An alcholic never forgets where home is.
Now I'm going to assume from the title y'all have no clue was this could possibly be about but as you read further on, you'll understand why my uncle penguin is the reason I named it exactly this. Anyways the topic today is DRUMROLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! Substance and Alcohol abuse in the Caribbean and POC community. You know that "drunk uncle'' everyone has yeahh that shouldn't be normal and unfortunately it is all too much.
Firstly, let’s talk about alcohol abuse and why it’s not worth it. The long-term effects of over time alcohol consumption can lead to the development of chronic diseases and serious problems including High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum. Besides the serious health issue’s long time alcoholism can lead to psychosis and interfere with your personal relationships. It’s not worth it. It hasn’t been worth…and it’ll never be worth it.
Now let’s talk about the title, so once upon a time nah im just joking. You guys all know i was born in D.R and i stayed there till i was 6 so i still have a lot of vivid memories and this is one i will never forget. I was around 4 years old when this happened, I believe and i had this uncle pingüino (penguin) and he was my drunk uncle. Now my uncle was a sweetheart even while he was intoxicated, he would take the shirt off his back for family if they needed and i always admired that even at a young age. So one day my family’s in the living room just talking and i’m being nosey basically comiendo boca and they were talking about my uncle pingüino and his alcoholism in that moments my aunt made a joke saying “One thing about pingüino he might forget his name while intoxicated but he won’t forget how to get home” everyone laughs damn even i laughed i was oblivious and young now i know it’s not funny to laugh at someone in that state but my aunt did eat that lil one joke up anyways my mom laughs and says “An alcoholic never forgets where home is, i wonder why that is”. Now whether you believe me or not that moment that joke the question my mom made stayed in the back of my head and now i ask myself why is that and why is it that this man’s alcoholism being taken as a joke and not raising concerns?
The truth is Alcoholism in the Caribbean and in The POC community is a huge epidemic that we don’t address enough nor efficiently. We include alcohol into anything and everything from funerals to kid’s birthdays. im not saying we can’t enjoy a lil sip but there is a time/place to be drunk and unhinged being around children isn’t one of them, and from the look of how yellow some of your eyes be looking I suggest you start putting the bottle down. I don’t know how your fyp looks like on tiktok or on instagram but have you seen those cooking videos and they put HENNESSY IN ALL THEIR DISHES seek help genuinely I’m praying for you. Another problem is the lack of mental health awareness and support within the communities don’t help with the substance abuse and alcohol addiction, our people don’t have enough safe spaces to reach out and we need to start creating them. Even those happy friends that you see all the time yeah check in on them just as much as you would your depressed friend. anyways on the bottom i will be attaching some informational articles on alcohol abuse and substance abuse and a link if you need to reach out:))
Once again con mucho amor, Ediliana De La Cruz Perez