Date: 01/26/2013
Name: Donnell Hicks
Title: Strength & Power

When a person has indulged into drugs or alcohol and has become addicted to the paraphernalia, it becomes difficult for him/her to overcome the addiction, to live a clean decent lifestyle and to get rid of the demons that has been holding him/her back from progressing and breaking loose from the chains to be free of the addiction of alcohol or any other drugs. With the right support group and constant love and strength from family and close friends, a person can strive to make the effort against all odds to overcome the hardships.

If a person isn’t given a chance to redeem his or her faults and clean up his/her past sins, he/she will see there’s no way out of the addiction and he/she will began to relapse. Although I haven’t come in close contact with a person who has been a former drug addict, I have experienced the withdrawals plus the setbacks of my own family members who want to rise above the smoke, but are taken down by the lure as well as the temptations of indulging into the same drugs and alcohol all over again.

For any individual to overcome being a drug addict or an alcoholic, he/she must take the responsibilities to confess his/her sins, to acknowledge that he/she has a drug problem that needs to be dealt with, for the reason that it is not only hurting them personally but it is also hurting family members in the process. 

Nonetheless, it takes a strong, resilient person to find the courage to overcome an addiction. Some people may think easing out of being a drug addict is quite easy. A person who has gone through the ups and downs will automatically tell you one on one, becoming clean steering away from drugs or alcohol can be at times difficult. The symptoms are still around; the temptation of indulging back into the old lifestyle can be overwhelming. However, he/she can stay determined to the point he/she won’t give up the fight knowing there will be family and a few friends being with them on the road to recovery. 

Another step in the right direction for a drug addict or an alcoholic is when he/she turns to religion in order to seek divine intervention bestowed upon their lives hoping it will help turn their lives around for the better of everybody involved. To some individuals who have been addicted to drugs or alcohol, strength and power to overcome the odds comes from attending various AA meetings where there are other people who are also in the same boat sharing similar stories of their drug and alcohol addictions which caused them to lose their families. Having a strong support system, talking to a counselor, writing down on a piece of paper how they feel also help. Strength and power come from having divine intervention knowing that there is only thing which will keep him/her alive in the process to progress further and rise above the smoke – that is their faith in God.

     

   

Date: September 2, 2012
Writer’s Name:  Nanette Buchanan
Title: Willpower - the Means for Survival



Tonya Wilkins originally from Washington, D.C. would have never thought when she had her son at the age of twenty that five years later she would be faced with an addiction. She couldn’t blame her addiction on an abusive childhood, or low self-esteem, because when in love one often doesn’t realize they are addicted.  “It was what he did; what I learned to enjoy with him.” Her addiction went from small binges to “shooting up” and being high for days.  Her need to supply the habit was paid with money, favors and sexual exploits.  When she became pregnant with her third child and lost her second while still on drugs, she realized she had to stop. The separation from the man she loved also separated her from her son. She would lose him trying to save herself.  Her son was cared for by family totally separated from his mother.  

Tonya searched for treatment centers but realized she had to remove herself from her familiar surroundings.  She knew she would only return to habits and friends she needed to leave behind.  She was told she wouldn’t be accepted by many facilities she thought would help her.  Determination led her to call facilities out of the city and out of the state.  She fought her way into a facility that accepted her in North Carolina. After three months of treatment, while pregnant she was told she could leave, not needing any further sessions.  Tonya knew that three months was not enough to keep her from returning to old habits.  She sought another facility.  There had to be another source she could contact that would provide sessions for her addictions as well as accept her while pregnant.


After the birth of her daughter she was again released and told she had successfully completed the program.  Certain that her addiction would creep into her life again she sought another facility for herself and her new born.  It became her home for two years. Determined to further her education and keep herself focused, Tonya enrolled into school and completed her Associates Degree.  She completed the program, and remained in town receiving a support system from the counseling staff and other addicts.  Since the onset of her addiction, she finally established her own home.  


