January 6, 2022
By Khadi A. Oluwatoyin
At the end of 2020, Tropicana launched a campaign featuring Molly Sims (American fashion model and actress), Jerry O’Connell (American actor), and Gabrielle Union (American actress). The campaign encouraged parents to cope with holiday stress by drinking alcohol (mimosas) in secret. Sims, O’Connell, and Union participated in the campaign by starring in their own, separate individual commercial. All three have children.
The campaign was without a doubt distasteful. Drinking is not the solution for overcoming stress or parenting. Moreover, drinking in secret prevents people struggling with substance abuse or addiction from getting the resources and support they need.
The campaign sent the online recovery community into an uproar, and rightfully so. However, I couldn’t help but notice that the community singled out Gabrielle Union, a Black woman, and ignored Molly Sims and Jerry O’Connell’s participation in the campaign, both of who are White.
While I wanted to address Gabrielle Union’s ad and the message I believe it sent to Black women and caregivers (who are generally overworked and underpaid and spend little to no time practicing self-care or nurturing their mental health), I couldn’t. I was scared that if I said anything, White people would use the opportunity to be racist. Union’s comment sections on Instagram were filled with nasty and childish comments from White women in the online recovery community. Despite Union being transparent about her struggles with mental health, infertility, and her relationship with wine, they decided to use this teachable moment as her villain origin story. I believe Union’s skin color and the “strong Black woman” narrative played a role in their actions.
While Gabrielle Union isn’t the whipping boy for corporations pushing the alcohol industry, her participation in the Tropicanna campaign made me think about the role Black public figures play in the sustainability and longevity of the Black community.
Black public figures owe some level of care and responsibility to the Black collective when they intentionally target the community to promote their craft and build their fanbase.
Earlier this year, Halle Berry posted an image on her Instagram and Twitter account with the caption, “I hate when people say you don’t need alcohol to have fun! You don’t need running shoes to run but it FUCKING helps”. I was shocked and a bit appalled by these words.
First, the analogy between running shoes and alcohol is weak. Many doctors believe that running shoes are necessary for running as they are the only protective equipment runners have to safeguard themselves from injury. While running shoes protect runners from injuries, alcohol promotes them. The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma reports that alcohol is a significant risk factor for injuries. Also, unlike alcohol, running shoes are not responsible for (more than) 95,000 deaths in the United States per year.
Secondly, Halle Berry recently marketed her new film, Bruised, in Black spaces (I believe to attract Black people, especially Black girls and women).
Bruised is about a former Black mixed martial arts woman named Jackie Justice who struggles with reentering the sport and mothering her estranged son. In an interview about the film, Halle Berry told National Public Radio that “the main character was [originaly] a 21-year-old white Irish Catholic woman” and that she reimaged Justice to a “middle-aged Black woman […] to show a different world, [to] have a different perspective”. A Black woman perspective. “We’ve really never seen that either. So those were the reasons why I really gravitated towards this story”, Berry told the interviewer.
To accompany the film, Halle Berry (along with rap star Cardi B) created an all-women trap and rap-filled soundtrack that featured popular Black women artists like Young M.A, Latto, and Rapsody. The film and soundtrack were heavily promoted on Black millennial blogs like The Shaderoom and The Neighborhood Talk and were a trending topic on Black Twitter – a space on Twitter where Berry recently increased her presence.
Halle Berry’s caption left me feeling a bit bruised. Considering her recent marketing strategy, Berry must be aware of the influence she has in the Black community, especially among Black girls and women. So during a time when alcohol consumption is dangerously high and Black people receive the lowest level of prevention and rehabilitation care why would she say such a thing?
To be transparent, Halle Berry’s caption is a quote. I am not sure who created it, but it wasn’t Berry. Still, it is extremely irresponsible for anyone, let alone a public figure who appeals to the Black collective, to advocate such a stance. The statement promotes alcohol abuse, and our community is already grappling with it.
Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States, and the spread of the coronavirus is adding a new set of challenges.
Black Americans drink less than other demographics; however, we are more likely to suffer from legal and health related consequences. Death from conditions like cirrhosis is 1.27 times more common in Black American drinkers than in non-Black American drinkers, and there is a 10% higher rate of death from alcohol abuse in our community.
Hypertension, liver disease, oral cancer, major depression, and stroke from alcohol abuse are other common consequences of increased drinking and alcohol abuse.
Taking into consideration the distrust between the medical field and the Black community, I believe the aforementioned statistics are much higher than we know. Due to stigma, racism, and past harm, Black Americans are less likely to admit they have a problem with alcohol and get help – further complicating what we think we already know about substance abuse and addiction.
The “strong Black woman” narrative sometimes prevents Black girls and women from understanding when we have lost control of our relationship with alcohol. It took me years to recognize that I was experiencing an addiction. I have no family history of it. I am smart. I am hardworking, and I didn’t fit the t.v. narrative of what a person in addiction looks like (unattractive, homeless, unemployable, etc.).
The truth is I was abusing alcohol long before I knew it was even possible for me to abuse alcohol. Factors like family history and social stressors can create a higher predeposition for dependency. However, these factors are not limited or definite. The truth is the more we drink, the more likely we are to develop a drinking problem. Our tolerance increases over time, and we consume more and more to feel the desired effects. That is just the nature of alcohol.
