Getting Deals Done with my Great Uncle George Westerman - How We Partner with our Ancestors

"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today if the old school didn't pave the way." Tupac

Much of who we are is determined by those who come before us. They pave the way, lead the way and set standards. I've always taken pride in who I am and those who came before me. My great great uncle George Westerman is an ancestor whose works constantly motivate me and sets the standard for so many of my accomplishments and ambitions. To me? Ancestor George Westerman is the definition "ancestry in motion". He is my definition of success.

Considering the bigger picture of your life can change your path to action. The Ancestry in Motion — immersing yourself in the story of your ancestors — can be powerful in helping you create new emotions in tough seasons of your life or elevate and find clarity when success is accomplished.

The fifth child of George Benjamin Westerman and Marie Josephine Rosena Bridget, George Westerman was born in Coolie Town, on the Atlantic Coast of the Republic of Panama. My family was from Barbados and travelled to Panama in 1905 as so many enterprising Caribbean families to build the Panama Canal which was completed in 1914 as one of the world's great wonders.

Ancestor George Westerman was a tennis champion (1936–1938), journalist, diplomat, advisor to several Panamanian presidents, defender of?human rights, friend of the?United States, and a moderate Panamanian nationalist

?“The more you know of your history the more liberated you are.” —Maya Angelou.?

Westerman became one of the best chroniclers of West Indian participation in the building and maintenance of the waterway. He started his journalism career at the age of sixteen with the?Panama American, and in 1928 he joined the?Panama Tribune. In 1959, Westerman became the editor and publisher of the?Tribune, and over the years, he wrote hundreds of articles and editorials, dozens of pamphlets, and several published and unpublished books on isthmian West Indians and their progeny.

“We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies.” —Shirley Abbott

Although ancestor Westerman wrote on many topics and themes, his journalistic and literary production was primarily driven by his concern for the civil and?human rights?of minorities in the Canal Zone and Panama. During the 1940s and 1950s he wrote incessantly in defense of non-U.S. citizens in the?Panama Canal?Zone who were victims of segregation. In Panama, he organized the National Civic League in 1944 to lobby the Panamanian government to return citizenship rights to children of West Indian parents.

Since my earliest days at the University of California at Berkeley, I have taken an active interest in writing, journalism and publication, co-founding the campus paper for communities of color, Diatribe; contributing my first nationally published piece for the Quarterly Black Book Review, interviewing Ishmael Reed; contributing 100s of interviews and articles to the Huffington Post and other academic, national and international periodicals; and ultimately publishing "Dispatches from the Vanguard - the Global I Aam versus Donald J. Trump" (Penguin Random House, 2020).

I never looked to my great uncle as a source of inspiration. Moreso, it was my parents, both college and university professors. I knew my father had also taken inspiration from my mother and her great uncle for his PhD thesis at UCLA; then there has been my mother who if I have an ounce of storytelling capability in me (and I do), it all comes from her whispering, talking, telling, sharing since my earliest days about my family and our journey. Those stories and developing relationships with Great Uncle George's descendants including my Great Uncle George Springer, have always had me believing I could change the world if I followed my heart and did my very best. And I believe that Uncle George Springer took his notes from Ancestor George Westerman.

I've met and interviewed heads of state, worked with national leaders in business and taken up the mantle of business leadership in my own endeavors and my Uncle George Westerman

So, the next time you need a boost, think about the story of your ancestors. We all have people and generations that came before us who have been instrumental in not only the world but our very existence. And really, what is changing the world? Isn't it just changing the life of one person even if that person is one who follows you? Isn't it just having an impact? In a new study, researchers found that thinking about one’s ancestors motivates people and can even improve performance on intelligence tests. For me? Yes, it is a roadmap. Particularly with everything we are experiencing in the modern world. I stand firm, unwavering in my belief in myself and my ancestors.

“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without roots.”?—Chinese proverb

I want my son Christian to know our family is living into the story of our ancestors while we create a new story for ourselves. I want him to come to see his great great great uncle as a pioneer of persevering through hardships. I want him to know his ancestors from his father’s side overcame insurmountable odds during slavery and establishing equal rights. And I want him to know I’m trying to write a new story by being an even better dad then my amazing father. And I want my son to know he can write his own story too.

Does the story of your past provide you powerful new emotions for the moments you find yourself struggling? Or is it too painful to look at your past and you’re ready to look to the future? Are you willing to put your hope in the story you’re writing now?

Cheers Great Uncle George Westerman. We salute you. I love you.

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Getting Deals Done?is a show about doing business, changing power, changing systems and making the world a better place one deal at a time. Host, veteran banker and entrepreneur?Patrick A. Howell, speaks with leading and successful innovators, mavericks and captains of industry about making big things happen in the world.

The entirety of our interview will be broadcast via our?podcast Getting Deals Done?on?Apple iTunes,?Amazon Audible, Google Podcasts,?Stitcher,?iHeart Radio,?Spotify, or?wherever?you receive your podcasts.