Gerì Craig : A recovery of balance
with other people in some kind o f empathetic
understanding that I wouldn't have had if I
didn't have those experiences.
" In the recovery programs that I've worked
on I've been able to alleviate a little guilt, and
some remorse, that I had about my life . . I
think I now know more than ever that there's a
lot o f hope. I have a lot o f hope. And because of
those experiences I have a really eclectic sup
BY
ANNDEE
H Q C H MA N
port system in my life. . . Not long ago my
lover and I did a commitment ceremony. We
n 1978. Geri Craig's activism brought her to
had
about a hundred people and I was amazed at
her own backyard. After years o f confronting
this body of people who emerged, this body
and working to change the oppressions o f
o f people who were . . . a rainbow o f colors, and
racism, sexism and homophobia, Craig fought
men and women, and straight and gay, and old
and freed herself from an addiction to alcohol
and kids. I felt incredibly grateful for my life
atuJ drugs.
then, incredibly privileged and lucky.
Since then, she's used that experience to sup
port others in recovers' from drug and alcohol
" I 'm one who believes in working for sixial
addictions. A founder o f the Live and Let Live
change. I've always believed in that I think that
Club, she also works with 12-Step Haven, a
it's necessary. I also think it s important that we
resource center fo r women and children in re-
have a network of people to support us in our
| covers'. Craig helped launch a residential treat-
struggles, that we don't try to do this stuff
alone, that we get nurtured and loved and cared
about along the way so that w e're able to do
this, you know, for the long haul. That's how I
teel — that I'm in this for the long haul and.
having been given a second chance to do it a
different way. to be clean and sober, it 's been
really necessary for me to take care of mvselt
ment program for Xattve American women and
children: she sersed as executive director o f the
emotionally and spiritually .
And I feel like I
Portland h envmst Women's Health ('entei from
have that in my life, and that s a wonderful
1984 to /y,\o. most recently, she worked fo r Right
thing. If there's something that I don't have, it's
Step Reco . ers . a chemical dependency treatment
the kind o f alienation and loneliness that a lot of
program fo r gay men and lesbians.
people have
I'm a lucky ducky. Really.
When Craig discusses the politics o f addic
"T here has to be a balance. One of my
tion, anecdotes anchor the theory close to home.
teach. rs in my lire once told me . when 1 was
Her no-nonsense speech is spiked with phrases
at the [Portland Feminist Women’s Health
really didn't understand. That it was threatening
like ‘ fa r o u t'' and ' ‘lucky ducky,' ’ a peppery
to people around me. It was like. ‘God. if Geri’s
Center) and 1 had agreed to take that position of
laugh and a quick grin. ,4 midwest twang curls
saying she’s an addict and an alcoholic’ — and I
executive director for two years, and at the end
through now aiul then, showing her Chicago
o f that time I felt like I needed to leave, that
certainly wasn't doing that because I wanted to
upbringing And her hands won't sit still. They
— what does that mean about me?’
someone else needed to do that. And I struggled
shape the air as she talks, they reach and wave:
with that a long time . . . And this teacher
‘ ‘One of the motivations for me wanting to get
they periodically lift a coffee cup. They do not,
clean and sober was that I felt I was really sort of
o f mine told me. she said. ‘Geri. geese fly in
however, hold a cigarette. Craig recently quit
; a . . . paper tiger, with all my running-around
formation. But what they do. by nature, is ro
smoking after a 25-year habit.
struggles to deal with sexism and racism and
tate the position of lead goose.' So. you know,
homophobia and all those things. But I had al
even a goose has the sense to get out of the wind
"In 1978. actually just about nine years ago
once in a while.
coholism. and that was what was going to get me
next week, when I got clean and sober. I kind of , first.”
"Y ou just can't run on empty all the time.
Craig's work history seems to be an obstacle-
And there s different ways to fill ourselves up
came to gnps w ith my own chemical dependency
and kx)ked around. I was kxiking for some sup
course o f charged issues: racism. women's re
When I Icxik at the reasons that drugs and al
port for that, and at that time there was very little
productive rights, alcoholism, the mental-health
cohol seemed to work for years in my life, it
in the way of community support, certainly in the
system. She says it wasn't a path planned in
was because they filled up some of those empty
advwn e: she simply traced her passions to their
places. And when that stopped working. I had
lesbian community, or the feminist community,
logii ill end c h i looked back to see a pattern only
to find something else
or any kind of community that I had been
associated with,
afterwards
"T in also involved with another organiza
1'here arc a ioi ot reasons why there s a high
"W hen I first came to Portland I worked in a
tion called 12-Step Haven, which is a resource
collective day-care center . . |later| I worked at
incidence [of chemical dependency! m the gay
center for women and children in recovery, and
the
Women's
Mental
Health
Project.
Interestingly
and lesbian community. One is that it's histori
my lover and I have had the opportunity to do
cally been true that where lesbians and gay men
enough, through that project, and while 1 was
foster care and respite care for children who
have hung out is in bars That has been our
first struggling, trying to get clean and sober
come from chemically dependent families. It s
and not maintaining sobriety, we decided to do a i been an amazing experience to realize that,
sanctuary , our only place. And so even a lot of
lesbian sobriety workshop. We didn't think any
our political activities and stuff have centered
probably, in truth, my life is about halt over,
around alcohol, certainly. And. sure. I think that
body would come.
