Jim Cook, a young black man from Pittsburgh, was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic call for racial equality and economic justice during the March on Washington in 1963.
Only three years later, Marine Jim Cook was severely wounded in combat in Vietnam, a war he came to doubt as he also questioned America's promise.
Decorated for bravery under fire, Cook came home disillusioned to a Philadelphia veteran's hospital. Confidants say his great spirit inspired him to recover and work toward a better America.
"Jim never bragged about what he did in combat and he earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart," recalled his wife, Katie Cook, who met and married him after he served. "Jim had PTSD. He was full of shrapnel and bullet wounds. He helped other veterans. He turned the pain of war into positive action."
Cook, 72, the retired executive director of Sabathani Community Center in south Minneapolis, died July 31 of a heart attack at his home.
Cook was recruited by Minneapolis acquaintances to join the fledgling Sabathani in 1979, after he spent more than a decade rehabilitating inner-city housing in Pittsburgh and New York.
Yusef Mgeni, one of Sabathani's first employees and director of facilities and development, recalled that he and Cook sold the long-envisioned mission of a one-stop community center that would house education, job-training, health, senior citizen and other agencies. They raised several million dollars from Minneapolis-area corporations and foundations who bought into their vision.
At one point in the 1990s, there were more than 50 agencies serving more than 1,000 people daily from dawn until after dark with everything from meals for senior citizens to English lessons, job training classes, community college courses and neighborhood meetings.
