I'm going to break something down, because I think this term thrown around quite a lot these days and I fear few people actually understand what is meant by it. The term is Street Presence. I'm not going to turn this speech into another "should leaders be more vocal," because I don't care. My concern at this point is exactly what accusation we're throwing at the silent ones, because I don't think there's any motivation to be more active in the Streets simply because a bunch of people ask it of you. So I'm going to break down precisely what I mean when I refer to Street Presence, and it's rooted in originality.

Leaders, leaders. Lend me your ears. I'm not going to shout each of your names individually to draw your attention, I'll merely hope that you meander into the Streets someday and hear my words. My chief concern is that no one knows who you are. I know many claim they want to be the "silent Don" or "work behind the scenes" instead of putting themselves out in the open all the time, and that's a completely valid reason to avoid the limelight. But when I say no one knows who you are, I mean no one cares.

When there are so many crewleaders and each is doing precisely the same thing, how can anyone tell them apart? Each crewleader in this world has a multidimensional cache of characteristics and personality traits that remain completely inaccessible because no one (including the crewleader himself) explores it. That's what the Streets are for. Until you approach the public eye, the only thing that separates you from any other silent crewleader is the suit you wear, or the name of your crew. Until you come out into the light, you're all identical silhouettes of uninspiring monotony.

You may ask "What the fuck are you talking about, Denam?" And I'll answer; each crewleader is entirely unique. They are unique in the way they talk, the way they walk, the way they respond to praise, the way they respond to threats, and most importantly, the way they lead. Some are hot-headed, some are witty assholes. Some are hilarious goofballs who refuse to take anything said in the Streets seriously. Some are strong-worded, some are kind and gentle. Some swear their fucking ass off because who gives a shit if they do. My point is; they're different. They're human. They're original. I'm not going to delve into the reasons you should want to be original, because if you have no interest in being original, then you aren't a leader. You're just a placeholder for someone else.

I often hear "insert crewleader name here isn't vocal in the Streets, but they're a great leader." You're probably right. Maybe you do crew events? Or recruit well? Sure. I suppose that makes you a good leader if it keeps your members working hard. But the majority of our world does not and will not ever see that. I'm not saying we need to broadcast the inner workings of our HQs, but there's no reason to believe any one crewleader is better than another (or different from another) if you never say or do anything original.

In conclusion, I don't want to encourage or require Street Presence from our leaders or anyone else. Because frankly, if they weren't doing it before, they aren't going to do it now; and forcing them to do it is tough to watch. But I want you to know; that your absences from these Streets make you all precisely the same.

How on earth did I miss this little gem? I will gladly admit the moment I started to hear what it was you were saying my initial reaction was "Oh, another the streets are dead let's blame the leaders" kind of thing. Nor will I pretend for one moment that I haven't actually thought that exact opinion before today. 

I like how this quickly became something different though. More in to the reason to actually being vocal rather than shouting here and there about the leaders needing to be in the streets more. Let's be honest... the reason we do things, anything in this life or the next is not about the how. It's always about the why. The why is what will drag people out of bed in the morning when they have nothing but a long dreary day of work to look forward to. The why is our goals, what we want to be and what we want to achieve. So with that said, the why you have provided here Denam is a compelling one. 

The only reason I have ever thought a leader needs to be in the streets more is not because it is what's expected and not because what the masses want but it is preciisely what you have said here. If you aren't in the public eye then you are just another bold suit. No one knows who you are and more importantly, no one will give a bloody shit who you are. 

Well said. 

precisely 

Well....I am not a leader,so maybe I am not qualified to speak here? I donno. I guess I'll give it a shot either way. I apologize if it wasn't meant for me.

A lack of a Street presence makes every leader look the same? Hardly. Actions do speak louder than words. It is what the leaders do that makes them different from everyone else. No, I don't mean just running the most badass donation competitions on the planet. Or having the most number of 'stolen mails' from people. How they deal with things that affect us all.

