"My Neighborhood Is Calling Me Back" - w/ Ignacio Gonzalez

So it's been, uh, I was, I was counting a little bit earlier cause I didn't even know how many, uh, shows we've done, but we've done, uh, Uh, this will be number 45 here, not, not counting the intro. So we've had, uh, 44, um, uh, podcast interviews that we shared. Uh, so this year will be 45, but, uh, yeah, I just, I just wanted to take this time just to thank the listeners. I want to thank all the guests that have been on here that have shared their stories.

Uh, they, they've taken the time out, whether it was in person, via zoom, via phone call. And, um, I'm just, I'm just grateful and thankful to, to be able to share this platform with, with, with these men that have sat, sat across from me and, uh, share the stories that most importantly, not only point people to Jesus, point people to the cross and, and, uh, give people, uh, hope. I'm just grateful.

one thing I do want to share is that if you've been supporting, if you've been listening, continue to share these stories. I just checked earlier. We were at, uh, 7,194 downloads. Wow. So, so I want to challenge people. Share it, put it on your social media, put it on Facebook, Instagram, uh, wrong to Strong Chicago podcast on Facebook is Wrong to Strong Chicago podcast as well. Uh, Instagram w. 2s underscore podcast and that's on Instagram. So just thank you guys for that.

And, um, yeah, I just want to help us get to 7, 500 downloads and to 10, 000, you know, in like in a matter of no time. So I just, I just want to thank you guys for that. And, uh, I wanted to share that so, so no pressure on my guests to do anything spectacular on the one

And, uh, but I always got pulled back and it's, it's got, I think God had a mission for me where he's like, dude, this is where you're from. This is what, this is where the work you have to do. Right.

I was a private contractor in Iraq, and I'm like, man, I really want to get to know this guy. So I reached out to him. I, you know, I talked to him about some of the things that I'm doing in Back of the Yards, and And then he says, you know what, dude? I reached out to this guy, his name's Dean from, uh, Chicago. He's a good friend of mine. I grew up with him and, uh, and reach out to him. Here's his number. He gave me actually two numbers.

And then, uh, man, I, the very next day I'm driving and then some shit just comes to me, like call this guy, call this guy, Dean. Right. And then, uh, I reached out to this guy, Dean, and then he tells me, he tells me a little bit about himself, we're the same age, he went to Bogan High School, and I'm like, dude, I went to Bogan. And then, uh, and then he's, are you Nacho, Ignacio? I'm like, yeah. And he's like, you're the guy that, uh, ran a catering truck when you were a kid?

I'm like, yeah, that was my every summer and every winter job. I remember, he's like, are you Dean? Big Dean? We used to play football together against, you know, these guys and this guy. He's like, yeah, that's me. And, uh, man, one thing led to another, it was kind of meant to be. And, uh, man, now I'm here with you guys, which is incredible story, man. Incredible story.

I know you mentioned Back of the Yard, so, uh, For people that are not from Chicago, maybe could you tell them where we're at and maybe describe it?

Upton Sinclair wrote a book about it, The Jungle, about the, the conditions of how workers lived, uh, in the old back of the yard. So it was always an immigrant community. It's always kind of rough neck. And then I think in the late eighties, early nineties, a lot of the stockyards, uh, the slaughterhouses closed down and really affected a lot of the communities. those stockyards provide a lot of work. I understand why they had to move.

but, uh, that, that, that neighborhood really took a hard hit in the 80s and the 90s. So, uh, yeah, it's, next to, it's, it's surrounded by Bridgeport, Canaryville. McKinley Park and, Bryan Park in Inglewood. Right, right.

And then, uh, we all initially established, uh, ourselves within, in Back of the Yard. So. I tell people, man, there were seven of us in a two bedroom apartment, but I was loved, man. It was me, my sister was born, uh, 11 months, almost 11 months after I were both the same age right now. And, uh, I think, I think we were, we were loved. We had a tight family structure. and uh, my father, he found the Lord at, uh, when I was a very, very young person at one years old.

So I always knew him as a deacon, as an individual that gave back to the church, incredible follower. But even growing up as a kid, sometimes it was kind of hard on me because here I am going like three times a week to church. And I'm like, man, this is rough, man. Like I want to go play and have fun. You know, this is cool. But, you know, later in life, I realized what a blessing that I've had.

Like, the, the Lord has always been with me, whether I was in, in Iraq as a private contractor or even in the Marine Corps and, and the things that I've done in my life. I've realized later on that I was incredibly protected, man. So really blessed for, for all those times that I, I didn't like it when I was a kid. Right. But, uh, the times that, that, that I spent at church. Yeah. Okay.

Um, and I was always fascinated with other religions. so man, I actually hung out with a lot of, Palestinian guys and, uh, I wanted to know about them, their differences. I always kind of had like a, like an issue with my buddies who were Catholic. I'm like, ah, man, you know, it was just, but at the church, sometimes they would really, harp, uh, it was like, cause we're so close, but As far as Protestant and Catholics that they would harp a lot on the Catholics.

So I was always like, ah, these guys are different. But, uh, but I, I had to know a lot about, uh, other religions. And even now I've, I've done a lot of things where I've been really open to. Other faiths.

So I would go to him, but then I go to work with him. But I'd come back and I wanted to play and, uh, fast pitch and you remember the old rubber balls with the square on the wall. Yeah, man, I, a lot of people might not know, man, but back in the day, all you had needed was a bat, you spray painted a square on a wall and then you had these rubber balls and then you just, you played fast pitch. If you hit within the box, it was a strike.

And, uh, I actually, not too long ago, I took my nephews and I'm like, let's see how good you guys are. This is how, this is how we used to play if we didn't have a whole team. Right, right. So, You know, man, there was something about me where I always felt safe, man, I never partook in, in any of the violence or I'm grateful for the morality that my father instilled in me. And, uh, I always felt safe.

I mean, I always had, I got, I mean, I had issue with like the gang banging and I saw the violence that was being conducted in my neighborhood, but I always stayed away from it. And I realized later on, and I actually, now I see like young kids and something like that. Like a lot of people are like, Oh, poor kid that lives in this neighborhood. I'm like, no, that kid's going to be all right.

