We look at history—why? Isn’t this a contemporary, or even future gazing look at recovery and addiction? Well yes and yes. Yuval Noah Harari, PhD author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind says, “History is not the study of past; history is the study of change; it’s not about remembering the past; it’s about liberating ourselves from it.”

Episode 75 of Rebellion Dogs Radio (and this blog) explores three calls to action by Alcoholics Anonymous that need our attention in 2024:

1. New stories of AA diversity today are needed to update the 48-year-old Do You Think You’re Different? Let’s get our freak on; if you ever felt you can’t or won’t blend into AA, we want you to help demonstrate what we mean by, “We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful.”
2. About our primary literate in AA—The Big Book + 12 & 12: rewrite it? Or reify it? Grappling with a need to adapt to changing times, being sensitive to change-resistant tendencies, the trustees’ Literature Committee is polling members, looking for their marching orders: preserve what’s written; or breathe fresh life into last millennium’s AA message and widen our gateway? Directly from AA’s General Service Office, we have these seven questions for you.
3. The 2022, much anticipated, AA membership survey is posted with current data on AA for all to see; counselors, healthcare and criminal court diversion professional who refer people to AA, the general public and last but not least AA members to show how we are doing, from our home groups to the USA/Canada General Service Conference at reaching all those who want or need AA to be available, equitably, and effectively. Our responsibility declaration nudges us to look at this new info, see who were are serving, who we may be failing and confront how, whenever, wherever, someone reaches out, we want the hand of AA always to be there (for everyone regardless of age, race, gender, creed, cultural touchstones). There’s information for the first time about USA/Canada AA’s use of online meetings and our preferences. It’s like those pioneering driving blind days all over again.

DIVERSITY:  What makes you different?

If you are someone in recovery and you were helped by peer-to-peer, maybe AA specifically, did you immediately feel at home at your first meeting, or did you feel different that the group you were exposed to? If you felt or feel different, we have a humble writing assignment for you as our first topic.

The  AA Literature desk wants your story, 500—800 words. DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DIFFERENT? is the 48-year-old pamphlet #13 that tipped the scale in my own should-I-stay or should-I-go sobriety. I found people (stories) spoken in my language for the first time in AA. If you do not know this collection of AA stories, click the link to read. Thirteen essays of people who felt marginalized, a teenager, atheist, clergy, high bottom, low bottom, movie star, person of color, LGBTQIA+, share the barriers and bridges navigated to find a rightful seat in AA. How timely to hear from a 15-year-old when I was a teenage alcoholic. I was happy to read what Ed the AA atheist and Jan the AA agnostic had to say about sobriety without an anthropomorphic personal higher power. 

It's a great recovery tool; and it’s old. Today’s teenager doesn’t have any use for 1970s teenage angst; it could be unrelatable, leaving gender identification, pronouns et al alone for now—yes we need to attend to contemporary, sensitive, inclusive language, but—it all starts with a story, one person in recovery talking to another with alcohol use disorder. This pamphlet/leaflet needs to be updated to reflect the diversity of AA in the third decade of the 21^st century. 

So if you, or someone you know, is not the white male, hetero-normative middle-class majority that the membership survey, which we will talk about shortly, reveals is the best served demographic by AA today, then write your story. Maybe you feel different-light, not marginalized enough; I don’t know if you are or are not, either but please consider throwing your hat in the ring by adding your story to the pile. They will only pick a few from many but they can only choose from the stories provided. This could be a literature initiative that helps many—it helped me. 

https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/Call%20for%20Story_Pamphlet%20DYTYAD%20EN.pdf

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/5a77c27d179d4856b32eed86b01e3426

Our current DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DIFFERENT? pamphlet

So it was written: Are the writings of Bill Wilson sacred to AA? AA’s General Service Conference is currently seeking each of our opinions. Should we—shouldn’t we? 