W people came
| and to l*xik at these little ones and see what kind
I was the first time that I'm aware of that
it is a reflection of what gtxts on in the dominant
ot influence, what kind o f value I can have in
|aicoholism | was ever addressed in the lesbian
culture at large. But it wasn't being addressed
children's lives, to give them a vision ot hope
and how it can be different.
very well.
vommunity here.
" I feel very fortunate to not have had to do
"S o a handful o f us got together. We had been
" I was very sad to see Right Step | which
my recovery alone. I mean. 1 couldn't. That was
try ing to have some gay 12-step meetings at other
closed in August! leave the community. I think
the thing. The hardest thing was admitting that I
recovery organizations in Portland. Wc had a
having that treatment center in our community
had a problem and then asking for help. I was
Sunday night meeting at the AlanoClub
could have done us all a lot of good in being part
raised to be self-sufficient, thank you. and cer
in northwest Portland, anu wc were as' ed to
o f the solution to the problem.
leave there to make room f •• .■ *»mtm. t'd<vto«-s
tainly in my spectrum o f things, in my political
“ I would love to see a drug- and alcohol-free
analysis, which was: there are no individual
who wanted to have their meeting then
space in the community. It's not unusual now to
solutions and. you know, ‘buck up. buckaroo.'
go m gav bars and see non-alcoholic drinks on
Actually it turned out to be our chance to make
that
kind
o
f
thing,
that
was
probably
the
hardest
lemonaue out of lemons because a group of men
t lie menu That always d(x?s my little heart g<xxJ
thing.
and women who were recovering got together
But it vvt>uId he nice to h»v*» •» place that didn't
"T h e first year from any kind of destructive
and formed a non-profit organization that was the
have alcohol at all hspecially when you look at
dependency is — was. for me — the hardest
things like AIDS and the connection that a com
Live and Let Live Club.
because so many changes happened. So many
"W hat it felt like we were doing was saving
promised immune system
certainly drugs
ch an g es— where I went, what I did. who I
our asses, rather than getting into great socio
and alcohol compromise your immune system
hung out with. It was the most dramatic, cer
— has on the disease, or on the ability to make
political debate about the incidence of chemical
tainly. in terms of physical recovery, and emo
decisions about safe sex . . . it's like playing
dependency in our communitv. Ir:!ially. that’s
tionally and spiritually. I mean, the world
Russian Roulette
what it felt like We wanted tocreate something
looked different. And felt different, because I
A frien d has descrioed Craig as being
tot ourselves, and also for other people.
w asn't using a chemical to deal with any of that.
"w illing to sa\ things that are enormously un
' ' I sort of liken it to w hen I was in my early 20s
Lots and lots o f things changed
popular.' ' Craig laughs, trying the phrase on
anu going to San Francisco and first getting in
" I like to look at my life as sort of an inter
for size. She grins and nods— "yeah, sure . ..
volved in heavy-duty leftist politics and discover
esting series of connect-the-dots I followed
/ guess s o '' — as if both pleased and surprised
ing the evils of class . . . and all of a sudden it was
at how well it fits.
enough dots to get me to recover I mean. I
right on to be working class. Now for the first
learned a lot. I learned some valuable lessons
time it feels right on to be clean and sober. And it
" I have a lot of passion behind the things that
through
experience
that
I’m
now
able
to
share
didn’t feel that way in 1978 It felt like. . . people
I believe in . . . it just seems like the right thing
I like to look at my life as sort of an interesting series
of connect- the-dots. / followed enough dots
to get me to recovery.
I
.rpro£(*^
to do. Last night I was in Powell’s Bookstore,
you know, real yuppie bookstore, la di da,
Friday night, eleven o ’clock, and some long
haired boy had taken offense at a street person,
a homeless person, an older man, who came in
there The guy was yelling at him for smoking a
cigarette . and the next thing I know, this guy
had just picked him up and was bodily throwing
him out the door and then went out there and
was kicking the shit out o f him.
"A nd 1 didn’t think about it, 1 just went out
there and started screaming at this long-haired
guy, ’You can't do this. I mean, it's not OK to
do this.’ So. yeah. I didn't think about what
this guy was going to think And I don’t know
why. It's ju s t. . . 1 knew it was right, you know.
And I don't think that necessarily makes me
special or anything
" I thins. it s important sometimes to go out
tin the edge I think that some of the privilege,
some of the freedom that I have in my life ttxlay
came about as a result of other people who have
gone out on the edge and I feel a debt and a
gratitude to continue to do that
There have
been plenty of freedom-fighters, lesbian
activists, political activists, people who have
believed in freedom and equality for the greatest
numbers
When I was working at the health
center, people used to say. ‘My God. you got a
bomb: how can you continue to go to work
there?' Because it 's right Because it is the right
thing to do Because other people have done it."
Craig isn't sure where her convictions will
land her next.
" I imagine myself in some similar sort o f . . .
something within human services. I can't
imagine myself doing anything other than that.
It's pretty much all I've ever done. 1 may stay in
alcoholism treatment and drug addiction treat
ment. or some other aspect of social service.
Domestic violence
I have an interest in that,
in w om en's health. I’m not sure. We ll see what
happens, as the little dots connect some
m ore."
•
C L A R I C E
JOHNSTON
D.
M .
D.
DENTISTRY
for adults and children
• Treatment explained and
discussed
• Weekdays, Evenings and
Saturdays
• Flexible payment plans
• Nitrous oxide available
• New patients welcome
233-3622
230 N.E. 20th
(Three blocks north of Burnside)
Just Out • 13 • December. I9H7