Abstinence-based cultural and religious revitalization movements constitute vibrant responses to the rise of alcohol and other drug problems in communities of color. Such movements often inspire culturally nuanced approaches to addiction treatment and provide culturally legitimate pathways of long-term recovery. The spark that ignites such movements is often a charismatic, recovering individual who uses his or her own personal transformation as a springboard for broad social change. This article explores what the lives of two remarkable human beings - Frederick Douglass and El Hajj Malik el Shabazz (Malcolm X) - can teach us about addiction recovery within African American communities. 

A tale of two men

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) escaped slavery to become an internationally recognized orator, author (Narrative of the Life of an American Slave), newspaper editor, and skilled social reformer and statesman. He was the dominant force in the political drive to emancipate American slaves and also was a prominent advocate within the temperance and women's rights movements. The character of the man is illustrated in his response to a group of armed men who entered his newspaper office and threatened to destroy his presses. Douglass told his would-be attackers that they could assault him but that other voices would take his place. He boldly offered to help the men and struck one of his own printing presses saying, "You can smash machines, but you can't smash ideas." Stunned by his actions and words, the men left. Frederick Douglass' life offers vivid testimony of how a single individual's unwavering commitment and personal charisma can transform the world.

The life of Malcolm Little (1925 -1965) could be told in serial identities: 1) one of 11 poor children raised on dandelion greens and cornmeal mush; 2) the young boy castigated as "Milky" and "Snowflake" for his light skin; 3) a child bereaved by his father's death and his mother's institutionalization for mental illness; 4) a young man's transition from shining shoes to the street hustling, dope dealing "Detroit Red"; 5) the prisoner known as "Satan" for his animosity toward religion; 6) the minister Malcolm X whose fiery words challenged both blacks and whites; and 7) El Hajj Malik el Shabazz, assassinated in 1965 following his break with the Nation of Islam and his founding of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Ossie Davis conveyed something of what Malcolm X meant to the African American community when he eulogized him: "Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood ... Our own black shining prince!"   

Addiction and recovery histories

Most readers of Counselor know something of the lives of these two men but may be unaware of the addiction and recovery stories that are part of the larger lives of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. Both men were discrete about their addiction histories and the means of their recoveries, but this part of their lives is revealed in their autobiographies, published speeches and archived correspondence.

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