JULY 2020 I am responsible when anyone, Volume 44, #7 anywhere, reach- es out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there, and for that I am respon- life·line | \ ˈlīf-ˌlīn : 1. A rope or line used for life-saving, typically one thrown to rescue someone in difficulties in water. 2. A thing on which someone depends for a means of escape from a difficult situation. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com An early criticism Washington D.C.- of Alcoholics Anony- Washington Colored mous was that its pro- Group later rechris- gram of recovery was tened The Cosmopoli- drawn primarily from tan Group) and details the collective experi- the experiences of ences of white men early Black AA mem- and thus unsuitable bers drawn from inter- for people of color. views and taped AA Such declarations talks with five key fig- have since been chal- ures (Bill Williams, lenged by surveys Jimmy Miller, Harold within communities of Brown, Dr. James C. color indicating AA as Scott, Jr., and John one of the preferred Shaifer). Heroes of choices for people Early Black AA closes seeking help with alcohol problems, recent surveys of with the story of Joe AA membership revealing significant (11-15%) repre- McQuany, widely known for his role in the Joe and sentation of non-White ethnic minorities, and studies of Charlie Tapes (Big Book Study Guide) that are revered treatment linkage to AA indicating that people of color by many within the AA fellowship. are as likely, or more likely, than Whites to participate in Three qualities distinguish Heroes of Early Black AA following professional treatment. Also of note are the AA. First, it vividly depicts the larger social context with- growth of AA meetings within communities of color and in which Black AA groups emerged in the mid-1940s the cultural adaptation of AA’s Twelve Step program and in which the subsequent racial integration of AA un- within these communities. What has until recently been folded. Glenn C. skillfully places the racial struggles and lacking is a definitive history of the racial and ethnic di- the process of racial reconciliation within AA within the versification of AA, including first-hand accounts of how larger social context of American society during these the first non-White men and women experienced AA same periods. The best and worst of what occurred and attracted increasing numbers of people of color to within AA is contextualized within the best and worst AA’s program of alcoholism recovery. Glenn C.’s just- that was occurring in the larger culture. published Heroes of Early Black AA marks a major step Such context is crucial in understanding both the re- in filling this void. sistance and the progress in racially integrating AA. Glenn C.’s well-researched text documents the Within this contrast, AA is given a mixed grade: “not as founding of the first Black groups in AA in 1945 (St. Lou- good as it ought be, but nevertheless much better than is-AA-1 Group, Chicago-Evans Avenue Group, and society as a whole.” (continued on page 2) SOUTHERN MARYLAND INTERGROUP 1-800-492-0209 www.somdintergroup.org (con’t.) Second, the opportunity to hear the voices of tered AA only a few years after the violent resistance to these Black men and women who first broke racial barri- forced school integration in Little Rock. Joe was first al- ers within AA is an emotionally moving privilege. Their lowed to attend AA meetings with the requirements that poignant stories of recovery and the relationships they he not arrive early or stay late to socialize and not drink built across the racial divide within AA are among the any of the coffee. As Joe would say, “Little Rock was no great contributions of the book. Particularly striking are place for a black man to be looking for help in 1962.” But the distinct yet shared experiences of people whose Joe survived such early insults to get help within AA, and backgrounds ranged from physician to tavern matron to his subsequent friendship and study with Charlie resulted con man. Glenn C.’s own understanding of alcoholism in years of collaboration in producing the best know study and alcoholism recovery within AA permeates this book guide to what has affectionately become known as AA’s but does not get in the way of letting his central protago- Big Book. Glenn C. describes the unique quality that Joe nists tell their own stories. Third, Heroes of Early Black brought to his study of the Big Book. AA details the process of how local AA meetings went Joe McQuany developed a style of spirituality which from banning Blacks, limiting their attendance to open was built, not upon the spirit of fellowship, but upon study- meetings, allowing attendance as “observers,” designat- ing history