You know, like, you know, you see the protection sometimes and I feel like I always, I always was protected, but it was rough. It was still rough. Back of the yards is kind of known for some of the roughness, you know, and some of us, you know, we, we, we're kind of, there's a little bit of pride that comes with it. Like, yeah, you know, it's a, it's a rough, rough, tough, tough neighborhood. It is so, uh, but, but I've loved it. You know, we had to stand our ground a couple of times and.

I grew up with a lot of those guys, but nobody ever really bothered me. Okay. Partly. I mean, I was always at the basketball courts or, uh, or playing football with the guys. So, yeah, yeah. Now

And then one of them, uh, Bernardo Zapata, man, I love this guy to death for the rest of my life. And, uh, he turns around and he's like, nah, man. Nah, so he, now it's me and him against those guys. And, uh, we stood our ground and, and, uh, they pretty much backed out shortly thereafter. We, we got into a little scuffle and, um, and then sadly enough, uh, Bernardo actually ended up joining the bigger gang, the Saints, and then, um, you know, then nobody messed with him.

But, uh, he was one of those guys that was kind of advocating. He's like, nah, you know, this guy, This guy's not, not part of this. So, uh, I had a lot of, I had a lot of guys. David Martinez, bull, loved him to death. He was smarter than me, tougher than me. Uh, but he got involved in, in, uh, he always, I would see him. I'd said hello to him many a times and I knew them. I knew them all, but I didn't really partake. So it wasn't, it wasn't, uh, I, I even.

Outside of being in back of the yards, oftentimes I was associated with, Hey, this guy's from over there, but, uh, but no, no, it, it was, it was actually, it wasn't that hard, really.

Was that around that time? Oh, yeah. Yeah. You want to talk about that a little bit or how did

And she forced me partly because one of my good friends, uh, his mom didn't let him go to Kelly either. Uh, Sergio, a good friend of mine.

And so So, man, I go to St. Rita my, my freshman year, and it was, I don't know if you remember, it used to be on 63rd and Claremont, like 63rd and Western, and we did good, man, we did really good, and then the following year, it moved to 79th and Western, and so we convinced our parents, hey ma, you know what, we're gonna apply for these other schools, and we got into Bogan, And then, uh, our, our parents agreed as long as we kept our grades up, uh, we could go, we could go to Bogan.

So then we went to a, a public school and, uh, yeah, I mean, that time you're starting to hang out with different people. it's, you're associated, you start liking girls, you start doing other things and, uh. And, you know, everybody's sneaking in beer here and there. We we're having daytimes, and, uh, yeah. Yeah. So I started getting a little rebel rebellious. I stayed away not going to church as much. Now I'm a little bit older, I don't have to go. And, uh, started working a lot more.

So, uh, kind of pulled back a little bit on, uh, on and, and church and, and everything else. And, uh, I, I was telling you earlier, it was, I, I remember. Uh, when the first maybe year that we didn't have a car and we're, we're driving, we're taking the bus to, to Bogan, uh, me and my buddy, we would wake up earlier and get on the bus before anybody got on the bus because we knew we had problems, especially going around Curie high school. And people would just associate.

We don't know these guys, where they're from. They're from maybe a different crew. You know what you, you

So. When we're getting on a bus, we're looking at which bus has our buddy who's lives on the, uh, who lives, uh, uh, east of, of Ashland. And then, so he's, he's getting on the bus and now there's, there's us too. So we jump in and now there's three of us, right? There's three of us in case we're getting on a bus. And so we had to travel all the 47th street to, um, to Pulaski and then on Rockwell, we picked up another guy. So now there's four of us, right?

So now four of us, we feel a little bit more confident. And then, you know, in case somebody tries jumping on the bus at that time, a lot of people would just jump on the bus, drag the guy out. If they saw you or if you were from a different gang or different neighborhood. And, uh, and so man, I tell everybody it was, uh, it was an incredible growing experience. We weren't going to tell our parents or anything like that. We would wake up early. We'd get to, to Bogan.

If we had homework, maybe we finish our homework there. And, uh, we wanted to get through. So we got to Pulaski and then we had to take. On 47th and then we had to take Pulaski all the way to 79th and then, uh, going through Curie High School. That was like a whole different game. So Curie

Um, So we'd get on the bus, I'd get off on 79th, and then afterwards, a lot of people would, they couldn't wait to get home and get on the bus and whatever, so we stuck around till like everything died out, traffic died down, and we knew that Curie High School was going to be empty, so we stuck around playing football and basketball and got into sports, and uh, and I'd make sure I'd take the bus late, later so that I wouldn't have any problems coming back home. Yeah. So, so basically

I saw different neighborhoods, different areas, different cultures. And, uh, and I really enjoyed that. I really enjoy, I would see other possibilities outside of. Just the back of the yards. And I see now, like, you know, people talk about, well, you know, they got to cross different schools or gang schools or whatever. I'm like, yeah, yeah, you'll figure it out. You know, uh, you'll figure it out. But I, sometimes I'm like, well, you're just stuck at one mindset, one neighborhood.

And you don't leave that. And, uh, sometimes, well, you, you need to, you need to kind of see what's out there.

Yeah, I believe you said like 30 years of his life, like to the little, the block, the neighborhood.

Not only hispanic, but you know, you travel our parents traveled I mean sometimes thousands of miles to get here and then the struggle you leave a language a culture And then all you do is get stuck in this little you create your own little jail, you know, and uh And, and, and man, I've been blessed with my father's always, he's a great man. And, uh, and he's like, well, let's see something else, right? Let's, let's go somewhere else.

You know, he loved Chinese food, loved going to Chinatown and he loved testing out different, uh, uh, ethnic foods. And, and, uh, I've always, he always took us out of the comfort zone. He didn't even know the language. You didn't know what to order. He's like, let's try this, you know? Um, but you know, what, what, you know, I always think back, he tried, you know, a whole different culture, a whole different language, a whole different everything.