If you want to get an AA area assembly’s member’s remaining hairs on fire, bring up changing the words in the Big Book 164 pages. Beyond the apathetic majority in the middle of AA, my friend Bob K says, “There are those who want us to go back to 1939 and those who think we are already stuck there.” I get it; I have heard the concern and pleas from both camps. I suggest there is a silent majority; the apathetic middle of the road whose sobriety isn’t and wasn’t informed by book-learning in AA. Using myself as an example, the words of Bill Wilson were neither a comfort nor a barrier because I learned AA from the fellowship, one AA member talking to another, one on one, from the podium or around the room in discussion, instructions and “by the book” was not my experience of having the AA message brought to me. The experience of others, trial and correction, the hope and connection and sense of belonging from living persons with substance use disorder, such as alcohol in the case of my AA attendance, this was what informed my recovery. I know others were brought in 12-step culture in by-the-book, instructional, orderly fashion. That’s great but many, like myself, aren’t emotionally attached to a book that either aided or frustrated our recovery. 

So what’s between the covers of the book next year will not likely change my life one way or another. Some of you, your identity, your story, is connected to being uplifting by, or marginalized as a result of, the words of AA literature. The “we must change or fade to obscurity” camp and the “we must preserve the integrity of the message and not water AA down” camp both love AA and want us to last forever. They just disagree on how to get there; they may be certain, or at least highly suspicious, that the other camp is delusional and dangerous. So be you directly affected by this issue or just a stakeholder as any AA member is, the people who serve the membership want their marching orders from us, as it should be in this chaordic[i], upside-down-service-structure fellowship.

Here are the questions from our Literature Committee and the answers I sent in. You show me yours, I'll show you mine; I will go first. But, please tell us what you think, and we will provide information on how to send your views to AA.

HOW SHOULD WE TREAT A.A. FOUNDERS’ WRITINGS

 SUGGESTED QUESTIONS  FOR DISCUSION

1.  Do you think that A.A. Founders would object to or embrace revisions to their writings? If yes, why? If not, why?

No           1953 GSC speech by Bill Wilson commending groups/members who altered the Steps as carrying on “the same pioneering process we had to go through ourselves,” and concluded about changing text, “If improvements are to come, who can say where they will come from?”

2.  Do you think the Founders’ writings are effective in reaching new members? If not, what measures do you think can be taken to resolve this issue?

AA has been stuck at 2 million members all century; we are keeping old-timers happy and not appealing to new people. This century, AA has shrunk in members everywhere but USA. Our primary literature is religious, dated, and irrelevant in the eyes of newcomers.

3.  What reasons would you consider for changing our Founders’ writings?

More has been revealed. A quinquennial revised “Doctors’ Opinion” replace the misogyny and add non-Abrahamic version of the Steps (Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, Secular).

4.  How do you feel about changing A.A. Founders’ writings to replace outdated references?

DO NOT REPLACE—preserve an original 164 for fundamentalists, but ALSO offer a contemporary basic text also. Update it every five years then we can re-visit the question in 20 years.

5.  What suggestions do you have for preserving the Founders’ writings, along with keeping pace with our current A.A. Society and its future?

One original AA text, go back to 1939, why not? One five-year cycling variation of the Big Book.  Grade 5 Math doesn’t change every five years, does it? But school boards update the language of their text books to keep pace with best teaching standards, trial-and-correction, cultural demographic shifts. “IF” AA’s books are basic texts, not a historical document for scholars, then we can follow other teaching/cultural trends.

6.  Should there be a special Conference process for approval of changes to our Founders’ writings?  (e.g., super, or qualified majority – 75%, and/or 2-year consideration process.)

You avoid this whole binary controversy with YES/AND instead of EITHER/OR. Keep the fundamentalists happy; encourage the freethinkers to stay in AA. 

7.  What additional ideas, thoughts or suggestions  can you share about changing or not changing the Founders’ writings?

As stated about changing or no change is not a very creative solution—add ideas, don’t divide members. 

If everyone dead before the turn of the century is a founder, modernize Came to Believe and Living Sober, too. Living Sober is the only defendable irreligious literature we have. Those 31 chapters could use a 21^st century attention to online meetings, pronouns, and more contemporary touchstones. Came to Believe could offer humanist, non-theistic essays along with Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist and other words for higher power besides a male, interfering singular god the Bill W believed in. That’s just so American-centric. Maybe that’s why groups are smaller and fewer outside of the USA.