and telling the stories of courageous historical ing certain meetings as “interracial,” to further lowering figures who were cast in the role of pioneers, innovators, and then losing such barriers, including the frequent ex- and lone wolves who had to make it with minimum help change of speakers between predominately White and from others—a method especially appropriate for those Black AA groups. That process of change is described as who were, marginalized, socially excluded, and psycho- follows: logically isolated within the surrounding culture. (p. 392) It was done by attacking the issues at the fundamen- One of the described high points within Joe’s years of tal spiritual level, and by insisting that spiritual principles service within AA was recounting of a 1977 trip to Lawton, of the program had to take preponderance over personali- Oklahoma to facilitate one of their Big Book Study meet- ties, and personal likes and dislikes, and politics, and ings. Joe and an ailing Charlie, Black and White friends blind cultural taboos. It also took a handful of people, both and collaborators, picked up Tony V., an AA member of black and white, who had astonishing courage, and a will- Mexican descent, only to arrive at the meeting to find ingness to speak lovingly, but boldly and honestly, when seating in the first row members from the Anadarko Indi- basic spiritual principles were at stake. (p. 164) an Reservation. It had been a long journey (literally and What local AA leaders on both sides of the racial di- figuratively) but there was realization at that moment that vide proclaimed was that the fear and hostility that divided AA had become a coat of many colors. One can imagine Black and White AA members had no place in a program Joe smiling in the knowledge that he had been a link in like AA. that chain of progress. Most touching were the stories of personal transfor- Heroes of Early Black AA joins a growing list of texts mation, e.g., an AA member who had once resisted AA (e.g., Women Pioneers 1n 12 Step Recovery, Women in meeting attendance by Blacks later attending the funeral of Alcoholics Anonymous, The History of Gay People in Al- a Black AA member, with tears running down his face as coholics Anonymous, A History of Agnostics in AA) de- he talked about what the deceased member had meant to scribing the increased diversity of AA membership and his recovery. I have heard it said that the most segregat- the ever-expanding varieties of AA experience. Glenn C. ed place and hour in America is Sunday morning church has made numerous contributions to the study of AA via services; today, the most integrated setting in America his published books and articles, may well be the AA meetings held the night before in oversight of the AA History Lovers those same churches. online group, creation of the The story of Joe McQuany and his collaborative rela- Hindsfoot Foundation, and his men- tionship with Charles Parmley is a perfect point of closure torship of innumerable people inter- for the larger story told in Heroes of Early Black AA. Here ested in the history of AA. Heroes of were two men, a Black man and a White man, both AA Early Black AA is one of his most members in the South, who found common ground in important and inspiring of these con- their study of the basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous. Joe tributions. http://www.williamwhitepapers.com/ blog/2018/01/the-color-and-character-of-aa.html was the first Black member of AA in Arkansas and en- SOUTHERN MARYLAND INTERGROUP 1-800-492-0209 www.somdintergroup.org 2 WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF ? Somewhere between my consciousness and sub- conscious, I knew that this was a question that I was even afraid to ask – this the power that fear held in my life. I’ve had a long pattern of avoiding as a way to cope. This has taken the form of procrastination, dis- honesty, emotional distance, and increasing depend- ence on alcohol to sometimes actually face my fear, but mostly to avoid the feelings temporarily or if possible, avoid them altogether. Combined, avoidance and increasing dependency on alcohol put me into a spiral of heightened anxiety, darkening depression and suicidal ideation and at- tempts. That I’d rather die, consciously abandon those that I loved and that loved me, rather than face what I was avoiding, is today, unfathomable. What Are You Afraid Of? I vainly and naively thought (hoped) that stopping drinking alcohol would be enough. All the while, forget- What are you afraid of I asked myself ting that for me, unacknowledged trauma, anxiety, and The hungry ghosts that wake you depression were precursors to my progressive depend- In the middle of many a night ence on alcohol.