And why can't we try something a little bit out of our comfort zone?

I'm partying with my buddies. And, uh, and I'm like, well, this was later on, actually maybe 15, 16. And, uh, and I'd be like, Hey dude, I got to go to work. Let's go to work. And I drag one of my buddies that's out with me. I'm like, man, I'll give you some menudo or something. How about the back of the truck? You had menudo back there? Oh yeah, on Saturdays, man, that was a. Big sell because everybody was hungover on Saturday, right? How did you guys get your food?

The food that you're going to sell, so you got to go to a specific taco spot and there's some that sell specifically only a catering checks and then you go, uh, to bakery and you get your, your donuts that you're going to sell and then you stock that up and not throughout the day as food's running low, you can order it maybe later on in the evening you want to sell pizza or other things. So it gets delivered to you. To your route, while your day is progressing.

So you have fresh food, uh, right then and there. So, uh, I remember man, there are a couple of times where I get one of my buddies that I'm like, just keep me awake, just keep me awake. And, uh, first thing, uh, the first place that we were supply, uh, food was, uh, the, uh, this taco spot and, uh, Don Pablo's on Archer. And as soon as we get in there, man, give me a menudo, dude, you needed degrees to, uh, to, to suck in all the, the alcohol that you had in our system. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um, so yeah, that was, that was a little bit of high school. Um, man, I thought I was pretty smart. I, I took four years of math and I, I got all A's. Um, and then I was like, man, I think I'm gonna be a math teacher. I didn't know what else to do. Right. I'm good at math. I think I could teach it. Everybody's asking me to tour them all the time, maybe a math teacher. Right.

So I got into college, I got into college as a, uh, teaching a math, uh, I scored pretty high, but man, I got, I got to pre cal and calculus and the university, I was like, wow, this is a lot, man, this is a lot. And I, I didn't do too well my, my freshman year, and I had seen a lot of my buddies go to the Marine Corps. So I saw how they came back. They were different and it was just different.

I really enjoyed what they did and they all went on a buddy program and and then I kinda, I did all right my first semester, but the second semester I just blew it. Right. I, it just blew it. I already kind of knew I'm like, I think I'm one of the Marines. Okay. And I knew at the time the Marine Corps would pay for my university and my father. I love my father. He's like, Hey, listen, you're the oldest. You better set the example for everybody you better, I'm, I'm working hard.

You better be better than me. All of your siblings, all of your cousins, everybody, they better be better than you. Wow. And, uh, that,

He, he barely had enough food, uh, he came from a farming community, he was a farmer, third grade education, and, uh, between my father and a lot of his uncles, they bought all the lands that they, Um, that they worked, that they worked in for my grandfather and, and he did well here, man. He's retired. He gets to go back and forth anytime he wants from Mexico to here. Loves this country.

Uh, really proud of me when, when I went, when, when I went to the Marine Corps and, uh, yeah, very patriotic, very patriotic man. And, and yeah, yeah. But, uh, he always, he was always like, Hey, listen, you have to show them, you have to show this. I brought my brothers because they're younger than me. to Chicago. I helped them out. You have to help people. So he, he was at, as a deacon in his church, he was always a giver.

Uh, he drove the van every Sunday in the morning and in the evening would pick up people. So he was one, he was that type of guy. Service. Service. Yeah. And a service for sure. I think he instilled in all of us, uh, my two sisters work for Chicago public school system. My brother's a cop in Madison. And, and, uh, I, I guess I, I serve in law enforcement myself now.

And, uh, at that time I tell people, man, you know, there wasn't that many Mexicans like there are now here in Chicago. And a lot of us, we were all first generation. So I'm excited, man. I ran into a couple of Southern Mexican guys and, and I'm like, Hey man, I'm I'm excited. Hey, how you doing, man? Uh, where are you guys from? He's like, Oh, no, like I'm not a man. Why'd you talk so fast? They were, he talks so fast. And I'm like, Oh, what do you mean?

And then he tells one of the other guys, he's like, what are like, I'm not a man. Check this guy out. Hey, he talks fast. He talks like an Italian. Hey, and I got so upset, dude. I got so upset. I'm sorry. He like I'm not a man. Sounds good. Speak a language. Pick one and speak it right, man. Spanish or English. Dude, it was a clash immediately. And I realized right then and there, dude. I was more of a Chicago than I was anything else. Oh, man. And then Michael Jordan was big at the time.

And then there was a couple of black guys that showed up from Chicago. And I was like, man, I'm hanging around these guys. You could understand them more. Forget these guys. But I really realized, I realized a lot of things. You know, where you grew up, it has a huge influence on a lot of things. Even how you talk, right? Like in Southern California, hey dude. How you doing? Right?

They elongate their words You know and I'm like man we don't have that much time over here So there was that little clash man eventually we got along great but uh Yeah, I, I, So even as,

And there was three buses that would show up and there was the Catholic bus the Protestant bus and then the other bus and the other was like the Jews Seventh day evangelists and some Muslims as well. It was others as well. And I remember you would see like all the Southerners going through the Protestant church and everybody from the city and all the Hispanics were going to Catholic church. And then I'm behind all the white dudes from the South, you know, the Bible belt.

Yeah. Oh man, Arkansas, Alabama. And they would even, I mean, the first couple of times they're like, Hey dude, your bus is over there. I'm like, nah, dude, I'm going with you. He's like, you're one of us? I'm like, yeah, man. And I tell you, I grew up as a as a Mexican Baptist dude, and that was... Man, that was tough, right? You want to share a little bit of maybe

You know, it's just, here's the word, you know, there's a word. My father loved it. Okay. And I looked at it from more of a historical standpoint and I was like, ah, man. But, uh, but there was times that, man, I felt, I felt God speaking to me. I felt God being there. And so we're going to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Monday. And then on Wednesday, Monday was, uh, the men's groups. So, uh, yeah, man, that was a lot. That was a lot.

