John Joseph: CroMags Lead Singer, Author & Ironman On Rising Up From Violence & His Kona Debut
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Conceived during a heinous act of violence, John Joseph McGowan (JJ) was born into a dynasty of darkness and groomed for a life of brutality. Watching his mother be beat beyond recognition by his alcoholic prizefighting father, starved, bullied and abused for years in foster care, boys homes and institutions, John Joseph escaped his living hell for another. At the age of 14, he was living on the streets of New York City which was at the time, the murder capital of America. Sleeping in burnt out buildings, earning money as a drug mule and hustler John was shot, stabbed, beaten and eventually busted. In 1978 he landed himself in Spofford Correctional Institute, a juvenile detention facility known for its own type of terror.
It's difficult to encapsulate the violence JJ's lived for decades. He admits that sometimes he was so violent that he doesn't even remember and over the years he buried so much terror that he was literally over boiling with anger. Addicted to alcohol and crack-cocaine he describes himself as once being the "crazy crackhead you didn't want to meet on the streets".
But today, after following JJ for the last three years and most recently sitting across from him in his home in New York City to record this podcast, I see a man who is a living example of redemption. I see goodness and love and laughter and selfless service. I see someone who prayed for another way and took it when it appeared to him. I see resilience in a way I have never seen before and willingness to tow the line of true healing.
The John Joseph of today is a successful author, screenwriter, lead singer of the CroMags punk rock band and Ironman triathlete living the compassion of a plant-based life and dedicated to his daily spiritual practice. His atonement in life was sparked by the Bad Brains, the Rastafarian punk rock band who extended a hand to John, offered him a job, squashed a KOS (kill on site) directive on his head and got him off the streets. In return, he was to get sober and give up eating animal products.
He says that almost immediately after becoming vegan he noticed a shift in his well-being and that for the first time in his life he was able to feel a calm space within himself. He believes that was because he was no longer consuming the fear, torture and abuse of the animals that is common practice in the US food system. We live in a country that does a superb job of hiding the violence from its public and misleading men to believe they must eat meat to be masculine. For anyone who looks at John Joseph, a vegan for over 30 years, I believe they would be hard-pressed to find any lack of masculinity.
JJ has studied GMOs extensively and we talk about why Hawaii is ground zero for GMO testing. This is not conspiracy theory, he explains, but truth and agenda behind big food business. If anyone is questioning the validity of his argument a good question to ask is "why are chemical companies growing our food?". We discuss the perfectly ludicrous world of pharmaceutical commercialism and why most drugs are designed to keep their recipients sick.
This podcast covers so many topics, as John Joseph truly is so many things rolled into one of the genuine people I've ever met. He's a perfect balance of backbone and compassion and bringing him to the YT audience was something we held in our vision from its inception. JJ is authentic and true to himself, he is an open book and with that comes much colorful language.
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