The fact that I maintained a job and strenuous course load while in addiction does not take away from the fact that I was experiencing an addiction. Society will have you believe that as long as you are operational and functional, your relationship with alcohol is appropriate – no matter how much you are drinking. It doesn’t care about your health or overall wellbeing. As long as you are producing and working, you can continue to drink as much as you want.
My primary issue with Halle Berry’s caption is that it deterred Black women from not drinking on one of the most dangerous holidays of the year, New Year’s Eve. One Twitter user, a Black woman from South Africa (where addiction is incredibly high), retweeted Berry’s post and said, “I was so planning on not drinking today but after seeing this tweet I have no choice but to activate fuck it mode”. Another user said, “Just when I was contemplating giving up alcohol this year. We’ll try next year.” I redacted their usernames for obvious reasons but the tweets are below.
To this day, as I sit in my studio apartment and write this piece, I have no idea why Halle Berry thought that her caption was appropriate. I am not suggesting that she not drink or post pictures of alcohol. I am suggesting that she consider the wellbeing and wellness of her most obvious fan base, Black girls and women, and not spew such dangerous rhetorics.
If a Black woman of Halle Berry’s wealth and status were to develop an addiction today, she would be able to afford the best rehabilitative services. Public figures in addiction are known to have sober companions (people who offer around-the-clock sober support). This is not the reality for many of us. Day in and day out I hear horror stories from Black girls and women about their experiences in greedy, low-quality, culturally incompetent rehabilitation facilities. The majority of Black people cannot afford to develop an addiction. Literally.
Addiction is a communal issue, not just a personal one.
Sadly, many of us are brainwashed to believe that Black people lack personal responsibility and accountability. Despite the well-known entrenched societal factors, the harsh realities of the Black community are often reduced to individual efforts.
Black people should take better care of their health and wellbeing. Black parents should talk to their Black children about healthy coping mechanisms and the dangers of alcohol and other substances. However, these actions do not compensate for the unbearable presence of liquor stores in our communities or the limited access to affordable, quality healthcare and nutritious foods in Black neighborhoods.
Substance abuse is a communal matter, not just a personal one. Substance abuse impacts how we interact with one another. It impacts our violence, poverty, and mortality rates. Substance abuse affects our ability to live fulfilling lives and maintain and sustain our stores, parks, schools, libraries, and grocery stores.
Substance abuse affects families! Relationships between children, spouses, relatives, friends, and co-workers are susceptible to deteriorate when one or more parties are using and or abusing substances. Substance abuse can lead to family breakdowns, divorces, and childhood abuse.
We preach so much about Black unity, but I am convinced that many of us have no intention of supporting each other unless it involves elitism, consumerism, or capitalism.
In November of last year, singers Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills took the stage in a Verzuz event. Verzuz is an Instagram series created by music producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz that invites two musicians to highlight their discographies in two 10-song rounds during a three-hour session. Generally, Verzuz has a battle vibe to it; however, Chaka Khan and Stephanie Mills are legends, and the night was more of a celebration of their contributions to the culture.
By the end of the event, Chaka Khan was trending on Twitter. Many believed that she was drunk, high, or both. Khan has been transparent about her struggle with substance abuse in the past, so while Khan was trending, I couldn’t help but side-eye the folks behind Verzuz and Ciroc – the official liquor sponsor for Verzuz.
I understand that the event needed to generate a profit. However, I don’t understand why alcohol was provided, and drinking was encouraged when the celebrant is a legendary musician with a known history of substance abuse. Is Khan’s health and wellness not important enough to nourish, guard and protect? Is her value limited to just music, awards, and accolades?
Chaka Khan is not the only guest who has struggled with substance abuse and participated in a Verzuz event. In July 2021, Bobby Brown graced the stage with Keith Sweat. Brown, who has been sober since 2013, performed well, but it was difficult for me to watch him surrounded by multiple Ciroc bottles.
Why is it that the love and care we extend to one another, public figure or not, solely dependant on what we produce and not on other achievements like overcoming substance abuse? Verzuz should have celebrated Chaka Khan and Bobby Brown’s musical accomplishments in a safe environment that supported their sobriety. It’s the bare minimum.
It is important that we treat each other with care, compassion, and respect. We must treat substance abuse and other issues regarding mental health as an opportunity to come together, listen and create solutions without guilt, shame, and judgment. We must firmly stand in each other’s shoes and try to understand each other’s stories even when we have not experienced them ourselves. We must support each other in all matters of life. That is a brazen display of Black unity.
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use in the United States. Retrieved on January 4th, 2021 at https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/features/excessive-alcohol-deaths.html.
Alcohol Rehab Guide. (2021). African-Americans And Alcohol. Retrieved on January 4th, 2021 at https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/resources/african-americans-alcohol/.
Feet First Clinic. (2021). How Important Are Running Shoes? Retrieved on January 4th, 2021 at https://feetfirstclinic.com/blog/importance-of-running-shoes/.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Alcohol Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application. Retrieved on January 4th, 2021 at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DACH_ARDI/Default/Default.aspx.
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