StoryCorps Chicago: ‘He Made Me Believe I Could Do Anything’

Jahmal Cole is the founder of an organization called “My Block, My Hood, My City.“
Jahmal Cole is the founder of an organization called “My Block, My Hood, My City." Courtesy of StoryCorps
Jahmal Cole is the founder of an organization called “My Block, My Hood, My City.“
Jahmal Cole is the founder of an organization called “My Block, My Hood, My City." Courtesy of StoryCorps

StoryCorps Chicago: ‘He Made Me Believe I Could Do Anything’

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When Jahmal Cole came to the Chicago StoryCorps booth, he talked about his non-profit organization, My Block, My Hood, My City, with StoryCorps facilitator Francesco De Salvatore.  

Cole’s group is designed to get Chicago-area kids to experience the world outside their neighborhoods. He says kids on the South and West sides might not ever get to China, so he brings them to Chinatown. They might not go to Greece, so he brings them to Greektown. 

When Cole was a kid, he saw the wider world aboard a Greyhound bus. His parents would fight a lot and he was bounced back-and-forth between them.