And then, you know, when I go to Marine Corps, I got stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, and I'm going to Southern churches and I'm going to, uh, uh, Southern Baptist churches, man. I'm loving that, dude, like black Southern Baptist churches, man. Preach it singing. I'm like this is great. Is it like the blues brothers movie? Oh, man, it's kind of like that bad kind of liked it. So I really enjoyed it man. I It was different, but I, I was that bridge builder.

I think I've always been kind of a bridge builder where I got, I got to know a lot of the Southern guys through church. And then I come back and I told the other guy, the city guys from, uh, Chicago and the Hispanic guys, I'm like, Hey dude, these guys are pretty cool, man. You know? And I think we were that, that bridge. And And I really enjoyed my time in the Marine Corps, got to know a lot of people. I came back, I had, I was, Oh, how many years did you do?

So initially I just did 13 months and most of that was bootcamp. I got sent to Biloxi, Mississippi, Keesler Air Force Base and I programmed telephone systems. So I was all in school the whole time. And then I came back and I was in reserves for seven years. Okay. Um, and, uh, that was one week in a month. three to four weeks out of, uh, out of my summer, but because I did 13 months and I didn't know, it just, it just happened. It was all schooling after a year.

If I had done one year of active duty, which is all schooling, they gave me more money to go to school. So that, that really worked out. It was really beneficial.

And, and I, I just, I, I looked at that and, um, I focused on military history, but, uh, Yeah. From that point on, I joined a fraternity. I became president of fraternity and we started actually a fraternity when we were in college. And, and that whole time I'm having fun. I'm enjoying myself. We're partying, but I'm working a lot too. I'm working, I'm getting paid. I'm making pretty good money. I'm getting money from the Marine Corps.

I went back to the catering trucks on a weekend and every summer. So. I was, I was doing okay financially as well and, senior year comes and I'm, I'm with a guy, we're in the same fraternity and, I was dead set on becoming a school teacher and graduating college. I want to set that example for my family and, my buddy, he's excited. We got a basketball game against another fraternity. And, uh, I pick him up and he's like, Hey, do me a favor.

Let's go, um, I have to drop off this application for, uh, for law enforcement, for police department. And I'm like, dude, why do you want to become a cop? You know, I'm like, like, nah, man. And it was funny, funny story, man. God just leads you in certain ways. And, we go to Malcolm X. It's the, the old Malcolm X, not, not how it is now. And as we're pulling up, there's this car that, that drives out. Right. And I'm like, Oh, I parked right in front.

And then, uh, there's this big thing recruiting for police and there's different agencies actually. And then, uh, I, I get out. Uh, I, the only reason I got out, I was just going to drop them off so he could drop it off, but the car pulled out. Right. So I get out. And I walk in and then, uh, I see a sign cause there was, there was fees to join or apply for different agencies. Right. And then this one said, uh, veterans get the fee waived. I had my military ID.

I'm like, Hey, can I join for the, can I, can I, can I sign up for this thing? Just like that. Right. And she looks at my ID and she's like, Oh my God, you were born November 10th. That's the Marine Corps birthday. Oh yeah. And, uh, so I was born on the 200th birthday of the Marine Corps. I get to celebrate two times. And, uh, she, she remembers going to the Marine Corps ball with her husband and, uh, and she says, you guys become good cops. And I'm like, eh, so I'm filling it out.

It says references. I'm like, I don't even have any references. She's like, put my husband down. All your Marines get a lot, get along. So I put him down and she says, give me a call when you get your results. And I was like, yeah, whatever. I don't want to do this. And it's funny how God works, man, because me and my buddy who walked in to, to, to apply, he became a school teacher and I, I, I switch roles right there. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much. And I loved it, man. I loved it.

I, I, I been in law enforcement for almost 24 years now. So

And, um, and, and my brother's 13 years old and, and I'm like, listen, I took him. We're playing basketball at the time. I think I had coach. I was coaching the little league baseball and, and I was like, there's something inside a man that, that there's a calling at times and you have to go, you have to go. And, uh, nobody's going to understand. And, uh, yeah. I'm going to Iraq and, uh, I'm going on a private contract and I was there to train Iraqi police for the Department of Defense.

And, and I'm like, man, everybody's going to try to talk me out of it, but I'm already set. I'm going next week. I had gone through the whole process. And, uh, how,

And there was something was calling me to go there. And and man, I signed up. I didn't tell anybody a week prior to, I told my brother and I'm like, I'm gonna tell everybody. my sister, I love her to death. She's like, you're not going, are you an idiot? What's going to happen? I'm like, I don't worry about it. My mom was nuts. And then my father, my father's great, man. He's like, I'm just going to pray for you, man. And, uh, and then I understand. I understand.

And, uh, just go, go make sure you pray all the time. Here's your Bible. And, uh, man, it was an incredible experience, incredible experience, man. I had a a. Interpreter assigned to me, Ali, who, what a great man, great man, and, uh, I blended in really well. I, I grew a beard. I picked up the language. I'll tell you a story about, uh, I was in the CARC director, which is kind of like the west side of Baghdad, and I'm sitting with General Shamir across from me, right?

And I'm over here on this side, and, uh, and he's like, hey man, where you from in the Middle East? I'm like, nah, nah, man, I'm not from the Middle East. He's like, man, you look like one of us. And I'm like, well, funny thing is all you guys look like a bunch of Mexicans to me But it built that bridge right you know that bridge And, uh, and, and we got into, man, I got to know him so well, I built a lot of great relationships. Ali and I, I'm a big domino player.

Ali and I, we snuck out of the base just to go play dominoes. That's kind of where dominoes actually came from the Persian Empire. Oh yeah? And, man, I, I, when we came back, I made sure that we brought him and his family back to the States. And, uh, he actually lives in Rockford now. So, um, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, really proud of that. Really, really proud of that. And then, uh, after that was over, there was a lot of stuff. Come back and, you know, you're just not the same.

Yeah. There's, there's a lot of stuff. Uh, came back and, and drinking a lot and... You, you know,

What used to be the old Mesopotamian, the Babylonian Empire, the Bible talks about well, you know, Christianity didn't come till afterwards But they've kept the faith during these times and I remember one of them I saw him and he's got tattoos of crosses. He says in case we get killed or blown up. We want to be Buried in a Christian way.