Recruitment,MIA theft, BG Stealthing...the list goes on and on. So, are actually saying that a leader who actually makes an effort to stop the deplorable state of member whoring in this world and another who whores a fuckton in a single day by being little more than a pamphlet carrying girl scout are the same just because they are both 'non-Street speakers'? 

Now, this can be attributed to another problem of sorts that is plaguing us as a community. It is the efforts by a few to make the Streets seem grander than they actually are. Yes, I realize that it is one of the ways to get more people to speak here. In days gone by, if I remember correctly, the Streets weren't 'something special'. Going out to the Streets was something that you just did. Just the same as you petty. Just the same as you run drugs. It wasn't something that you did to be called a 'Street speaker'. It was something you just fucking did. 

Sadly, those days are gone. Now people rarely venture into the Streets and so those committed to the Streets need to make them seem grander,prettier and more important than they ever were.

The intention of this speech was not to drum up the Streets or mark the lines that define a "Street Speaker," (I actually spoke out against that in another discussion; I suggest you read it to see my stance on that (spoiler: it agrees with you)), nor was it to compare it to past Streets activity. I don't believe I even mentioned anything about the past state of the Streets, so I'm not sure from where you're drawing that. I'll choose to ignore the remaining portions of your response which don't pertain to my speech.

Actions do speak louder than words, and I think in those circumstances where a CL's mettle is tested is the only time we see that array of characteristics I spoke about. And when I say "we," I mean the limited group of people who are knowledgeable enough about the circumstances to know what happened and how the CL reacted. For instance, when we had the funeral disrespect fiasco with CookieMonster, we got to see a lot more of Rorschach's character than if that had never happened.

Recruitment, MIA theft, and BG stealthing are nothing new, and I'm almost positive each CL would handle these situations almost identically. Sure, some may be overzealous in their recruitment (or spam invites, as the case may be), but if no other leader or Godfather has the stones to call them on it, then why should I give a damn how they fill their HQ?

The fact that a CL is whoring members and no one does or says anything about it furthers my point. If someone were to call them out or take action against them for it, then I'd commend them for doing something original. Otherwise, I have no reason to care, because they sit by and let someone do something that they blatantly disagree with. I see no originality in inaction.

In some ways, we are victims of our own success when it comes to monotony. The history books are littered with the names of the great leaders of their time, but I would imagine if they lived today, much of what we now consider to be commonplace amongst families would be lacking. We have progressed, largely through trial and error and the occassional pioneer, to the point where the family blueprint has been refined to be as successful as possible in ensuring longevity and as a consequence is unviersally adopted. I've sadly discovered that is unfortunately the goal for most people here; to live as long as they possibly can, so this isn't really a surprising development but it rarely lends itself well to being original. 

Few, if any, of our current leaders will be remembered much beyond their liftime because few, if any, are actually known right now. This makes for a pretty damning assessment of their chances of leaving a worthwhile legacy when they are gone. We are all partly responsible for that, due to our evolution and the subsequent developments in how our families are run, because the moments for leaders or even individuals to make themselves have a presence are not as readily available as they have been in the past. 

With that said, a street presence, as you've touched upon, is not merely making long winded speeches or parroting back what the person before you said prior to making a point. That is making noise and in most cases, particularly boring noise, where as a street presence is about being known. You would think, for associated members of organised crime families, being known would be essential because how else will the businesses know who to pay? Who will know who controls what territory if nobody is actually out there running it? And yet, despite the obviousness of this, we reward the silent ones for actually being counterproductive to the reality of the organisation they are in. To me, that's a pretty poor reflection of our society as we've drifted away from being mobsters and into being gangs of murderers, glorfying lists of dead names where once we idolised great people. That isn't what our way of life should be about or how we should measure success.

I appreciate this has become rather more ideological than I intended, but I'm tired of the same story being played out with a slightly altering cast. You can keep your silent Dons and your 3000 kills, because it is high time to canonise something else.  

