(singers vocalizing) - [Courtney] Suits and Sneakers from the block to the ballroom.

- [Man 1] Good morning.

- Bringing that voice, bringing that Black voice.

I'm talking about everything from housing, sports, religion, medicine, a way to live.

You know, I know I'm not a hip-hop expert, (man laughing) I'm not a comedian, I'm not a B-Ball player.

But there's- - [Man 1] That was three shots right there.

- There's a legislation coming out.

Cultural zones will allow us to start protecting our communities against gentrification.

- Nice.

- Red lining and all that stuff.

- It's gonna set us up.

So now what the cultural zones will be geared to do, will actually kinda start protecting the neighborhoods with grant moneys, state, city and county resources, could actually be allotted to repairing, stabilizing these neighborhoods and...

Us having this Suits and Sneakers platform as a podcast, helps elevate our mission to increase Black home ownership, because as different policies come out, different lending programs come out, we get to use this platform to share that information with all the viewers.

Black people shouldn't have to live around anybody just to realize property value.

- Right.

- That's a big deal.

- So if I come outside my door and I see you, you and you, I know my house is still worth 1.5.

- There you go, and that's...

When we think of segregation, Black people should not have to live amongst non-Black people for their home to have value.

(indistinct chatting) 'Cause what does that say about Black people?

Then that would say Black people don't have value.

It's critical as a real estate community to see neighborhoods stay intact, but more importantly, those neighborhoods be improved.

Everywhere we go, that neighborhood has a bull's eye on it.

Because where we go the value goes down, and when we move the property value goes up.

(indistinct) Niggas.

- And he's saying he don't know Commerce.

- From the block to the ballroom, another episode in the books, look us up on the YouTube channel.

I can say to myself, the Black real estate activist.

Because the work that I try to do, is specific to building Black wealth through real estate, removing the barriers and impediment to Black people owning, and really strategic around the public policies and being a voice to those negative policies that hurt Black home ownership and Black business.

(calm music) (car door thuds) (calm music) Miss Jones, what you doing today, man?

I know you and Jayvon was out here doing something.

(indistinct reply and laughing) Part of what makes food good is how it looks.

- [Jayvon] Yeah.

- You gotta take pride, so you love over as you prepare it.

And then you gotta finish it off with that shine.

I worked for JP Morgan Chase in New York City.

And JP Morgan Chase was merging with Bank One.

My division manager came and spoke to me and said, "Hey, there's a huge opportunity for advancement, but you would have to relocate."

And Chicago was a perfect fit.

How are we looking?

- Quite good.

- [Courtney] Got you.

Bagels with Mac with some vegetables.

My wife and I, with the family, we live in Bronzeville.

And Bronzeville to me when I compare it to New York, Bronzeville is like a hall in New York in terms of being that kind of Mecca of where so many Black families live.

All right, Jayvon that's yours.

Kay, would you go sit down at the table?

You gotta eat it, like it's running from you.

(indistinct) - [Sidney] What I want for each one of you all, is to make sure you all have a piece of property.

That's my college graduation gift to you.

- So Sidney and I always talked about what would life after corporate America look like?

She was already a real estate broker for 10 years.

And me being in home equity, sales, and having a banking background, she had brought up the concept of wouldn't it be cool, if we started Chicago homes realty group.

You know, cause you have all different brokerages, but there's not been one that's like African-American owned.

So the beauty of working with my wife is I can miss the things that she always catches, which is the vision.

She has that creative mind.

We have the community receivership training program tomorrow for the rest of the week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

So we have guest speakers coming to talk about ways to make money in real estate.

So it's gonna be important that everybody be dialed into what we gotta get done for the week.

(calm music) - [Woman] Pre-register.

- [Man] Joseph.

- [Woman] Joseph?

All right you're gonna be with it.

- I should be in the VIP list.

- [Woman] Hm.

(everyone laughing) - That's funny.

As I digested more about my training through corporate America, with JP Morgan Chase, you know, for so many years, I think that with my sense of community, you know, it kinda just brought it full circle.

So when you hear things around purpose, and folks trying to find their purpose, I think I was blessed to find mine.

First thing I wanna do is, say thank you.

Thank you for being a part of rebuilding our communities that we all live in.

The purpose of this community receivership training program is really to bring attention, awareness and a track for Black business owners like ourselves, and real estate professionals in these communities to actually take advantage of the economic, and I stress, economic opportunities that are before us.

The goal of what we're working on here, is to build a scalable process for Black businesses in real estate, in these neighborhoods, to capitalize on the economic opportunities in these neighborhoods.

And to create...

The community receivership training program that we birthed, it really came about because several Black activists in the city of Chicago, saw an issue with how housing was being managed and its adverse impact on the Black community.

In the wealth strip that was taking place.

It just became strategic around how do we figure this out, to at least become more participatory in the wealth that's being generated in our own neighborhood.

- There is 80 homes, just in the south shore area that have been purchased by one investor who does not live in the neighborhood and does not care about the neighborhood.

What I call creditory investment.

Right?

- If non-Blacks get all of the economic opportunities in mainstream, metropolitan cities, they're making a lot of money.

But then when you add on top of that another layer that all of the real estate opportunities to list properties at the banks have taken, they're still listing these properties with non-Black real estate brokers.

So even in this segregation space where you're confined, most of the time to just the neighborhoods that you operate in, even the bulk of the economic opportunities that exist in your neighborhood are still being outsourced to other neighborhoods.

Let's be clear.

Nobody wants to live in concentrated poverty.

I'm gonna say that again.

Nobody wants to live in concentrated poverty.

And we're the ones that should make the money to fix it, and we're the ones whose kids should benefit from it.

(audience clapping) (playful tender music) This is our fourth cohort and we have over 330 Black receivers trained, knowledgeable in seeking opportunity to rehabilitate the Black neighborhood, make Black home ownership important, create Black jobs in these neighborhoods.

It's really to create a atmosphere, where the hopes is that somebody graduates and they apply the information, they make money, and we increase Black home ownership.

(playful tender music) (train rattling) (playful tender music) I am the first Black receiver of a high rise building in downtown Chicago.

This legendary receivership, I get from calls overseas, because folks can not believe that a Black man in the city of Chicago is the private receiver of the Pittsfield Building downtown.

The Pittsfield Building, is a beautiful landmark inside and outside building.

It's 40 stories, over 353,000 square feet.

We've done more in that building in the year and a half that I was appointed as receiver, than had been done for over 12 years.

So the honor of being the private receiver to stabilize that building, was an honor.

The fact that the judge had confidence to give me, as a Black receiver, an opportunity to do so, was an honor.

And the folks that we worked with, it was an honor.

And I feel we hit the ball out the park.

(cars honking) You get emotional sometimes, because this is the life's work that you've been working towards, to create these opportunities, not just for yourself, but for others.

Well, that appointment was bigger than Courtney Jones.

That appointment was saying, Black people have a right.

Black people have a true opportunity.

(playful tender music)