Well, so, you know and I used to say man how hard it was growing up in As a Mexican Baptist and then seeing them and, uh, what they've had to go through and endure and anytimes there's any conflict, right? You look at who's the minority or who's, uh, something that I don't agree with. Yeah. And, uh, I would see these guys and they were always separate from one another, from, from others in, in Iraq. And I got to tell you, man, the Iraqi people were amazing people, freaking amazing people.

You know, they're very proud, very proud culture. Uh, they've been around for thousands of years and, uh, there's some places in Baghdad that are, that at the time were beautiful. Now I've seen some videos and it's, it's, they've developed those areas again, but how many times have they been through? You know, and, and there was that guy General Shamir, we would talk all the time and, and he's like, man, you guys are going to be gone in a while. We, we've, we've had so many.

Uh, enemies come through here and we're still here as a culture, right?

Okay. So, uh, at the time I had picked up enough words where I thought I was, I was okay. And, yeah, yeah, my time, my time in the Middle East was amazing. Amazing. I got to work with some incredible guys, uh, and I was there on a trading capacity from the, for, for the whole time I was there. So I was safe for the most part. Okay. Um, and yeah, what an experience, what an experience. And, and you know what, here, here I am again, protected, right.

Protected by God. Um. And, and I got to see people from just, uh, incredible, uh, Christian traditions and seeing and learning about them and even, you know, learning about the Muslim world. Oh my God, these incredible people. Um, they come from, from a good place in their heart and, and, uh, you know, there, there's issues that happened, but, you know, seeing it from their perspective, they got families just like us. And, uh, I actually build some, some great relationships.

Like I said, Ali, Ali had an opportunity when he came to the States to go, he asked me, he's like, Hey, you know what? Um, They're, they're giving me an option between Arizona, New Jersey, or Rockford, Illinois. He's like, what would you pick? And I'm like, dude, don't go to Rockford. Don't go to Rockford. And I said, you know what, dude, Phoenix, Arizona has a lot of opportunity. It's hot, it's deserty, you should go there. Right. And, uh, he's like, yeah, but you live near Rockford, right?

And I'm like, yeah, but so what? He's like, I'm going to Rockford. Wow. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's, uh, it was fantastic. And he's done really good. He's done really well. Man, yeah, praise God.

I didn't, you know, uh, lean on anybody. And then I think the, the, the, the masculine culture, you know, deal with it, just deal with it. And then what we ended up doing is suppressing. The emotions right in so many different ways and I tell people, you know what, they're going to come to light one way or another because God wants you to heal and, and for me, you know, I suppress them through alcohol or people suppressing my time, you know, video games, smoking weed or whatever.

And for me, it was just not paying attention to, uh, not, not drinking and then, uh, just out partying all the time.

My insides are all dried up and, and first play dude. My Achilles heel, complete tear. I was stuck at home for months and, couldn't go couldn't drink. And, and I'm not, I'm not. I'm not one of those guys that drinks at home. I gotta, I gotta be a social social. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And, and so, you know, I had to sit with all the stuff that, that, that I had, I hadn't processed, I'm sitting with it. I'm processing at the time I couldn't work out. There wasn't anything I could do.

So I actually got into yoga, Bikram yoga, hot yoga. And at first it was just like, give me, give me the workout, man. Forget about this. Just give me the workout. And then I started getting into some of the philosophy and mindset of it. And, uh, And I started calming down. I actually got into meditation. I did, um, man, I did two later on, but I did two 10 day silent meditations in the Buddhist temple on the way. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that was actually, that was, I was in Rockford, Illinois.

Everything's in Rockford. Oh, yeah. Fast forward and I'm going through something. I had a buddy of mine. I think as good as you are, there comes a time where you have to process all the stuff that you've been through. Right. And, I had a, I had a guy that was a good friend of mine, man, and I, and I knew him, and, and, strong man, dude, he, I know what he had been through, what he had done, and, and he committed suicide.

And, uh, and it, it, it really affected me to the point where I was like, man, is this possible? Why? You start thinking all this stuff and then I started asking, I, you know, be careful what you ask for. Cause God, God's going to answer all your, um, all of your prayers, man. And uh, and I, I started questioning God and asking him and, why did I gravitate towards these things? Right. Why did I gravitate towards, um, these types of places, right?

These, uh, law enforcement, Marine Corps, private contractor. It was as if I needed adrenaline and if I didn't get it, I needed it somewhere else. Right. And, and then when my buddy committed, although I had a lot of buddies that had, but this one really affected me, this one really affected me. My first response was anger. I'm like, dude, we don't do that. We're better than that. We're smarter than that. We're tougher than that.

You know how to, instead of man mourning or grieving for my brother, right? I didn't mourn. I didn't grieve. I sucked it down. And eventually all of that just. It's got to come out, right? It's got to come out and, uh, I started getting weak. I was looking at, uh, the medical aspect. I'm like, you know, man, I can't, I'm not feeling weaker. I can't process any foods. You know, what's wrong with me? I'm, I'm going doctor to doctor to doctor.

And, you know, it was nothing that a doctor could do because it was, it was emotional and, and, and nobody, you know, uh, nobody, nobody tells you about that. Right. You know, maybe there's, are you stressed or, you know, they try to guide it from that perspective. Right. And I wouldn't tell anybody all the stuff that I had done or been a part of, or, or the life that I'd had lived, you know, I can't process any foods, nor did I think it had anything to do with it. Right. Right, right.

And, uh, for me it was powerful, man, where, where, um, I was at a church and I was feeling weak, I couldn't do anything, and I was like, man, here I am, I'm thinking. I'm this strong man and, and, and God had taken all that away from me, right? It was like, you, you can't, you can't even lift anything right now. You can't lift a freaking box of soda or anything. I was that weak, you know, it's like, man, but I had so much that I had inside of me that I hadn't processed.

