1920 to 2020 - Rest in Hell - Era of the American Gangster is Dead

#dispatchesfromthevanguard #patrickahowell #archangel #newera #businessexceptionalism #goodisgreat #gettingdealsdone #organicnetworking #godisgreat #winning

It all ended with the gangster president.

In the 1920's, there was a plague not unlike the corona virus pandemic we are experiencing now. In 1918, the deadly outbreak of influenza tore across the globe, infecting over a third of the world’s population. 50 million people died. 500 million people were infected. What separated the 1918 flu pandemic from other influenza outbreaks was the sheer number of victims. We now call it the flu.

The trench warfare psyche of

bull necked vagabonds clad in suits

This era was also the standardization of American gangsters as a staple in the culture. Disease gave rise to the brand of being that would be exemplified by those maxims "greed is good" (Oliver Stone's "Wall Street") or "it's business, it's not personal" (The Godfather). A gangster is a human spiritual illing being. Look at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the ilk occupying the office of the presidency - he is the macro-exemplar of spiritual degeneration. Last I knew in Catholic grade school, "greed" is one of the seven deadly sins. And making something, especially business, personal, positive and productive increases the fortunes and raises the tides of all. The trench warfare psyche of bull necked vagabonds clad in suits has resulted in a global pandemic of corrupt business practices. This foolishness has ended in the pandemic of the COVID 19 and the even more foolish leadership of 2020.

Those "48 Laws of Power by Robert Green" or "The Prince" by The Prince by Nicola Machiavelli are beguiling opuses disguised as a New York Times best seller and, another, as a timeless classic - "bibles" where the means justifies the end. They offer: as long as the almighty dollar hits the bank account, then whatever you need to do is justified. In God We Trust / In Cash We Pay has been the unofficial edict of a culture that could soon to be bankrupt off of its own greed, avarice and amorality; a culture that celebrates anything but virtue.

In God We Trust / In Cash We Pay

This celebration of amorality in business and politics has taken on nearly mythic proportions as the Godfather's Michael Corleone or Scarface's Tony Montana is seen as an exemplar to Hip Hop rappers, particularly gangster rappers. These titans of culture take on those personas and coarse spirits. In the 1920's and the earlier part of the 20th century, the captains of industry that rose to prominence were criminals Charles Lucky Luciano, John Dillinger, Bumpy Johnson, Meyer Lansky, Arnold Rothstein, Bonnie and Clyde and Al Capone. The temples of American popular culture, the American movie theater, a multi-trillion dollar industry extols the "virtues" or code of ethics demonstrated by Daniel Day Lewis' as Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood" or Bill the Butcher Cutting in "Gangs of New York"; "Al Pacino's Michael Corleone and Tony Montana in "Scarface" or even "Donnie Brasco"; and Robert DeNiro is the master thief and capitalist murderer in "Heat," as the young Vito Corleone in Coppola's "Godfather II," and the mentoring thief and murderer in Scorsese's "Casino," "Goodfellas," and the "Irishman." Or, even Michael Douglass' timeless portrayal of the ruthless Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone's Wall Street:

The counter-power to this powerful figure in American life and the second set of hands on this mantle of power is not a governor with a set of laws, rules and their enforcement, but is instead something which has more of a sway over the hearts and minds of people. They are inspirational or charismatic figures.

This period also saw a rise, however, in the Roaring 20's, a period of opportunity, celebration and cultural renewal with the Harlem Renaissance paving the way for future, the beginnings of the NBA as a force in the culture, the NAACP was founded, multiculturalism as we know it became and the jazz dominant popular music the day as Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane which gave way to Amiri Baraka's Black Arts Movement, which gave way to the Hip Hop that now dominates world culture. The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's, was heralded by Alain Locke's "The New Negro." And, arguably the greatest player in NBA history and the greatest scorer Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the last son of the Harlem Renaissance, was just a pre-teen. Perhaps, the bibles of ethical business practices are exemplified by Napolean Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" or Jim Collin's timeless "Good to Great". All business is a personal extension of your personal code of ethics and Greed is awful.

This is, now, the era of the "arch angel" or "spiritual angel."

Fast forward, nearly 60 years from the Harlem Renaissance and the election of Barack Obama in 2008 (who says he is carried upon the shoulders of giants), gave rise to this New Age as trends in eastern practices as yoga, meditation and finally took hold in American culture. With the onset of COVID 19 and "social distancing" those practices have become permanent as competition and even capitalism take a backseat to healing, well being and coming together. "Spiritual gangsterism" has been a catchphrase since 2008. But even that is over now. This is the era of the "arch angel" or "spiritual angel." With the onset of the pandemic COVID 19, virtues as charity, faith, hope, are the new maxims that carry forth the human race and our business and cultural practices. The business models of titans as Oprah or Lebron James who give back to their communities, fans and viewers. Still with the injection of Michael Jordan's "The Last Dance" injected into the zeitgeist of the culture and the celebration of sociopath win at all cost ethos, Think, however, of the symbolism of Barack Obama and why he is such a powerful voice endorsing newly minted DNC candidate Joe Biden. It is certainly no longer for his legislative accomplishments. Those have all but been erased with the election of Donald Trump and his petty agendas. Yes, we have literally elected to be led by a physical incarnation of petty revenge, rage, sloth, envy, pride, ruthlessness, amorality, treachery and cruelty. President Barack Obama, on the other hand, is celebrated for his virtues and morally upstanding character.