So, above is one members suggestions. And if you care about AA messaging and if we should preserve, replace or add to our literature, please follow our lead: stop bitching and start typing. We need your input, too. Remember the seven-question link allows a word doc download and your answers must be mailed (snail-mail): 

Downloads: PDF letter from GSO + 7 questions 

WORD.docx of 7 Questions for you

Trustees’ Literature Committee, AA GSO

Box 459
Grand Central Station 

New York NY

USA - 10163

and/or: https://www.aa.org/contact-literature

AA's Triennial Survey (USA/Canada General Service Conference) 2022

This pamphlet is an initiative by the AA Public Information desk. In AA's effort to provide answers to the type of questions professionals (healthcare/human resources etc.) want to know about AA as well as the press or curious members of the general public, our membership survey answers many of their questions about what their clients/patients may find at a typical AA meeting. It’s demographics than answers questions of diversity of race, age, gender identification, length of time in recovery, the background of members, how people find out about AA, how many meetings we go to, how many of us have sponsors, etc. 

Also useful, is it helps us take inventory of how well we are helping others. How effective are we at reaching and resonating with people across the cultural divide as far as race/gender/age groups etc. are concerned?

Membership Survey 2022 is not AA Worldwide but includes a sample of members, groups and the Areas of the USA/Canada General Service Conference.  

More than 6,000 A.A. members were randomly selected and surveyed in 2022 by the General Service Office for the U.S. and Canada. The Membership Survey, which has been conducted periodically since 1968, provides a snapshot of the A.A. fellowship and its members. This survey is not a census. The survey results may be of interest to the professional community, the media, and the general public — anyone who wants to know more about A.A.

In January of 2023 I did a presentation for the Growing In Understanding group on the history of this  USA/Canada membership survey and in anticipation of the 2022 info being released – but wait there is more – I also shared the Great Britain 2020 data and looked at new questions they were asking members and what we could learn from them (LINK below for Rebellion Dogs Publishing YouTube page). 

In April the General Service got a report on the 2022 survey ahead of it being printed. Because this was the first triennial survey to ask about virtual (Zoom, Skype etc) meetings and because new groups have started with no brick-and-mortar physical location time was devoted to this topic. Here are some talking points from USA/Canada delegates:

Are they groups that transitioned from live to online/virtual? Do you know if they intend to stay in whatever their current format is?

• Some online groups were in-person meetings before the pandemic and have chosen to remain virtual

• Other groups decided to convert to a hybrid platform after the pandemic

• An in-person group transitioned online, half of the group wants to remain online while half of the group returns in-person

• Majority intending to stay virtual

• We have many that are not structured and are not interested in becoming part of General Service

• New groups being developed for the purpose of reaching more people outside the area

• A lot of new groups. Some that transitioned from in-person to either online only or Hybrid. They plan to continue this process.

• Our area is open to online groups

• Strong resistance to online area assemblies

• Some groups and meetings seem to want to meet without any connection to the district, Area and A.A. as a whole

• Seeing a substantial decline in online groups and online groups going dark as we move back to in-person groups • Some people with accessibility issues have opted to remain connected online as independent groups

• Some AA members seem to prefer to meet online, whether for convenience or safety or due to the difficulties of finding trusted servants

To the best of your knowledge, do online groups in your area have members from multiple districts, from outside of your Area or from other countries?                       Yes: 76.12%; No: 23.88%

• Members of the group include local members and other from around the world. The group is trying to figure out where they belong, where they should send their 7th Tradition contributions, etc.

• Most of them have members from all over the U.S. and in some cases, other countries. That is primarily due to them sharing meeting codes on social media.

• For the groups that have contacted us we encourage them to use the Traditions to guide the group conscience when making the decision on what district and Area to join 

By the time surveys were done in 2023 75% of members had attended virtual meetings online or by phone. What do members prefer?