And, and the way I, I wrote about it, it, uh, it titled a warrior, a warrior story of his soul. And, uh, the, the first paragraph that I write is, the, the story of my soul started with a prayer. And I know my prayer was true cause I couldn't do it anymore. And I got on my knees and I prayed and I asked God, please help me heal my demons of war. And I asked upon all the warriors of the past who have been through this to come help me heal.

And be careful what you pray for because all of your prayers are going to come true. And for me, it took me on a spiritual journey all across the world where I sat in Buddhist temples in silence for ten days twice. I went down to the Amazon jungle and I lived with indigenous people and I lived in the Amazon jungle for days and weeks at a time by myself.

I, I, I hiked the mountains of, of where my parents are from in, in, at Temahac and in Jalisco and I just camped out and I stayed there, you know, and, and I really, I needed to reconnect myself and, you know, Is this by yourself? Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, the Amazon jungle, it was. You live with indigenous people, they teach you how to survive and then they drop you off in the Amazon jungle in Guyana, which is next to Venezuela with just a machete and fishing line.

And uh, they'll tell you, we'll come back for you in four days. So a powerful, powerful, but you know, I mean, you look at the story of, of John the Baptist, who I really connect with where, you know, he, uh, he went up to the mountains and he lived and he prayed. Right.

And. You know, you call it meditation or whatever it might be, but, uh, he, he only ate certain foods and, uh, he fasted, you know, uh, and there was something about that, you know, when you're there and you're searching and man, I'm fighting with God. I remember where. Uh, Abraham, he's fighting with God by himself up in the mountains and God, what's wrong with me? Right. What, what, what's, what's going on? And he answers you, he answers you, you know, you're, you're, you're there.

And, and you're fighting with yourself. You're fighting with, you know, I call them my demons, right. But it was my demons that I created and you could get rid of them just the same, you know, and, uh, I had taken time off of work. I needed it. And, uh, You know, you process all of that and, and, and prayer, prayer, you know, it's, it's like God, one of my cousin's, uh, peer, man, I love him to death. And, and, uh, I would call him and his father, his father was a pastor for a long time.

And I'm like, what's wrong with me? And he's like, nah, dude, it's just who you are, dude. It's who you are. You're an extremist. He says, you went to the Middle East and I know the stuff that you did. You taught, you told me you went from that extreme. You need to go to the other side of the spectrum. And how beautiful is it? And he says, how beautiful is it that God made you this extreme so you can know this and now you can know this so you could find your balance and truly find him.

You know, and, uh, and he says, you need to go to the other side of the spectrum and, and I did, I did, you know, sitting, sitting in the mountains, just talking to him, prayer, nature's healing. He created all of that. Right. And, uh, and then, you know, you're sitting with him in the Amazon jungle. They do that. So you could sit with yourself and you're sitting and they call it the jungle. Right. But God's in all of that. Right. And, and yeah, powerful, powerful.

I came back, I came differently and, um, and, and, and I caught myself and I said, man, what am I running away from? There's so many things that I was running away from, you know, and here I am, you know, I'm this and I, I'm, I'm not scared of nothing. And there were so many things that I was scared of, um, you know, sitting down, starting a family, uh, settling down. Uh, to a certain extent, I was like, man, I left Back of the Yards and I was like, I'm never going back.

And, uh, I was like, man, I'm running away from Back of the Yards. And I'm like, nah, man, I gotta go back. I gotta go back. And, uh, man, I'm all in. I'm all in in Back of the Yards. Um, maybe we could talk a little bit about it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, yeah. Um, I'm opening up a coffee shop. I'm 47th and Honary. I think we're deserving of a great space to come together. There was something in me that I always loved serving a cup of coffee, even when I was in the catering. Right, right.

Going back to that, you know, I loved, you know, I knew these guys are waking up and they're providing for their family, right? They're going on their factory job or their, um, Or their construction job, whatever it was, right there, they're there to provide for their family. Right. And I saw that. So, you know, they're deserving of so much. So for me, man, I'm open up a dream catcher cafe right in the corner of 47th and Honary. I tell everybody, man, I'm freaking out. I'm freaking out.

I was like, man, back in the day, it was just a pour over. Here you go. And now there's a science to coffee, right? There's a science. There's you want a latte, there's an express machine. You want these pour overs? You want this? Holy cow, dude. I just, just want to sell a cup of coffee, but it's been a blessing, man. It's been an incredible blessing. We got the opportunity to, to, um, to purchase a building on 47th and.

And, uh, I started when I got back, I bought one abandoned property, I gutted it, um, I was trying a lot of things. And, and so one of the questions that I asked, I asked, and I had, I was asking guys, I was like, why did I gravitate towards all these masculine attributes? Right. And a lot of it was maybe, you know, we're males, we're Mexican, we gotta work hard. You know, so then I, and I, and, and there's aspects that, that, you know, through the process for me.

I remember my mom, who I loved, uh, I love very much. She, uh, she would grab me and when she was scared, she would tell me, Right. And she would grab me a little bit tighter.

Like I didn't care about scoring. I wanted to just pave the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And even in the Marine Corps, there's subcultures of the Marine Corps subcultures and law enforcement. Like that's almost my ego. Right. And, uh, and even God's like, you know what now I think you're going to provide a place of protection for everybody. Right.

And, and initially, so I came back and I was trying different things like, um, Man, I, I took classes at Second City Comedy Club and I was like, man, I need to activate more creative aspects of me cause I never did. So that's hard work, right? You, you gotta be creative. And I was like, man, there's, there's, I felt like there was something missing. Okay. And, uh, I started working, I bought an abandoned property in back of the yards. I started gutting it, I started fixing it.

And then, so there's, it's, it's both aspects of, of the, the, the male and, uh, female, the yin and the yang, like. I get to destroy an abandoned property, right, really destroy it and then rebuild it again. And then I, I started hiring local guys just from there. I remember when I got to, um, to the time where I needed some trim done, right. And I'm like, man, who do I know? I don't know any trim guys or, or crown molding. And then my cousin called me and she's like, Hey man, call Monster.

