He Was the Mayor of Newcomerville – Deandre M.

About This Speaker Tape

Hope and Serenity Group - 2012

A poor black child from Watts DeAndre M. grew up watching his mother mix 'son of a bitch' punch—Hawaiian punch and Spaniada wine—to make alcohol look like a party. By 24 he was living on Skid Row stealing his brother's clothes to fund a drink. He describes the mental obsession as a 900-pound gorilla that doesn't let go until it's done. After landing in Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center he found a solution in the Big Book rejecting 'feeling-based' recovery for a rigorous action-oriented approach. He warns against the 'spectator sport' of meetings and the trap of 'Old Timerville,' where sobriety becomes a gated community of meditation and ego. For DeAndre M. recovery is found in the grit of service—cleaning bathrooms making coffee and the humility of eating spaghetti at the house of people he had previously disrespected.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction and shout-out to Cliff.
• 2:30 Childhood in Watts and the 'son of a bitch' punch.
• 5:15 Living on Skid Row and the '900-pound gorilla' metaphor.
• 8:40 Warm Springs Rehab and the importance of the Big Book over 'feelings'.
• 12:10 The 'spectator sport' of AA and the danger of being a 'satisfied customer'.
• 16:30 Discussion on Step 2 and the 'hopelessness and futility' of Step 1.
• 21:00 The 'Old Timerville' gated community and the trap of ego in long-term sobriety.
• 25:40 Laughter: The 'two scooper' coffee debate.
• 28:10 The metaphor of Noah's Ark and the necessity of the program.