ATTC/NIAT Blog Post: African American History Month and Addictions Recovery

Originally Post by: ATTC/NIAT on February 1, 2017
Link: http://attcniatx.blogspot.com/2017/01/african-american-history-month-and.html

African American History Month and Addictions Recovery: Featuring the Online Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment, and Recovery

Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC
Gabriela Perez, BA

Carter G. Woodson (December 19, 1875 – April 3, 1950)

Carter G. Woodson (December 19, 1875 – April 3, 1950)

In seminars, I ask audiences, “What is the reason that African American History Month is in February?” There is always a pause, followed by the same answer, “Because it’s the shortest month of the year,” which brings about laughter. The answer, though, to why African American History Month is in February is to honor the birthdays of AbrahamLincoln (February 12) and Frederick Douglass (February 14). Douglas was the first prominent American recovering alcoholic (White, Sanders, Sanders, 2006). Douglass was also the leader of the Black Temperance movement. This history has been shared with audiences of addictions counselors and inmates in prisons (disproportionately African Americans with substance use disorders). Most are unaware of this history, and many are inspired by it.

The Online Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment and Recovery

African American History Month was originally Black History Week, created in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodsen. It was celebrated the second week of February and was enthusiastically received. In 1970 it expanded to African American history month. Woodsen noted that the contributions of African Americans to American society were scarce in the literature. His original intent was the encouragement of the teaching of African American History in public schools (Scott, 2011). Writings on the treatment of addictions and recovery are also scarce in the literature, and thus we developed the Online Museum of African American Addictions Recovery.

The purpose of the museum is to serve as a single site where individuals interested in the history of addictions, treatment, and recovery among African Americans can be found. The museum includes 22 exhibits. You will find everything from scholarly articles that focus on engagement strategies with African American clients seeking recovery and effective approaches to cross-cultural counseling; non-traditional approaches to recovery for African Americans, and writings on innovative approaches to the prevention and treatment of fetal alcohol syndrome in African American communities. Historians may be interested in the exhibits that tells the story of substance use, treatment and recovery in African American communities from multiple perspectives, including literature, popular culture, biographies of historical pioneers, motion pictures, and music. Click on the music links and hear songs by Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Prince, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Jimmy Hendricks and numerous hip hop artists. For counselors who want to be more effective in their work with African American clients, the museum also lists various educational workbooks, available for free download, DVDs, and videos.

As you enter the museum, the first thing you notice is a picture of the famous blues singer Billie Holiday. Her story is living proof that advocacy, culture- and gender-specific services have been a need for a long time. As a youth, Billie Holiday lived in a brothel and at the age of ten was sexually assaulted. To numb the pain, she developed an addiction to alcohol and heroin. Music along with drugs was her primary medicine for trauma. In the 1930's war on drugs, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics singled out Billie Holiday as a primary target of the war. She was spied on by the Bureau; informants were used to testifying against her, and she was frequently arrested. Billy Holiday went in front of a judge and pleaded for treatment. She went on to state, “Imagine if the government chased sick people with diabetes. Then sent them to jail and they could only get insulin illegally. If we did that everyone would know we were crazy, yet we practically do the same thing every day to sick people hooked on drugs,” (Hari, 2015). Peter Bell was quoted as having said addiction is best treated when the cultural context in which it develops is taken into consideration (Sanders, 2015). The museum offers the historical and current context of treatment and recovery for African Americans seeking recovery. We hope you enjoy the museum.
 

References

Hari, J. (2015). Chasing the scream: the first and last days of the war on drugs. Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Sanders, M (Ed.). (2016). Substance Use Disorders in African American Communities: Prevention, Treatment and Recovery. Routledge.

Scott, D.M. (2014).  The Origins of Black History Month. Association for the Study of African American Life and History: https://asalh100.org/origins-of-black-history-month/

About the Authors

Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC, is the curator of the Online Museum of African American Addictions Recovery. Mark is an international speaker on Addictions Recovery and author of five books on addictions recovery. Mark has had two stories published in the New York Times best selling book series, Chicken Soup for The Soul.

Gabriela Perez, BA, is the developer of The Online Museum of African American Addictions Recovery. Gabriela has worked in everything from teaching English as a second language to working in Chicago as a case manager with youth ages 17 to 21. Currently, Gabriela is a pursuing her Masters in Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a concentration in community development.

Multiple Styles of Recovery for African Americans

By pinguino k CC BY 2.0

By pinguino k CC BY 2.0

Key Words: Blacks/African Americans, Men, Addictions, Substance use disorders, Addict

A popular television commercial advertising addictions treatment ends with the phrase, "You can't beat addiction on your own. No one can!" The commercial then displays an 800 number for you to call if you need help. The idea that everyone needs to go to a treatment center to begin recovery is untrue. Solo recovery is the most common pathway of recovery, particularly for individuals who are in the early stages of addiction and individuals who have a great deal of recovery capital. That is internal and external assets that they can bring to bear on their recovery. Examples include success before addiction; a good education; highly employable; positive family support; and they live in a community that supports recovery, etc.