I'm like, Monster. Nah, man. Isn't that guy in jail? She's like, nah, call him. And I was like, Monster. And I'm like, Sal Sal. Yeah. This guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got his own carpentry company. He's like, dude, you're investing your back and back of the yards. And and I'm like, yeah. He's like, Tony, I can't go back there. And I'm like, yeah. And then he sees,

So bringing those people together, right. Uh, they're in one way associated with the neighborhood. It's huge. They, they, they bring an energy. To, um, To the build up because there's a lot of people in our community that are incredible professionals, right? Incredible artisans, incredible crafts. They have incredible crafts and they go outside because nobody's nobody's willing to really invest in our community, right? So I've taken, you know, I have four properties that I gutted.

I fixed up when I open up a Dream Catcher cafe and 47th and Honary. I hope the community is proud. I hope they could come and it's it's it's. It's a place where we can come as community gather and you can be really proud of it.

So I mean you talked about if you want to talk about when you tried going back to your own neighborhood. Oh, no.

So it was, uh, it was definitely, like I was telling you, you know, like, uh, when you, when you're out there, your head, what do they call it? Like your head's on a swivel. Your head's on a swivel, man. You know, looking around and, so yeah, it's definitely certain areas where... Well,

And, and, man, I see back of the yards. I think it's a beautiful neighborhood, man. I, I, the family structure that we created this, their, um, family events, gathering spaces. And, uh, it's always been a hard nose, no nonsense. I, you know, I, I tell people that I love the differences in our city. I don't think there's any city like Chicago, maybe Toronto, man. I know. And I say this, I know, I know the whole city of Chicago, man. Uh, I know the different neighborhoods.

We have Ukrainian Village, Little India, Um, Little Italy, Greek Town, Little Village. You know, I could tell you where you want some good Vietnamese food, dude. I know where to go, right? It's very authentic. I know the differences. I know that the Taylor Street Italians are different than the Bridgeport Italians. The Northside Irish are different than the hardcore Sox fan Irish in the Southside, right? And I tell everyone, I'm a back of the yards Mexican, man.

I'm very different than any Pilsen Mexican, you know, so we're different. We're different, but we love one another, right? We respect one another. Like, I mean, like, I don't think anybody else. And, uh, and, and I love that about our city. I remember when I was growing up in back of the yards, there was a cultural center that used to bring like people from like Native American people from, from, uh, different tribes and, and.

Different cultural events and to a certain extent, I kind of want that to, to be in, in the coffee shop. I have an event space in the back and then they closed off the street next to me through a program called Invest Southwest. And, and I want to really put a lot of use to that area. I'm telling you, I'm freaking out. I think I feel more comfortable being back in Iraq sometimes because it's a lot of work, man. It's a lot of work. You're talking about the business though.

Yeah, the business aspect. I'm like, man, I don't know how to do this. But, you know, God's connecting me with the right people. And, uh, good people are coming, man. Good people are coming. So, uh, I hope to open, maybe have a soft opening sometime in November and really go full fledged, uh, in, in January this year.

Wrong to strong and powerful men, you know, powerful men and even your, your, your wife's podcast, um, her scars tell the story, you know, and, uh, you know, at a time where there's this victim mindset, um, everywhere, you know, and, and even some churches are, uh, I left the church, uh, because, you know, they have this savior complex and, uh, you know, they look at a lot of people, right?

They're looking at the victim mindset, but none of you guys, like I, I've, I've heard many of your podcasts and your wife's podcasts where they say, man, I loved going through this, right? I needed to go through that, right? What if we see as everything that we had to go through as a God's blessing, right? Not look at it as a, as a, you know, poor this. Nah, man, you know what?

God, God, if, if we truly believe and we're in, we're of the faith that God, you know, puts it in, in, in where he's at, wherever we're at, so we could learn, right. We could learn and, and, You know, what if we look at it? God, you got me here. Right? What am I supposed to learn? you know, you know, there were times where like I needed to be weak.

I needed to be like, God showed me my weakness was now I look at it as one of my biggest strengths and, he, he wanted me to, um, He wanted me to remember him, right? That I, it wasn't me that did anything he's equal, it says, uh, um, the soldier doesn't protect, no, uh, the carpenter doesn't build only God. God builds all things, right? Uh, the soldier doesn't protect. God truly protects. Right. And, and, and that was my ego where I protect people. I do this, man. I never did anything right.

God did it. God was always there with me. And, uh, and, and, and God needed to remind me of that, that, uh, it wasn't me, it was my ego, but he was, it was through me that, that I went through certain things. Right. But, uh, but he was there with me the whole time. Yeah, yeah. No, for sure

Cause now you're relying on self and yeah, those, those moments of weakness, uh, usually make our eyes

Um, you look at the peak of a mountain and there's another mountain past that. So you're always seeing out there, but greater are we in us. Uh, especially when God is in us, right? God is in we, inside of us. So, and so I, you know, like I've traveled the world, I've been to 35 countries and I'm like, you know what, man, I feel more comfortable in back of the yards now. Um, this is, this is my home now. This is, I've seen and been, but.

You know, how do I show the people in my community the greatness that's out there through here and there's more to, to the world than just here, right? There's, there's more and maybe I could bring in some of those people that I've met to come and so they could see. The possibilities that are out there. Right. Right. And, uh, you know, when you said you didn't have Chinese till 22, you're missing out, man. Yeah, yeah, for real. You're missing out. And how many people are like that, right? Where,

I, underneath everybody's support, man, come on down. It's gonna be right on 47th and, and, and, and honorary. Um, so it's, uh, one block west of, uh, Wood Street on 47th Street. And the reason we're calling it Dream Catcher Cafe, right? What happens in a coffee shop, you got a kid doing homework, he's creating his dreams, you're having meetings, maybe some sort of real estate meeting or something to that effect, where you, you, you want your dreams to come true, right? What if we dream big?