Tonya continued her education, and has received her Bachelors and Masters Degrees.  Today, she is working as a Therapist, counseling other addicts and giving them the support.  Her goals have gone well beyond the days of seeking to be free of her addictions. She is interested in furthering her education and achieving her PHD.  “It is my willpower that drives me.  If I become settled, complacent, and content with just what I have today, my days of addiction are as close as yesterday.”


As a therapist, she has seen her clients return years later only to start all over again.  “Addiction returns, often when the addict has lost focus or has nothing to focus on.  The same way they were determined to get high, they need to be just as determined to recover.  There are women who will steal, lie, cheat, and have sex for their high; that need should be the drive that will only be satisfied with recovery.”  


Most addicts are forced into recovery because of court sanctions, violations, family services or family threats.  When not faced with this dilemma they return to “getting high.”  The focus at that moment was to remove the pressure of the external force pushing them to be clean.  Tonya became her own force.  She refused to have someone else push her, knowing it would be temporary.  She has come full circle recognizing her addiction, her willpower, the need for motivation, recovery and focus.  Only one out of eight addicts makes it past five years clean.  This statistic is frightening when you take into consideration they will hold on to recovery until the system of support lets go. In NC at least 100 addicts per month seek treatment.  This is not including the people who never reach out for help.


Tonya became that one.  She has been ten years clean and has surrounded herself with reminders each day of who she could have become.  She has reunited with her son and her children have become another reason for her to remain focused.  Tonya Wilkins follows her own words daily, “I’m going to be blunt, I’m going to be honest; if I ever sugar-coat my mess I will become that mess.”  Willpower is her daily support; it has become her means of survival.    

Date: 07/19/2012
Writer’s Name: Dominique Wilkins
Title: God’s Will

Overcoming drugs and alcohol is a huge feat. More often than not, anyone who comes in contact with these vices, immediately fall victim to its power. They lose themselves and become, what is labeled as an Alkie, Drunk, Crackhead or Hype. None of which are terms of endearment. These labels are often given by non-drug and alcohol users who look down on these people as if they are beneath them because of their habit. There are two different types of them. They are labeled as ‘functioning’ and of course, ‘addicts.’ Those that are functioning, have these terrible habits, but are able to support themselves and conceal this from the world’s scrutiny. These people, strong enough to tame these vices, are able to continue to work to support themselves and their cravings, without having to let the world in on their secret. In my opinion, these people are handling their business as an adult and are not seen as a threat to the community or anyone else. They are your typical adults with a past time that choose to make a decision that may not be right or legal, but is not hurting anyone else.

On the other hand, the more extreme and popular of the two are stretched out and are hurting themselves and their families. They cannot get or hold a job, even if they could past the drug test. They will do anything to anyone in an attempt to regain that initial high that they first felt when they were introduced to it. They walk around in a trance, motivated only by the first high that they chase religiously. Their appearance screams to even a blind man, the loss of their ability to care about hygiene or their surroundings. All relationships from their normal lives have been severed, for there is no loyalty amongst them, when you stand between them and their high. Many are lost in this satanic world, but few make it out and live to tell the story…

My friend Kenny Emmanuel Sr. shared his story with me. He told me how as a youth, in the south, his mother had given him and his siblings liquor in hopes that they would become so sick from it, they would never forget about its horrific taste and aftermath; so when they became of age, they would not dare touch it. This did in fact work. Just not on Kenny. It worked on both his brother and sister successfully. Kenny on the other hand, enjoyed the taste of it, as it did the electric slide down his throat. He was so impressed by it, that he would go back for more. When he returned for more, he incorporated cigarettes into his diet as well. Now that the party had started, when a band member in his freshman year was kind enough to share his marijuana joint with him, he felt comfortable accepting it. He was never known to be an ungrateful man. He gladly added this “weed” to his list of things to do. In his later years, now in the early 1970’s, he had joined the military, where “acid trips,” “speed,” and “hash smoking” became just another notch under his belt. As most other military men, he came out as a capable asset to the world. He learned roofing, carpentry and electrical wiring in his travels and exposure. He was the man with the golden hands. These golden hands could set fire to all that they touched. So, with these capabilities, also came the money. It flowed freely.

