By Todd Thomas

North Lawndale College Prep was on top of the Chicago-area basketball world between 2006-2009, winning a state and city championship in the process. The Phoenix weren’t stacked with star athletes, relying instead on a team of role players and unyielding defense.

Point guard Zilijin Jones was the team captain and leader on the court for most of the run, and while the five-foot nine floor general didn’t put up eye-popping statistics, he was valued for his toughness, basketball IQ, and leadership skills. This package of skill and effort would earn him a college basketball scholarship, and eventually a successful career playing professionally around the world.
Jones has played in the Dominican Republic, Morocco, Spain, El Salvador and China on his basketball journey. He said traveling the world gives him a unique perspective on certain aspects of life in the United States.

“The United States is very isolated and closed-minded. People think America is the land of the free, but here is where you usually end up putting yourself in debt. People work a billion hours on a job to obtain a big house with a white picket fence and a nice car. But what I learned is that you can get the same things in other countries for a lot cheaper without going into so much debt,” Jones said.
But it’s not just his financial awareness that grew while living abroad. He also bolstered his intellectual and cultural knowledge while traveling and living in different countries.
“The biggest plus to playing overseas is being exposed to other cultures,” Jones said. “I speak Moroccan, French and Spanish now – all because I was overseas. I was always focused on going overseas, and I never had any dreams of playing in the NBA. I knew what I wanted to do, and I always wanted to go overseas to play.”
However, playing basketball overseas is not all about experiencing other cultures. It’s about performing on the court and doing your job for your ball club that matters most.

“You have to be professional. A lot of Americans show up overseas and lose sight of why they’re there. You can’t just go clubbing every weekend. You have to remember that they signed you up to come over there to play basketball not to come experience their country. And if you’re not performing, they will send you home,” Jones said.

North Lawndale College Prep has built a solid reputation as a school that prepares it’s student for life after high school, and Jones said that his involvement in extracurricular activities there helped him succeed. “Outside of basketball at NLCP I was sent to a lot of Phoenix Rising programs that had me interact with different ethnicities and studying different religions and cultures. Every summer I went to programs out of state and that gave me a broader and better outlook on life, and I was ready to adapt to college,” he said.

Jones credits former NLCP head coach Lewis Thorpe, as well as mentor Lauren Foster, for helping him develop his skill and mentality on the basketball court.
“I owe my work ethic to coach Thorpe, and my toughness to Lauren Foster who already had me tough since I was in eighth grade. She and coach Thorpe helped me develop the mental aspect of the game and holding others accountable on the court. These are the things that have helped me succeed in basketball. I owe Lauren Foster everything,” he added.

Jones currently lives in Florida as he awaits the return to normalcy on the basketball circuit once the COVID-19 pandemic finally subsides. He isn’t interested in being overseas with the pandemic still raging, and many basketball leagues in other countries are playing without foreigners now.

Jones grew up on the west side of Chicago, not far from the NLCP Christiana campus, and recalls a lot of crime and gun violence that still plagues the community today. It’s been several years since he called Chicago home, and he said he doesn’t miss the trouble he’s seen on the streets of North Lawndale.

Another Phoenix standout basketball player, Jonathan Mills, was gunned down in 2016 in front of a store on Roosevelt Road in North Lawndale, and that tragic murder still weighs heavily on Jones, who was Mills’ cousin and whom he considered a brother.

“Right now, my brother (Mills) being killed is something I’m still not over. I try to stay away from Chicago because there’s nothing but bad memories for me. I’m in an area in Florida now where my car door is unlocked, and my keys are in the dash. I don’t have to worry and that’s what life is about – none of this craziness. It’s much more relaxing and pleasant here and overseas without living with your head on a swivel because you don’t know what’s coming next, Jones said.
Next for Jones will most likely be another stint playing overseas. His options are Spain, Russia or France, with France being his first option. And why not – he’s already played in Spain, so why not continue exploring the world playing the game he loves.