Um, keep a lookout, guys. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna let everybody know, uh, Hopefully in the near future. Um, it'll be a nice place. Hopefully you guys could be proud of the space that we've created for our community. Uh, and then I, I have a beyond legacy homes. Which is, uh, homes that I've renovated.

uh, I tell everybody, everything that I've learned, earned in my whole life, whether it was through, uh, working at Catering Trucks, law enforcement, or even as a private contractor, everything that I've ever had, I've reinvested in Back of the Yards because I believe in it. I, I believe we need, we, uh, we have... Um, we need places where we could come together, we could hang out, we could feel safe, we could, um, we could speak.

Uh, one of the ways you'll know where to head on 47th Street, I'm going to have a lot of domino tables outside. So, I challenge, I compete in the world domino tournament. Oh, no way. The only time it was held, the only time it was held in the U. S. So, I'm, I'm excited to, to bring in, there's, we're having a lot of people from Colombia, Venezuela come on over. Want to play some dominoes with you guys. So, um.

Yeah. And, and if you don't know, uh, we'll come, we'll have some, some places where we can teach the game as well. I love it a great deal. So yeah, you're more than welcome.

Our cities and across our country are changing. Mexico's changing. Um, and I've traveled, I'm a big coffee guy. I traveled to Columbia 10 years ago and it's completely different than it is now. So, so Sometimes places need to change and sometimes we have to move on as well. So, um, I think a back of the Yards is changing now drastically. There's a lot of Puerto Ricans that were displaced from humble park and there's a lot of refugees coming in from Venezuela and Columbia.

And I think we've always been a welcoming city, a welcoming community. And, uh, I'm going to have probably pasteles and empanadas, uh, to cater to, to, um, some of the new people that are coming. They're still going to be good. And I want to provide healthier options. I'm not going to compete with La Internacional, which is great tacos or Don Cuco's who has great tacos. So I'm not going to compete with the Mexican food.

So it's, I'm going to have a different option, um, uh, variety of different foods, but coffee is going to be the main thing of, um, Of sale coffee and, and, and expressos and, and, and, uh, Right now, there's no, um, coffee shop on 47th Street. Okay. Um, we're opening up and then, uh, I'll throw a shout out to Back of the Yards Coffee. They're going to be opening up on 47th and Ashland soon. Uh, there's enough room to go around for all of us. Right. Um, so, uh, we're a large community.

I think we could collaborate in many ways, uh, to bring quality spaces to, to Back of the Yards.

How you're a Chicago guy and you're you're going back to your neighborhood and you're contributing back and man That's I think that that's great, you know, like Chicago, you know, we don't just want to paint a picture of how bad it is No, and there's there's a lot of good Good things going on in the city. There

I want to see part, I want to see the possibilities, you know, and, uh, and one of the things that, that, that, that I love. And one of the things that I'm doing is, you know, even with the construction aspect of it, we got to give some of the opportunities to the talent that we have in our own community, right. hire from within.

Um, and, and, and yes, you know what, there's some people that may feel like, Hey, listen, you know, there's too much trauma that I have to leave it and it's sad, but, but sometimes it might be best. So, and sometimes you got to bring new ideas or, or, you know, like in my case, you know, I left and now we're coming back. Um, so, you know, we need a little bit of, we need a little bit of everything.

And, and if we can retain the talent, the craftsmanship of some of the hard work that, that dedication in, in our community, if we could retain that and let them benefit from it. I'm, I'm all

You know, what you've been through and some of the opportunities that still were given to you. We talked a little bit about that too. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, he had his story of, you know, you remind one day I got to have him on here, but, uh, man. Uh, even throughout, I think I, like, I was telling you like, man, I'm sure they experienced racism. I'm sure they experienced, you know, it, it wasn't handed, success wasn't handed over to them, but you mentioned your dad, hardworking, you know, hey man, waking up at two in the morning, a servant. You know, that's one thing I see in my family too. They were servants, they work hard and they served.

But we were talking about how, man, even. In the midst of all the, uh, opposition, they were still able to succeed in this country and they, they, they, uh, made a way for us to succeed, but what I was sharing with him, you know, is that even me in my wild days, you know, you know, being a criminal going behind bars, coming out, having a criminal record, I am still able to succeed in this country based. I believe on, on the, on the grace of God, the favor of God. Thank you.

The change he's done in me, but hard work ethic and my character, the way I carry myself, the way I treat others, you know, cause we were talking about, I think just the, the, the negativity that there's being portrayed out there and, uh, nah, man, I, I thank God that, that, that I'm here to be honest, that in this country and that that's why you got. A lot of people that, that, that want to come here.

I don't see, I don't see too many people wanting to leave this country, you know, even though they bash it. So I think that's

And I, I know so many people that succeeded like our father, like our fathers, like, uh, many relatives, first people that just came here with nothing, you know, so there's a lot of people showing up that way, uh, have faith, have faith, sit down, humble yourself, pray. Um, and I mean, I think there's incredible opportunities in this city, in this country. Um, you gotta love it. I'm very proud of it. I'm proud of my service.

I haven't always been the greatest guy, but God, God has always, um, led the way for me. So, uh, um, I would just say, guys, guys, don't, don't, uh, don't focus on the negative aspects of it. There's there, there's so much, um, Possibilities that I've seen so much greatness that I, that I think is coming to our city. Amen. Amen,

We know that 10, 000. Uh, likes is going to be just the start to something much more greater because you have a plan for them, dear mighty heavenly father. We thank you. I thank you because you've shown you've allowed these men to show you their hearts and hopefully Others can see the strength in their, in their story, in your word, in their heart, and what the possibilities are.

And if somebody is seeking you, dear almighty heavenly father, reach out to them through, through us, through you, or through whatever need, uh, through whatever way. They need. I thank you, dear Almighty Heavenly Father for all that you've done in my life, in the life that's to come. I know there's greatness, uh, to come. Lead us, humble us, and, uh, and, and bless us in whatever we do. I thank you for Omar, dear Almighty Heavenly Father. Thank you for all the guests that he's had.

And I thank you for your grace and your word. Amen. Amen.

We're just here to share stories of redemption, stories that, uh, point people to, to our heavenly father. So with that, uh, we're going to get ready to, to wrap up, um, Matthew four, 16 reads the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned along with Nacho. My name's Omar Calvillo. We are Wrong To Strong.