Gregory Richard Tomaini U.S. Senate

This week, I received a detailed brief from Senator Cory Booker on digital asset oversight, consumer protection, and the future of blockchain policy in the U.S. It is one of the clearest signals yet of where national regulatory attention is moving.

What makes this moment even more striking is the timing. Just days earlier, I received a letter from Senator Andy Kim’s office focusing heavily on AI governance and federal innovation frameworks.

When two different Senate offices independently engage on the exact same constellation of emerging-tech issues, it tells you something critical about the direction of the country—and the pivotal role New Jersey is playing in shaping it.

These aren’t abstract topics for me. They connect directly to my ongoing professional development and the foundational work I’ve been building through the Stars & Stripes Battalion—a center rooted in cultural diplomacy, strategic communication, and public-minded leadership.

Whether we are analyzing the expansion of artificial intelligence, digital commodities, or the ethics of new regulatory markets, the core question is always the same: How do we build systems that protect people, strengthen institutions, and reflect our shared values?

New Jersey has always been a place where innovation and public service intersect. Seeing our federal representatives engage these frontier issues with such seriousness is highly encouraging. It reinforces my own commitment to diving deeper into these policy spaces, contributing wherever my experience in cultural strategy, diplomacy, and institutional leadership can be most effective.

The future isn't just about better technology; it's about better ethical architecture!

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Greenwich Village, New York City —

Today marks a turning point in my creative and intellectual life.

After fifteen months away from the studio, I returned to the canvas to create a new work titled “The Sphinx of NYU” — a portrait born from gratitude, lineage, and the long arc of mentorship. I am donating this piece to the New York University Department of Comparative Literature and the NYU Deutsches Haus in honor of University Distinguished Professor Avital Ronell, one of the most influential voices in contemporary thought and a guardian of the deconstructive tradition.

This painting carries the weight of the worlds that shaped me: the classrooms where I learned to think, the humanitarian work that taught me responsibility, the long nights reading and writing, and the mentors who pushed me to live with greater ethical clarity. I have been fortunate to study with and be shaped by thinkers whose names transformed the landscape of philosophy and critical theory — Cornel West, Slavoj Žižek, Gayatri Spivak, Drucilla Cornell, Gary Dorrien, Derek Parfit, Ted Sider. Their voices echo in every stroke of this work.

As an African Jew in the lineage of Derrida, I have always felt the electric pull between identity, language, and responsibility. “The Sphinx of NYU” is part of that ongoing conversation — a small offering to the tradition that raised me, challenged me, and demanded that I meet thought with courage.

My books — The Psalms of Babylon, Encyclopedia of American Idealism, Tractatus Perfectio-Philosophicus — orbit the same question: how do we live ethically inside the structures that shape us. The Encyclopedia of American Idealism, now available at the Harvard University Book Store, is the first philosophical system written in the nation-state of the United States of America. This artwork is another attempt at answering that question with color instead of prose.

The visual language of the painting carries a quiet thank-you to Basquiat and Emily Dickinson — two spirits who remind me that the most radical gestures are often the most intimate, and that art can be both a wound and a salve.

If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear: who is the mentor, teacher, or thinker who changed the way you see the world. Tag them. Honor them. Let’s fill this space with gratitude for the minds that made us braver.

— Colonel G.R. Tomaini

Professor Extraordinaire • Polymath • Author • Artist
Governor-Commissioned Kentucky Colonel • Congressional-Commended Cultural Strategist
American Bar Association Grassroots Ambassador • Humanitarian Liaison
Global Chair for Rohingya Rights, Sovereignty, Transparent Accountability, and Systematic Theology
Genocide Victims Advocate • International Humanitarian Advisor • Scholar of Ethical Responsibility

Gregory Richard Tomaini U.S. Senate
Gregory Richard Tomaini
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Every once in a while, you take a photograph that feels less like an image and more like a checkpoint in your own story. This one does.

It carries the weight of the last decade — the classrooms, the humanitarian work, the honors I never expected, the mentors who shaped me, and the responsibility that comes with being entrusted with so much.

I’ve been called a lot of things over the years — Kentucky Colonel, Congressional‑commended cultural strategist, ABA Grassroots Ambassador, international liaison, nominee for British and French knighthoods, professor extraordinaire, artist, logician, polymath — but at the core, I’m just someone who believes deeply in service, dignity, and the transformative power of ideas.

I’ve been shaped by thinkers who changed the world: Cornel West, Slavoj Žižek, Gayatri Spivak, Drucilla Cornell, Gary Dorrien, Derek Parfit. Their voices echo in everything I do — in the art I make, the students I teach, the communities I serve, and the work I try to carry forward with integrity.

This portrait isn’t about titles.
It’s about commitment.
It’s about showing up — for people, for principles, for the work that matters.

If this resonates with you, do one thing for me today:

Tag someone who shaped the way you think.
Honor the people who made you braver.
Let’s fill this feed with gratitude and the names that built us.

Here’s to the next chapter — with clarity, humility, and purpose.

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Gregory Richard Tomaini U.S. Senate Colonel Gregory Richard Tomaini

Alias: Richard Edward von Hartung III