Eventually, he went out as a freelance roofer. He recalls paying a friend to aid him on completing a job and offered to drop him off at home after handsomely compensating him for his contributions. Before arriving at their destination, this friend suggested a stop. Kenny, a military man and a friend first, had no problem with this request -in view of the fact that Kenny rarely left the house without his 9mm.  At the stop, the friend asked the doorman for a “quarter bag,” while Kenny looked on. Kenny, looking forward to unwinding after a long day’s work, decided also to make an investment in this nice gentleman’s product. The doorman excused himself and came back with his keys to unlock the bars and allow them entry. Once inside the nice place, it was plain that they had interrupted him while he was in the middle of a phone call, he weighed and packaged his product. While on pause, the nice man decided to share with them some of the good stuff. He did something with the pile he had on the mirror, then he put it in this glass pipe for them to smoke and share. Like before with the liquor dancing down his throat, he enjoyed the smoke that took over his lungs!

This time Kenny did not just smoke it, but he perfected it. He dated it and courted it, until he learned its secrets. Soon he had become the master chef. He was cooking it for all to enjoy. They came from far and wide with their coke for Chef Kenny to cook. Kenny was in seventh heaven! Everyone knows the cook eats first! Always get his off the top first. He’d supply the girl (Coke) and the boy (Heroine), as it was affectionately called on the streets.

Kenny knew that this was not his world. He, unlike the others could see himself becoming lost in it. He also knew that it was not as easy to get out as it was to get in. Many times, he said that he was out and walking away from it, just as many times as he would come back to it. Kenny came to the realization that he needed help. He HAD to get out and could not do it on his own. He prayed and prayed for deliverance. God did not come when Kenny wanted him to. Kenny was caught up in this world for 19 years. God came when Kenny needed him. He touched his heart and overnight, Kenny found the strength to leave that world, cold turkey never to return. No 12 step program or group intervention. Only God was the answer and the key! As a test, 9 months later, he was tested with a taste and found out it did not taste good. It was bad. In fact, it left a nasty residue.

Today, Kenny is known as Minister Kenneth Emmanuel Sr. Today, if he sees any drugs, he disposes them before another one falls into its clutches. Minister Kenneth Emmanuel Sr. is a successful radio show host with a large racially diverse radio show on www.freedomizerradio.com. His Sabbath show can be heard weekly @ 2pm-4pm cst  on both Saturdays and Tuesdays and 12:30 2 pm cst on Sundays. Tune in and allow your ears to enjoy one of God’s miracles! And enjoy the message while you are there!! The Minister wishes us all peace and blessings to our homes!

Date: 6/25/2012
Writer’s Name: S.F. Hardy
Title: Overcoming Addiction


    

Controlled substances have played and continue to play a key role in the destruction of the African-American family and community. Once looked at closely, one will find that addiction can be attributed to many of the social ills that plague our community as a whole. Many of us, if not all, have at least one person in our family who has succumbed to the ugly reality of substance abuse. As time goes on, substance abuse seems to get worse. With new designer drugs, prescription drug abuse and the inhalation of everyday household items, there seems to be an upswing of usage rather than a decline. AP, a former substance abuser and current prisoner reveals his addiction to drugs, alcohol, and crime in the 80s and his road to recovery.

S.F. Hardy:  When was your first experience using illegal and legal substances? What where they?

AP: I was 12 years old the first time I smoked weed (marijuana). Although I had been exposed to it prior to my experience, I had no real desire to partake. My friend’s brother who was 16 at the time offered it to me and I accepted. I wanted to know what all the hype was about.

S.F. Hardy: Many opponents argue that marijuana is the gateway to severe substance abuse, would you agree?

AP: I agree strongly.

S.F. Hardy: Please expound.

AP: My curiosity was enhanced. My thought was I’ve already tried weed so why not try other drugs? I tried everything except for heroine; I was scared to only because I watched my father use the needle to inject the drug into his body. By the time I was 15, I had personally experienced cocaine, scalene (now known as ecstasy), and alcohol.   

S.F. Hardy: Wow you were very young. How does someone at that age get access to these drugs?