We have progressed, largely through trial and error and the occasional pioneer, to the point where the family blueprint has been refined to be as successful as possible in ensuring longevity and as a consequence is universally adopted.

I don't think so. I think that in certain eras of the past, you had to have certain structural mechanics that prevented rogues or ne'er-do-wells. Whereas now, rogues are rare and impotent in dealing any damage. We can auto-promo anyone we want because no matter what they do, they can't really hurt anyone. And if they do, their CL just pays for damages and everyone moves along like nothing happened. Now is the time to be a tremendously irresponsible leader and have barely any repercussions for it (so long as you don't go the Buscetta route and threaten the guys at the top).

Also, I think if we totally adopted the most efficient blueprint, we'd all be member whores too. So there is a small battle of integrity going on there.

I've sadly discovered that is unfortunately the goal for most people here; to live as long as they possibly can, so this isn't really a surprising development but it rarely lends itself well to being original. 

Quite true. Though, it's impossible to sway people from the survivalist mechanic they've been clinging to for years, so I've given up.

To me, that's a pretty poor reflection of our society as we've drifted away from being mobsters and into being gangs of murderers, glorifying lists of dead names where once we idolised great people.

I wish I had coined that. We have truly reduced much of the crew operations to murder. Many are authed for their guns, not their capacity to lead others. But, like I said, in a world with ultimate stability and no legitimate dangers, it's easy to be a crewleader. Back in the days where you had rogues and underground crews, you had to be careful of who you promoted, how fast they were training, or where their money was going. Now, none of that really matters. Most crewleaders know their top guns personally, and the guns which can really do anything would stand to lose a lot more than the crewleaders they work for, because they'd get shunned into oblivion for their betrayal.

I appreciate this has become rather more ideological than I intended, but I'm tired of the same story being played out with a slightly altering cast. You can keep your silent Dons and your 3000 kills, because it is high time to canonise something else.

I wish things were more ideological. Right now it's all about the numbers; there's nothing human about our world. A robot could rise through our ranks and no one would even notice. People may even praise the robot for his inhuman efficiency at earning, ranking, and killing. But now no one cares enough to "canonise" anything beyond those numbers.

Frite listens intently to the men speaking back and forth, at points seeming to get a bit hot under the collar, before she puts out her cigarette and steps forward into the melee.

Denam, allow me to introduce myself. I am Frite. I am one of those characters that are all the same, though a leader I may not be, nor have I ever been, for the record. You're right, I don't come to the streets, and when I do, I do exactly what I was just doing. I stand to the side, I listen, I smoke a cigarette and I move on, because for me, there never seems to be a good reason to speak up. You see, in my opinion, that's all the streets are. I'm not condoning, nor condemning. Nor will I compare the streets to the past, or some ideal. They are what they are, but to me, it's just a place for people to go and say some things. Well, it's extremely rare for me to have something worthwhile to say, and even more rare for anyone to actually listen and take it to heart.

She takes a drink from a bottle of coke so she can wet her throat before continuing.

If this makes me the same as everyone else in our eyes, then so be it, but I invite the so-called everyone else to let me know if they think I'm the same as the rest of them. I doubt that anyone who is a leader in this little life of ours thinks they are the same as the other leaders. And in fact, most of us are quite unique, but why do you have to know who we are to make our lives worthwhile? If they are worthwhile to us, as mine is to me, then is that not enough? Must I make a lasting legacy to hand down for generations to come? Can I not simply live my life as I see fit without judgement from a fellow hand? I don't personally think I have to. I like getting up in the morning, then walking to work, doing my paperwork, making my visits, and going home. I like having a small group of people who know me well, without making a large presence in the world at large. Maybe that makes me unoriginal and conformist, but that's alright by me. I don't expect things without earning them, and if I ever do become a leader myself, you can be sure that I'll lead MY way, the way I want to lead. Original, perhaps not, but also, it's possible that expecting people to come to a public setting, just to make an impression on others, is a bit of an unrealistic expectation. More realistically, introducing oneself to someone to get to know them might work out better. Sure it would take longer, and require significantly more effort, but I do believe that the reward will be in proportion as well.

