Black History: From The Streets To The Pulpit; Spreading The Message Of Peace

DETROIT (WWJ) - Maurice Hardwick, known on the streets as Pastor Mo, is not your typical minister.

He's a pastor who says he's on a mission from God to help restore peace to neighborhoods in Detroit.

"God told me, he says 'pastor, I never told this generation they had to die to be in peace.' Tell them to rip the 'R' and leave the 'L' and to live in peace," Hardwick tells WWJ's Stephanie Davis.

He comes from the streets; a former drug dealer who was shot seven times. Fed up with the violence and the killing in Detroit he started the Live in Peace Movement a couple years ago.

"If I do not like this - I don't advocate it part of it and where is my protest? So we protest and we lament over the blood that run through the street of Detroit of my young people -- we definitely hold accountability over ourselves, and over our neighborhood by telling them to stop the violence," he says.

Pastor Mo, who's a husband and father of five, now leads the Body of Believers Outreach Ministry for the last 12 years.

He gained notoriety with appearances on the cable TV reality show Preachers of Detroit.

He and his crew hit the streets every Tuesday sporting their black Live In Peace t-shirts, stopping at gas stations, liquor stores, Coney Island restaurants and high schools with the message of peace.

"When we go out, we go out with the power of God, we feel no less than protected by archangels. We feel like God is with us and sending us," he says.

Pastor Mo; an inspiration to us all.
WWJ celebrates Black History month this year by highlighting local outstanding African Americans who inspire others. Tune in for the reports throughout the day at: 6:20 a.m., 10:40 a.m., 3:40 p.m. and 7:40 p.m.