AP: I was in a gang called… Them Boys. I sold the drugs, giving me direct unlimited access.

S.F. Hardy: Out of those substances named above which one did you prefer?

AP: I didn’t have a preference. I enjoyed them all the same; most of the time I was high off of multiple substances at once.

S.F. Hardy: How did your gang affiliation and drug abuse go unnoticed by your parents?

AP: Although I was engaged in illegal activity, my mother never suspected me because I was an honor student. I obeyed my elders and was never caught doing anything unsavory. However, when I was supposed to be around the corner playing with children my age, I was up to no good.

S.F. Hardy: When, if ever, did you come to the conclusion that you were a slave to addiction?

AP: I was 20 years old before I admitted to myself that I had a problem.

S.F. Hardy: What opened your eyes after 8 years of substance abuse?

AP: I was forced to acknowledge to myself that I had a problem when I began to hide it from everybody around me. Most importantly, the drugs became more important; I wanted to get high more than anything else.

S.F. Hardy: Did your awareness of self make you want to stop?

AP: No, I felt like I could stop whenever I got ready. I didn’t believe I needed to refrain at the time because I wasn’t hurting anyone outside of myself. I was unaware of the future consequences and it didn’t matter to me at the time.

S.F. Hardy: Do you feel like the drugs were masking some internal pain? Or was it just something to do?

AP:  In hindsight I would say yes. I couldn’t understand why my mother was being physically abused by her boyfriend(s). I couldn’t understand why my mom would take my siblings and me to shelters.

S.F. Hardy: What would you say was the relationship between your substance abuse and crime?

AP:  I was committing crimes before I started using substances. At 10, I was stealing out of stores. By the time I turned 12, I was the leader of the kids 10 and under in our gang, Them Boys. I guess you could say I was addicted to crime before I was addicted to drugs. I was infatuated with guns, robbery, and breaking and entering. I was in a gang Ms. Hardy, there were no limits.

S.F. Hardy: So would you say that drugs, crime or a combination of both landed you in prison?

AP: A combination. My need to get high led to my coming to prison. Although my crimes ranged from severe to petty, I never got caught for the harsh crimes.

S.F. Hardy: What was your first conviction? What was your sentence?

AP: I was sentenced to probation for carrying a controlled substance. Later, I was convicted to 2 to 5 years for receiving and concealing stolen property. I was released after 2 years, which I continued to commit crimes leading me back to prison where I have spent the past 18 years.

S.F. Hardy: How has prison changed you?

AP: Prison saved my life! I feel like I have been given a second chance. Being in prison has given me time to reflect because I have been separated from crime and controlled substances. I’ve come to realize how precious life is and I’m no longer willing to give up the joys of life for crime or drugs.

S.F. Hardy: What would you say or do to deter young people from engaging in drugs?

AP: I would stress the importance of loving themselves at any at all cost. Don’t do anything that will take away from their physical and mental freedom, and success. I would impart, we all go through hardships in life and drugs are not a viable coping skill; drugs and alcohol only enhance the problem(s).

S.F. Hardy: How has substance abuse affected you internally?

AP:  I would say the drugs have caused distorted thinking, irrational decisions, and has often made me angry, impatient, and frustrated. I have had to work hard to change and it is a daily struggle.

S.F. Hardy: Have you received any detox treatment while in prison?

AP: Prison does not offer detox. I detoxed and rehabilitate on my own. Although Narcotics Anonymous classes were offered it wasn’t enough. I had to strengthen my relationship with God. I became more spiritual and relied on my relationship with God to overcome my addiction to controlled substances and crime.

S.F. Hardy: Once released from prison, what precautions will you take so that you do not relapse?

AP: Taking life one day at a time, I will rely on my faith. Also, I have a great support system. I can honestly say that since being incarcerated, I have had time to reflect and realize what is important in life. Although I have been locked down for almost 20 years, I can never get used to being caged. I don’t want to come back here, nor do I have any desire whatsoever to ever partake in the use of addictive substances. Heck, I don’t even want to take prescribed medicines at this point in my life.