One last thing before I go back to keeping my mouth shut, if i may. I also do not think that a large street presence means I know someone. You can act one way in the street, and another in the HQ, and another at home, when you are with just your closest friends. And if we are being completely honest, and I know this will get me in some trouble at some point, does anyone but your own crew matter? Maybe your godfather's crew, or other crews that are close to you, but for the most part no. And that is a pretty universal rule in life in general. Whether it's a crew, or a town, or a business. I know the people I work with, and they know me, but I work for Pepsi, so no, I don't know anyone at coke, and nobody there knows me, unless it's by accident or some clandestine force.

She takes a second pull from the bottle of coke she's got and smiles a bit at the irony before extending her hand toward Denam.

It was a pleasure talking with you sir, and I hope we can do it again soon.

With a smile she stands just a bit to the side, and listens again as the conversation continues.

i believe that some of these mobsters in prominent positions may not see their voice as a weapon... or a tool that can influence.
they may lack confidence & want to save face by not contributing at all - but i have zero respect for that approach.
we all have our own preferences, quirks and characteristics that make us unique & an acquired taste. so i understand why those happily work away for their silent ruler & do not judge those that are content.



Denam, your own leader does not appear vocal. despite your passion on the subject of street presence (of which i am very agreeable towards) it appears to me a tad hypocritical - from an outsiders view.



if you voiced this opinion as #1, the head honcho - this would encourage me to rapidly pack up my belongings & hop onto the earliest flight to queens, new york - willing to do what it takes do work for such a like-minded individual. bare in mind, i am also afraid of flying.



i would not like to recycle your own phrase: "identical silhouettes of uninspiring monotony" - to describe your own leader, as i would find that to be disrespectful... yet, i have no other option to judge a leader by his street presence - when i have no connections or advisers.

Frite, I appreciate your perspective. It's not one unexpected in these types of discussions, but I appreciate your courage in representing it. I am in no way considering all to be without originality or uniqueness because they don't grace our Streets. However, much of what is accomplished by leaders is symmetrical, if not identical. What was once an old beaten path has now become a highway, and the structural mechanics in place guide nearly everyone along that route which was previously condemned or unused.

I don't see it as something tremendously difficult to explore the Streets and provide your take on one of countless discussions. If you are able to form enough words to ask for an invite to a crew, you are able to form enough words to voice your opinion. Whether or not you voice your opinion is entirely up to you, but I will refuse to believe that anyone here can't do it. Does that make their life less valuable? No, and certainly not for non-leaders. My concern in these endeavors is that it will be become a lifeless chore to show up to work if you don't inject some humanity into your daily routine. Some passion. Some joy. Whatever it may be, put it in a jar and huff that shit all the way back to your HQ. That's what the Streets offer, to me.

The next logical question would be; "why should leaders be held to a higher standard of originality?" Because that's what they do. They are supposed to the embodied will of a crew. This gives you certain rights and responsibilities. You have the right to decide what is best for your crew, whether that's waging war or excusing yourself from it. But it also comes with the responsibility of having a will. A passion. A direction. Leaders without these things are lukewarm sacks of mediocrity, and usually only acquire members through ancestral links or catchy recruitment letters. Interacting with the Streets, honestly (or dishonestly) interacting with others, is the easiest way to show you have passion, direction, or a mind of your own.

Gaston, you bring up a valid point. My boss isn't tremendously vocal. But while it is my place to advise him, it is not my place to instruct him. He is a man of his own volition, who makes his own decisions about himself and his crew. I am not his father; I am not his keeper. I am his most loyal brother in Queens, and that is my place beside him. I won't make excuses for him, either. If you decide to judge our crew by his Street Presence, so be it. Make no mistake, however; this is not hypocrisy. My challenge extends equally to my own leader as it does to the others.