19% like in-person and online equally, 79% prefer in-person, 2% prefer virtual.

DIVERSITY in AA

AA shows a 1.3% improvement in moving away from the Caucasian majority. For comparison, Narcotics Anonymous last surveyed their members in 2018 and show improved diversity and inclusion to AA.  This statistical lack of diversity which most of us would agree this is what we see in our meetings, does it make you wonder? What barriers, systemic discrimination and microaggression lurks in our meeting formats, messaging and culture? 

More context as to the extent of AA's diversity shortcomings, can be offered by more global record record keeping.

The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA USA) surveys alcohol (and other drugs) use disorder in the USA and reports that for people suffering from alcohol use disorder, indigenous/ Native Indian 11.2% of their population, Whites 7.8%, Black/African American 7.1%, Latino/Hispanic 7.1%, Asian 4.1%. People of color are less likely to complete addiction treatment than their white counterparts. 

As far as genders compare, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that 68% of males and 64% of females (of people 12 years old and over) consume alcohol but males make up most of the accidents, illness, injury, death and violence associated with drinking, consuming 3 x more the non-male drinkers. 19 liters a year for men, 6.5 liters/year for women. Women's drinking is on the rise, while males are in decline. Women are more susceptible to blackouts, liver disease, and cancers associated with the toxins in alcohol.

So, is AA racist? Are we sexist? Is this the cause of underrepresented people in AA?

Let me take on the question first. My home group, in Toronto Canada, as ethnically diverse as a major city comes, does not reflect the cultural tapestry within the the University that we are located in or in the larger community. Over ½ of or attendees identify as male, some weeks substantially so. Am I a racist; a misogynist? I don't like to see myself that way. But before I point a finger at AA as a whole, what about my inventory of my white-male privilege and what am I doing or bride the gap in my home group? Equity begins at home, our home group for instance.

People who are the target of discrimination have a different experience of society than the majority that does not. Pew Research in 2019 looked at America's views of racism and skin color informed reaction.  “Race relations in the U.S. are generally bad.” 58% of all adults agree. Whites: 56%, Blacks 71%. “The legacy of slavery affects the position of black people in Americana society today a great deal/fair amount.” Combined, 63%, 54% of Whites and 84% of Blacks. “Our country hasn't gone far enough in giving Blacks equal rights with Whites.” Agreement among Whites: 37%, Blacks, 78%. That is a very different experience of society based on what side of the privileged divide we live on. The overall average was 45%.

So, the racism or sexism that I do not face informs my experience of AA. The question is how can see more clearly? I do not consider myself a racist or misogynist. But being an ally, that's a verb, not a noun, what am I and what can I do in support of equality for all. 

From Harvard Business Review, Robert Livingston a good basis for educating ourselves + a good basis for a group inventory, How to Promote Racial Equity (2020). It starts with what we know: Denial is not a river in Egypt and you can't eliminate a problem until a sizable consensus believes there is racism and that it's a problem that will do harm if ignored or denied.  Studies reveal culprits and enablers in society, our workplace, and how could AA be immune, “57% of all Whites and 66% of working-class Whites consider discrimination against Whites to be as big a problem as discrimination against Blacks and other people of color. These beliefs are important, because they can undermine an organization’s efforts to address racism by weakening support for diversity policies.”

Race-neutral policies enable denial and maintain discrimination. A commitment to diversity is not evidence of the absence of discrimination. Muttering “always inclusive, never exclusive,” is a sweet refrain but it does nothing to eliminate discrimination in AA. AA, like what studies show rampant in other organizations also, already has equality policies and statements and diversity informed public service announcements AND our 2022 survey reveals that we have not made our rooms more welcoming to stay in for women or people of color. When people of color raise concern in AA they are met with hostility. “That's an outside issue,” is not what ‘outside issue’ means and we all know that; such a rebuttal is microaggression, maybe not so “micro.” 

The idea that racism is a deliberate action motivated by malice is another denial-wake up call from Harvard Business Review. Unconscious or unintended discrimination is still discrimination. “I did not know the gun was loaded,” shows lack of awareness; but that doesn't bring the victim back to life. 