It is profitable to be good. It is good to be good. It is nice to be good.

It is profitable to be good. Vices will get you killed (if not worse, lingering in a world of inner torment). Prudence and pride, fortitude and anger, faith and lust, hope and envy, charity and sloth, temperance and gluttony, justice and avarice - pick out the virtues and separate out the vices, leaving them to wither and die in the brilliant light of your life force. Specifically, cultivate the following principles as guidance in day to day, hour by hour and year by year success - the quality of the journey, not outcome is the victory:

Courage – bravery.

Temperance – moderation.

Liberality – spending.

Magnificence – charisma, style.

Magnanimity – generosity.

Ambition – pride.

Patience – temper, calm.

Friendliness – social IQ.

By practicing the aforenoted 8 virtues, your life can radically improve in the form of better relationships, peaked performance, and fulfillment of your dreams. Without commitment, we have little meaningful direction or long term purpose in life. Some other virtues that will leave others smiling in your wake and the world a better place are Faith. ... Forgiveness. ... Gratitude ... Courage and above all else, Love.

My friend and a mentor John J. Kennedy, former Vice Mayor of Pasadena, with Democrat nominee Joe Biden March 11th 2018 in Pasadena at a fundraiser

Excerpt from my forthcoming Dispatches from the Vanguard (Repeater Books, August 2020): The vanguard of American and world culture is held in the metaphysical and very real hands of two American mythic figures. The first literally underwrites American society, a society that really only exists in the imagination, and is responsible for governing the lives of 320 million citizens drawn from around the world in a heretofore successful social, cultural and political experiment called “The United States of America.” This construction consists of any number of tools, including but not limited to executive enforcement, bully pulpit (elements of leadership, charisma and influence), judicial jurisprudence and legislative law making. This powerful figure is the President of the United States of America. 

The counter-power to this powerful figure in American life and the second set of hands on this mantle of power is not a governor with a set of laws, rules and their enforcement, but is instead something which has more of a sway over the hearts and minds of people. They are inspirational or charismatic figures. One of the 60+ personalities profiled is Evita “Evie” Turquoise Robinson, an African-American woman known for her role as a pioneer of the urban travel movement, was born and raised in New York. She is the founder of Nomadness Travel Tribe and Nomadness TV.

Patrick A. Howell: What does it mean to be a global woman of African descent in the twenty-first century? As you travel the world as an international citizen, do you ever get the sense that Africans have already been the globe over… many times?

Evita Turquoise Robinson: As far as millennial leadership, we have been given this platform in which the world has shrunk so we are more global minded. We are not about the 9-5 hierarchy. For us, we revere freedom over money. We will take a pay cut over being able to use that time to build a family, travel, see things and explore hobbies that we may have. Millennial leadership strives for more of a work/life balance. We are also aggressive in ways that previous generations just differed. Not saying that they weren’t aggressive. We are a different type of aggression. I think we are kind of hard headed but I think that serves us well in being able to go after our dreams and not let anyone or anything tell us that we can’t. Many of us are workaholics if we have taken on the idea of being an entrepreneur which is a contrast to sometimes people saying the millennial generation is likeminded.

Reflection: In Revelation 3:15-16, it says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold— I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Be definitive and take a stand. Do not oscillate. Listen to your highest angels. Follow that inner animating spark that is your spirit, your high frequency self communicating to your earth bound self. Train your mind to listen to your spirit over all the social media, cell phone, commercial, advertisements, sales, news. Listen to the life force that is the universe in ecstatic motion. LISTEN TO YOU. Listen to the Spirit Force of Existence.

Gratitude: My debut creative non fiction book is due out from Repeater Books and Penguin Random House this summer, Dispatches from the Vanguard. Along with my publicist and marketing team, we have been securing some very generous endorsements, including from Rev. Run (Joseph Simmons), Howard Rodman (former president of the Writer's Guild of America West), Harper Bazaar's, millennial influencer and public academic Rachel Cargle as well as Dr. Tony Medina (professor and a poet's poet at Howard University). It is gratifying to see my work well received by architects of the culture. Howard Rodman who is also a professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts; and an artistic director of the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs:

" A strong, no, essential book of conversations with Nikki Giovanni, Dr. Harry Edwards, Abiodun Oyewole, Ishmael Reed, Quincy Troupe, Tori "LA" Reid, Nnedi Okorafor, and a huge host of others. The cast of (mostly) African American writers, leaders, educators, activists, musicians, designers, scholars, public figures, Afro-Futurists, artists, historians of several generations is assembled here as an urgent, achingly literate fuck-you to Donald Trump. But this serves equally well as a fascinating compendium of contemporary African diasporic thought, from figures you know, figures you think you know, figures you ought to know." 

Thank you Howard Rodman (particularly for cursing that which is curse-worthy).

I'll leave you with a send off of the grand marshal of the Gangster Movement, artist O'Shea Jackson aka Ice Cube. He along with Andre Young (Dr. Dre), Calvin Broadus (aka Snoop Dogg) - The Gangster Rappers - are the architects of the soon to be passe political and social culture. Is it any wonder, they are the captains of this industrial toxic complex? Culture always precedes the political and social realities. Indeed, "F%$k the Police!!!" These are the omega years of the Gangster Movement 1920 to 2020 - Rest in Hell American Gangster... or, as the Captain of Industry Ice Cube raps...