Speaker 5 (25:29):
Day that raised awareness so much revenue for our Black
business owners.

Speaker 6 (25:34):
We generated over.

Speaker 5 (25:35):
$ 60, 000 of revenue for our small businesses and makers in
the park. And we're expanding that opportunity to even more
vendors this year. We have also added directional signage to
the park because it is a large park and we
want people to be able to find their way to
the different areas and activations with ease.

Speaker 6 (25:59):
Additionally, we have moved our.

Speaker 5 (26:02):
Just made it more convenient to access all of the
different activations.

Speaker 6 (26:06):
So made our food court a little bit more accessible.

Speaker 5 (26:10):
And we've partnered with more, even more community organizations.

Speaker 6 (26:16):
This year.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
And one thing I love about Bronzeville is that it
still maintains its authenticity in many respects. So many times
with gentrification, there tends to be a kind of just
kind of erasure of the culture that existed before. But
that's really not the case here with regard to Bronzeville.

Speaker 5 (26:40):
Yes, that is one of the beautiful things about Bronzeville, indeed.
And it's all because of the people. People like the
folks putting on black and bronze vests, who really invest
in preserving and expanding the legacy of this neighborhood. We

(27:02):
do this work with a lot of intention and a
lot of heart. We are regular people who live in
this community and just want to see our history preserved
and our legacy expanded.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
So give us how we can find out further information
about everything that's going to happen in Armstrong Park next Saturday.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
Yes, Black and Bronze Fest is everywhere you are on
the Internet. You can find us at blackandbronzefest.com. You'll be
able to find us across social media. That's your Facebook,
your Instagram, your TikTok, all at blackandbronzefest.com. And you can

(27:46):
find us in the park at Armstrong Park this Saturday,
next Saturday, August 29th from 1 to 7 p.m. That
is 4433 South St. Lawrence Avenue.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah, that is definitely going to be the place to be.
And considering the fact that you get yoga and Pilates,
I don't know if I'm going to do both, but
definitely try to do one and also and stay for
the music as well as the food.

Speaker 5 (28:14):
Yes, it's going to be a great time. I cannot
wait to see you out there.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
That sounds good. Well, iHeart Radio here in Chicago, we
are proud to be a sponsor of Black and Bronze,
the Black and Bronze Festival. Pavia, we want to thank
you so much for joining us this morning.

Speaker 6 (28:31):
Thank you so much for having me, Daryl. It was
a pleasure speaking with you.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
One of the things that I enjoy most about living
in this great city called Chicago is that there is
always something to do. And that applies to this coming Saturday.
Of course, I'm talking about the ceremonial groundbreaking for the
trailblazing development in Woodlawn that is known as Woodlawn Central

(28:55):
that's going to take place at 10 a.m. at the
Apostolic Church of God at 63rd and Dorchester to the
Black and Bronze Festival that's taking place in Bronzeville in
Armstrong Park. So please plan accordingly. The clock on the
wall tells us that it's time to wrap up this
edition of Chicago Insight. In closing, please take advantage of
all of the useful information that we presented today. I'm

(29:18):
Daryl Denard. Always remember to use informed insight in everything
that you do. But most importantly, please be sure. To
take care of yourself.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Hey, what up?

Speaker 2 (29:27):
Your boy Tom Gapal here with my friend Amy from 1-800-Truck-Rick.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
Amy, you have a client that has actually worked with 1-800-Truck-Rick, right?

Speaker 8 (29:35):
Yeah, and we got him a lot of money because
he was really boogered up. So let's hear from Dante McGregor.
and what happened with his case.

Speaker 7 (29:42):
I was leaving one job, head to the other job,
and I was really in it on my way to work.
I was referred to 1-800 truck wreck by a friend.
Thank you to the whole staff, 1-800 truck wreck, just
for being patient with me, helping me through the process.
Made me feel comfortable on my down days and was
just there when I needed them. Thank you, 1-800-Truck-Rick.

Speaker 8 (30:04):
So look, if you're working your tail off like Dante
is doing every day, he's running from one job to
the next, you get hit by any kind of truck
at all in Chi-Town, there's only one number to call
for real expertise.

Speaker 7 (30:16):
And that is 1-800-Truck-Rick or go to 1-800-Truck-Rick.com.

Speaker 8 (30:20):
Because truly, the expertise 1-800-Truck-Rick brings to your case is
worth it.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
The most talked-about music festival on the planet is coming
back to Las Vegas. And you can win your way
to be there. Our iHeartRadio Music Festival. Presented by Capital One.
September 18th and 19th at T-Mobile Arena.

Speaker 4 (30:40):
16 artists, 2 nights, 1 stage.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Never seen before artist collaboration. As once-in-a-lifetime moments you'll never
see again. Cardi B. I'm just a human being.

Speaker 3 (30:53):
Snoop Dogg.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
One, two, three, four.

Speaker 7 (30:57):
Stream it live on Disney Plus and Hulu.

Speaker 4 (31:02):
Buy your tickets now at axs.com.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
And keep listening for the next chance to win.