FBRK Impact House, pronounced (fab*rik) is a philanthropy hub tailored and designed to serve and support the philanthropic community by providing a place where granting organizations can work together, share ideas and resources, and operate with greater efficiency. It was the vision of former Chicago Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije.

FBRK Impact House opened its doors just before the pandemic shutdown on March 1, 2020 which was the official grand opening with the following organizations signed on as long-term tenants: Forefront; Woods Fund of Chicago; The Field Foundation of Illinois, Inc.; United States Artists, Inc.; A Better Chicago; Chicago Public Library Foundation; Pillars; Children First Fund; Knight Family Foundation; The Academy Group; Gupta Foundation (Avani Narang); Public Good Partners; Enrich Chicago. The following entities are Access Members (Utilizing Work Lounges and Open Space): Baum Foundation; Comerstone Foundation; Comer Family Foundation; Verizon; Healthy Communities Foundation; and Crown Foundation.

Last year, because of the coronavirus pandemic, Impact leaders within Impact House community responded with over $50 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Also developed was the Mapping COVID-19 Recovery project which standardizes data through a series of maps that illustrate where public, private and philanthropic sector investments are going in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The map can be accessed through the FBRK website listed at the end of this article.
With the goal of strategic reinvestment and recovery to close historic funding gaps and rebuild stronger communities, the project seeks to correct history by strategically and collectively targeting investments in Chicago communities and suburban municipalities that are majority non-white (80% or over), and high poverty (25% or over) meant to be representative of how historically non-white communities have faced many of the same forces of structural racism that left them more vulnerable to a pandemic like COVID-19. Field Foundation President Angelique Power adapted the idea from the Field Foundation’s use of heat maps to illustrate divestment of resources and funding gaps that are geographically in Black and Latinx neighborhoods.

FBRK Impact House has another initiative. TRECC, the Technology Renewable Energy Command Center, a full-service mecca for entrepreneurs, businesses, and innovators building in the following industries: Renewable Energy, Technology, Finances, E- Commerce, Arts, Entertainment, and Lifestyle. It will facilitate communities in developing resiliency to climate and economic changes, while building a technologically innovative workforce. TRECC will weave together workspace, education, mentorship, workforce development, dining, entertainment, hospitality, and wellness to serve small businesses, entrepreneurs in every community TRECC abodes.
TRECC’s on site innovation center will offer focused skills training, job placement, and workforce development in the cyber security – advanced manufacturing & transportation – coding-hardware & software – finances- e-commerce- robotics – animation – hydroponics – automation industries. TRECC’s technology and renewable energy focused operations will offer an enhanced application of skills training and job placement programs for underserved communities. TRECC will make its debut in Chicago’s Historic Motor Row district. The Motor Row District is a historic district in Chicago’s Near South Side community area. Motor Row includes buildings on Michigan Avenue between 2200 and 2500 south, directly west of McCormick Place convention center. The district was built between 1905 and 1936 by a number of notable architects.

FBRK Impact House and TRECC are currently seeking State support from the governor and the state legislature. To leverage government support with public and private support to help achieve the goals outlined in their plans. A resolution has been sponsored by State Rep LaShawn K. Ford, 8th District and State Senator Rep. Emil Jones III, 14th District. It is currently up for hearing in the House Economic Opportunity & Equity Committee, where Representative Nicholas K. Smith (D) 34th District is the Chairperson, on May 19, 2021 at 3:00PM and it is in the Assignments Committee of the Senate Chamber, where State Senator Kimberly A. Lightfoot, 4th District is the Chairperson. Details of the resolution from State Rep Ford on the State website can be located at https://www.ilga.gov/legislation, then search under Resolutions for HR0263. For more information on the FBRK Impact House and TRECC, go to their website at https://www.thefbrk.com/. You can also contact State Senator Jones and State Rep Ford for more information on the state level support.