In a personal interview with her brother Mark, Colette Payne recounts her life's trajectory from a tumultuous youth marked by poverty and incarceration to her current role as a prominent advocate for system-impacted women. The conversation explores the root causes of her struggles, her pivotal decision to change, the process of rebuilding her life, and how she transformed personal hardship into a powerful platform for policy change and community healing.

Keep the Faith Baby is a civic history podcast about Chicago, anchored in the leadership, memory, and community practice of Black Chicago. This opening monologue is your introduction to the show, why it exists, and what it is asking of you as a listener. Host Mark E. Payne, Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago and a lifelong South Sider, named the podcast after words his mother Elnada Payne spoke to him and after a phrase that has carried Black civic life in city politics for generations. Each episode will bring you a conversation with someone who has shaped Chicago, from elected officials and nonprofit leaders to organizers, artists, and neighbors who built something that lasted. Start here. Then go to Episode 1.

Pat Dowell grew up in Queens reading Ebony magazine and decided Chicago was where she needed to be. A former social worker, city planner, and Executive Director of Public Allies Chicago, and now Alderman of the Third Ward, she has been fighting for Black neighborhoods her entire career. Mark sits down with his mentor to talk about what that fight has actually looked like, while growing people on purpose.