The idea that there is only one way to recover was very popular in the 1980's when clients were called "addicts" and the one solution to address the addiction was a 28 day stay in a hospital. Much has changed! We now know that persons seeking recovery have multiple ways of initiating recovery. In an article entitled multiple styles of recovery for African American Men, the authors highlight multiple styles of recovery including treatment-assisted recovery; medication-assisted recovery; 12 step recovery; harm reduction; temporary drug substitution; religious pathways; cultural pathways and quantum change, sudden overnight transformation. This was the pathway of recovery for actor Samuel L. Jackson.

When Jackson was in treatment for crack addiction, he received a phone call from movie director Spike Lee, who invited him to play the role of a "crack addict" in the movie Jungle Fever. Jackson dropped out of treatment to play a role that he qualified for in the real world. In one scene in the film, Jackson is shot and killed by his father. He stated, "When I heard the sound of the gun, it killed the active addict in me." Jackson is in long-term recovery. To learn more about multiple styles of recovery for African American Men click here.

Down with Dope, Up with Hope!

Key Words: African Americans with substance use disorders, Substance abuse prevention, and African American communities

As Barack Obama is leaving office as the first African-American President of the United States, the media talks daily about his opposition parties plan to dismantle his "signature or most important legislation," that being Obama Care. Obama Care provides medical care for 20 million Americans who otherwise would be uninsured. Some experts believe that if this legislation is overturned, the Presidents legacy will be destroyed.

There is a part of his legacy that will never be destroyed. The hope he has given to millions of African American youth who now believe they can be anything they desire to be, including President of the United States! The picture included in this blog post is of 5-year-old Jacob Philadelphia. As Jacob was leaving the White House, he asked a question to President Obama. Jacob asked, "I want to know if my hair is just like yours? " This picture speaks volumes.

The title of this post, " Down with Dope, Up with Hope " is a frequent quote used by Civil rights leader, Jesse Jackson, Sr. Hope is an important ingredient in substance abuse prevention in African American communities. Hope allows youth to believe that success is possible. For African Americans with substance use disorders in need of treatment, hope is also an important motivator. Particularly for those in communities who experience despair due to extreme poverty. A Native American outreach worker said it best. "My clients don't hit bottom; they live on the bottom. If we wait for them to hit bottom, they will die. The obstacle to their engagement in treatment is not an absence of pain; it is an absence of hope."

If We Knew Better, We Would Do Better: Time to Release African Americans with Substance Use Disorders From Prison

Key Words: African Americans with substance use disorders

The title of this blog post, "If we knew better, we would do better," comes from late poet Maya Angelou in a conversation with Oprah Winfrey. This quote could easily be applied to the high imprisonment rates of African Americans with substance use disorders. Following the cocaine related death of All American college basketball player, Len Bias (University of Maryland), the US Congress intensified its war on drugs. This led to millions of Americans being arrested for possession of small amounts of drugs. Disproportionately, African Americans with Substance use disorders (approximately one million). As a part of the war on drugs, congress passed mandatory minimal sentences for possession of small amounts of cocaine. In some instances 20 to 30 years, in other instances, life sentences. These arrests were not based in Science. They were primarily based upon the stigma of cocaine and the betrayal of African Americans as the primary user of this drug. Today we now know that alcohol and tobacco do more damage to society than all illicit drugs combined.

At the time of this writing, the country is in the midst of a heroin epidemic. More Americans are dying from drug overdoses than gun violence. The face of addiction has now shifted from African Americans addicted to crack cocaine to white suburban youth addicted to heroin. Congress has responded to the current crisis by increasing the addictions treatment budget by a billion dollars. Cities and states are drafting more legislation that includes alternatives to incarceration. While our consciousness has awaken to the fact that addiction is an illness that needs to be treated, lets remember the millions incarcerated for non violent drug offenses. At the time of this post I just read an article that indicated that President Barack Obama pardoned 1000 persons in federal prisons for non violent drug offenses. While this is a good start it is not enough. Programs such as the National Alliance For The Empowerment of The Formerly incarcerated will grow in importance. There mission is to mobilize and organize ex-offenders to fight for their citizenship, expungement legislation, reduction of sentences for non violent drug offenses and to help those leaving prison successfully reenter society. According to the Director, Benneth Lee, "Laws created the war on drugs. If ex-offenders united, we could swing any election."

Benneth Lee Website: www.naefi.com