Effort, not desire, we know that in AA and AA is a good example of putting in the effort to help those in need, so we can do this but taking inventory, honestly and thoroughly comes before the breakthrough.  We know AA is a happy place for white males--we are over represented here. So why aren't women, people of color and youth better represented? This isn't an impossible riddle. Not for us, we admit how and when we are wrong and and we make amends. What Harvard calls “problem awareness, and "root cause analysis” we call Step One and Step Four. this is the first of three sequential states: Condition. As our Safety in AA: Our Common Welfare recognizes:

Safety in AA: “Problems found in the world can also make their way into A.A. … racial discrimination, sexual orientation or gender intolerance. … these experiences can affect whether someone feels safe to return to the group.”   

The point is that recognizing the condition isn't the solution. Reading this every meeting will not end discrimination. Next is Concern. We need empathy (not sympathy). All of us have faced discrimination from the stigma of addiction, we need to listen and connect.  Here's an action Step. What if we asked that our local annual AA conference invite a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) panel each year to talk about their experience of discrimination in AA. The same could be done with gender in AA, a young people's or athiests panel. 

Once understood and then felt, Correction takes two efforts: Strategy and Sacrifice. “The real challenge for organizations is not figuring out ‘What can we do?’ but rather ‘Are we willing to do it?’” Pray for the willingness, exercise it, if we don't know, trial and correction, be committed, make a sacrifice. 

Is this critical, is this fair? I am asking what I am going to do; what I will ask my group to do. But each district and Area can do the same thing. As the saying goes, “If  you see something, say something.” I see that our membership survey tells us the truth; our Safety in AA is good work but we aren't there and I will not willfully turn away from our collective shortcomings; so I am saying something. 

Another improvement in the 2022 survey is that not only do we ask how long since your last drink, but also, how long have you been in recovery. Maybe that's a better measuring stick in a program that honors progress and not perfection. 

AA isn't the only pathway pursued by most members - AA is a part of recovery for most, not the one and only intervention. 60% of us received counseling or treatment before coming to AA and 8/10 said that was significant. After coming to AA 56% of us are in counseling/treatment or we have been; 9/10 of us say our recovery process beyond AA is significant. 

Out of ten members two have no sponsor and eight do; one has no home group and nine do join and belong to a group.

We have attributes we need/want from a meeting 

•  54% of us say we need a group with “Members like Me.”
• 29% need a group in a certain language
• 22% need accessible meetings
• 25% need additional characteristics. 

 There was a time when the average age of AA members was getting smaller as more young people came and stayed sober. We're getting older every survey this century and now 52 years old is our average member. 

Under 21: is down to 0.2%, 21-30s: 9%, our 30s: 16%, 40s: 20%, 50s: 25%, 60s: 19% and over 71 = 11%

I remember after I got sober the 1977 membership survey noted that under 30 years of age members doubled since the last survey. By 1980 one out of five members were under 30, 3% in our teens or twenties. 72% were under 50-years-old. We were much younger and growing - 35-40% were sober under a year and only 20-30% were sober 5 years or more.

AA as a whole is not sitting on their hands; they see what we see, and they are taking action. We share some Public Service Announcements, super short but super targeting: Young people talking to young people, talking about in AA you can find - just as we told them we need in a meeting - to see and hear people just like us. 

BTW, you can view on YOUTUBE the slide deck and audio from that meeting at the Rebellion Dogs page.

https://www.aa.org/membership-survey-2022

https://www.aa.org/past-surveys 

Thanks to those who serve AA as a whole. Be sure to answer GSO’s call for action to tell us all your story if you think you’re different. To get some idea about story length and feel, see the current DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DIFFERENT. 

And if you care about AA messaging and if we should preserve, replace or add to our literature, stop bitching and start typing. Remember the seven-question link allows a word doc download and your answers must be mailed (snail-mail) to: 

Our musical feature is Ellis with the new song “Forever.” Discover Ellis