“Our country has deliberately undertaken a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.”

 

-Herbert Hoover, U.S. President
on the 18th Amendment enacting
Alcohol Prohibition. 1919.

 

Our journey begins in the Roaring 1920’s and draws similarities to our current 2020’s. Both represent ages of unparalleled changes in Technology, Social Awareness, Health Concerns, Political Corruption, division of the Rich and Poor, Racial Tensions, and the repercussions of a Worldwide Pandemic. But the similarities don’t end there. Iconic visionaries ruled business - Henry Ford in the 1920s and Elon Musk today. The public idolized sports figures such as Babe Ruth and LeBron James today. Big business ran the United States - AT&T, General Motors, RCA, Westinghouse, Radio, and newspaper publishing empires. Today, Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Exxon-Mobil, and Microsoft rule America.

During the 1920s, we had just recovered from World War One, endured the Spanish Flu Pandemic, and experienced the birth of aviation. Today, America is recovering from several pointless wars, enduring a Pandemic, and witnessing the birth of commercial space travel. The Roaring ‘20s had prohibition, gambling, opium dens, political unrest, and significant immigration issues. Now, we face multiple drug addictions, voter unrest, racial divisions, and continued immigration issues. Thrust into an ever-changing world, Rum Runner’s characters face challenges that resonate with today’s shifting cultures. As the French writer Jean-Baptiste.

Alphonse Karr once wrote, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

America was wide open for exploitation. A swirl of alcohol, drugs, and scammers filled the country with opportunity for any enterprising individual. Detroit was reinventing itself, seemingly every day. Of these Detroiters, about 75 percent were immigrants or first-generation Americans. African Americans were relocating north in sizable numbers during the Great Migration. Women gained the right to vote and impacted a changing society. Prohibition created an entire subculture of risqué clothing, music, dancing, and a liberated lifestyle while encouraging every man’s entrepreneurial spirit. Detroit, often referred to as the Paris of the West, allowed prohibition, organized crime, gambling, opium dens, and speakeasies to flourish. Detroit opened its doors to the rivers of illegal booze flowing through multiple illicit, clandestine channels. Between a roaring automobile and a budding aviation industry, the Prohibition liquor trade turned 1920s Detroit into one of the most exciting, quirky, and frenetic cities in the world.

This is a tale of individual conscience. Deciding between what is right and what is wrong. Whether or not you cross the line? Does the end justify the means? Rum Runner tells a tale about brotherhood and morals. It’s a journey of friendship, love, forgiveness, and sacrifice.