Stories From a Self-Help Therapeutic Community - Sleeping With a Grand Dragon
Written by Andre James
Instructions for Sleeping With a Grand Dragon - An interview with Buddy Jones
Written by Andre James
As a member of the Synanon community and one of the only African American non-addict adult males, I was hired as a black role model for recovering addicts. Initially hired to work for the school, I played the role of the father figure for an expanding, and contracting enrollment from 1969 to 1988.
When my wife and I joined the Synanon community in 1969, we enrolled my two sons and a daughter into the communal full time boarding school. With interracial marriage just legalized in a 1967 Supreme Court Decision, we wanted our kids of mixed-race, born during the social strife of the 60’s, to have a good life. I was committed to raising our kids in an environment devoid of racism, where they would be totally accepted. As an unofficial member of the school staff for 19 years, parenting mistakes included, I am so proud today of my kids, my extended family and how we achieved our goal.
As you might imagine, raising children in the midst of the first self-help therapeutic community required 24-hour surveillance of our school facility. Although parents lived in separate quarters, we always had a parent on point to check on the youngsters. In addition we employed a night watchman (usually a recovering addict with a year of rehab experience), assigned to monitor the property. This night watchman reported to the parent-on-duty who was assigned each night. Simple Instructions: Contact the parent when a child needs assistance. I became one of the parents who was frequently on-call.
My favorite Night Watchman was a crusty old guy named Zack. He had the charm of a southern gentleman, always demonstrating the most stereotypical mannerism. You could always hear him begin with, “I feel right at home here.” Or “Your mama must have raised you right.” Or, “Y’’all sit down so I can tell you a story.”
But most infamous, his claim that he was a defrocked Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. He said he was sent to Synanon by the Klan to avoid his own lynching! It seems that his bout with drug addiction led him to stealing money from their coffers. According to Zack, the Klan had a zero-tolerance policy for drug use and stealing.
During his first year in recovery he worked on our maintenance crew, picking up the garbage. One day I noticed several of the kids following him on his route. As his following grew, he became known as the unofficial Pied Piper of garbage disposal.
Zack had a way with the kids. Over time he became fast friends with many of them.
At some point Zack requested assignment to the Night Watchman job. Now in my view, when you hire a former KKK member as your night person, you do it very carefully. I reluctantly ok’d this new hire. But as you might imagine, my new job was Night Watchman of the Knight Watchman.
I spent many nights with Zack. Although I was concerned, the kids liked him. They trusted him and had no interest in his past affiliations. During his first few months, when the kids wanted assistance in scaring away a boogeyman, rereading of a bedtime book or assistance with making a bathroom visit, they asked for me. But in a very short time, they began to ask for Zack. Zack responded to their needs. He would, even on off-days, make at least one night round to check on the kids.
Zack and Johnnie. There is one particular story about Zack that makes me smile, even today. Although we created the school for children of the residents, there were some interesting exceptions in the early days. Dyla was one of the managers of our house in Puerto Rico. During her stay she came across a ten-year old street urchin named Johnnie. For Dyla, it was a mother’s love at first site. Not to be taken lightly, Dyla managed to convince management to move this kid into Synanon, fly him to Santa Monica and enroll him in our school.
For as long as he could remember, Johnnie had lived on the streets of San Juan, never sleeping in a real bed. So, you can imagine why almost every evening we found him wide awake, wandering around the school. And as you might expect by now, only two people could handle Johnnie. Buddy and Zack. I must admit that it was Zack who first earned Johnnie’s trust. I would stop by after work and find Johnnie falling asleep in Zack’s watchman station. Once asleep, Zack would carry him to bed. Eventually Johnnie learned to fall asleep in his own bed.
It took some time for the three of us to get acquainted. But we worked at moving past our prejudices and stereotypes. And eventually this odd, unexpected trio, became fast friends.
There are two lessons I took from this experience that have informed what I do today when conducting African Drum Lessons:
#1 If the kids and the elders are happy and playing together, having a good time, I am on the right path.
#2. Find out what the kids think about the new guy. Remember, the kids discovered Zack before me.
I don’t know how things turned out for Zack or Johnnie. But, the memory of how a black liberal activist, an old white former Klansman and a Puerto Rican street kid went from a wild distrust of each other to friends, is an unforgettable gift.
A story from the life of Buddy Jones
Buddy Jones and Andre James - Preparing for the Livermore Marathon in the spring of 1974
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