Special Programming
Color Me Sober: Can AA evolve to include its most marginalized members?
There’s no doubt that the 86-year-old institution that is Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of people around the world recover from alcoholism, but now, more than ever before, it’s members are beginning to question whether a program founded…
By Shayla Martin • • 50m ListenJournalist and person in recovery, Shayla Martin, speaks to various AA members about the growing need for recovery meetings specifically catered to people of color. She speaks with L*, a Black woman in recovery in Baltimore who shares her experience with attempting to form a people of color AA meeting in 2019 after noticing that shares from women, people of color and members of the LGBT community were censored in meetings by other AA members who deemed their shares “too political”.
All guests reference the 10th tradition of AA (which states: Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy), a tool often used by AA members to prevent others from sharing about topics in meetings considered to be “outside issues”. Shayla and her guests, L*, S* and K* discuss which “outside issues'' are most often silenced, and how the COVID-19 pandemic became an asset as virtual POC recovery meetings popped up all over the world. In these meetings, members are welcome to discuss the issues that keep them emotionally sober without the threat of being shamed or silenced, but as the world slowly reopens, people of color in AA are starting to wonder if their virtual safe space will translate to the real world.
AA of course, is not the only the way to get sober and pursue recovery. Below is a list of recovery resources, many specifically for people of color.
Alcoholics Anonymous - https://aa.org/
Smart Recovery - https://www.smartrecovery.org/
Eleanor Health (eleanorhealth.com) launched free, online support groups for BIPOC individuals held Tuesdays from 4 to 5pm EST
Recovery Dharma (https://recoverydharma.online/bipoc/) has an online BIPOC meeting on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm EST
Sober Black Girls Club (soberblackgirlsclub.com) hosts a support group for Black womxn and nonbinary individuals on Thursdays at 8pm EST and Fridays at 4pm EST. They also host a support group for Queer folks of color on Tuesdays at 7 pm EST.
*Names removed to protect anonymity