Ray charles brother george robinson

Running head: ADDICTED: THE RAY CHARLES STORY 1

RAY CHARLES ESSAY 2

Addicted: The Ray Charles Story

Kiara Ward

RHAB 4075.002

Dr. Kerin Groves

22 November 2019

One of music's unsurpassed legends, the late Ray Charles, struggled with heroin and marijuana addiction since the age of 16, which became a dependence that influenced his life more than losing his eyesight ever could. Formally known as Ray Charles Robinson, he immediately faced genuine difficulties throughout his entire life, starting with being born and raised as a little black boy in the segregated south of the 1930s, specifically Albany, Georgia. His first traumatic experience was witnessing the sudden drowning death of his younger brother, George Robinson and the next being the loss of his visual perception at the age of 7 as a result of glaucoma, and finally, the loss of his mother. He started applying his efficiency toward developing his other 4 senses through tasks that eventually gave him the ability to function as any other healthy human being. Some questioned his blindness as he grew because of how independent he was. His drive to be this way started with his mother, she once said to Robinson, “Promise me you’ll never let nobody turn you into no cripple, you won’t become no charity case, and you’ll stand on your own two feet” (Hackford & Benjamin, Baldwin, 2004). At ten years old, Robinson was sent off to the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, located in Florida, where he learned to read braille and further his education like his mother wanted him too. Sadly, his mother passed away when Robinson was 14 years old and was then raised by extended family. Comment by Ward, Kiara: Latent addictionThis para could summarize the movies

Charles began his musical journey beginning with learning how to play the piano at a nearby store where he lived and where he built his melodic abilities, leading to his musical genius just months before his eyesight began to deplete at the age of 5. He joined nearby groups as a young adult where he had his first encounter with drugs. It all started when he began performing in clubs and juke joints with a manager who would frequently use marijuana. This same club manager gave him marijuana one night to help calm his nerves the night of his very first performance, which became his first experience with a form of drug addiction. Marijuana then traversed to heroin once Robinson he joined another musical group for Lucky Millinder who had existing heroin addicts in his band. Robinson described him wanting to try the drug for the first time by “wanting a little taste” (Hackford et. al. 2004). He conjured up this feeling of wanting to try a new drug as a result of the loss of his mother and brother which continuously haunted him in addition to him having a difficult time fitting in with the other musicians. Robison felt as if his brother’s death was his fault because he did nothing to help his brother survive during the act of his drowning, but Robinson was unaware of what was actually going on at the time since he was fairly young at the time. This was often a scene that repeatedly replayed in Robinson’s head because it was one of the last few things he could actually see with his own eyes. His blindness is what played a key factor in why his new co-workers refrained from getting to know him and forming a personal relationship with him outside of work. They would often say to one another that they “didn’t want to babysit no blind man” (Hackford et. al., 2004). His loneliness and guilt played a major role as to why he became so dependent on heroin as quickly as he did because he would only remember the good things in his life while he was under the influence. This is formally known as a coping mechanism which is very common when forming an addiction (Kuhn, Swartzwelder, Wilson, p. 338, 2014).

In the Buzzed book written by 3 PhD authors who studied addiction, defines addiction as “the repetitive, compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences to the user” (Kuhn, et. al., p. 327, 2014). Robinson met his first wife Della Beatrice Howards in 1954 and got married just a year later. Robinson was extremely in love with “Bea”, as he would call her, but he hid his heroin addiction from her until she found it while “getting his shaving kit” (Hackford et. al., 2004) which actually held all of his utensils for administering the drug. At the time, Bea was pregnant with their first child Ray Charles Robinson Junior. Despite Bea wanting him to quit his habit for their child, Ray Robinson continued to use the drug despite what the love-of-his-life wanted.

Ray Robison became what is commonly known today as a "functioning addict" which is someone who can function as a “normal” human being, despite having a substance dependency. His career took off shortly after signing to Atlantic Records which heightened his career fairly quickly, but he continued his heroin abuse which later became very noticeable. After leaving Atlantic Records for a better contract, he had his first public encounter with the police shortly after getting high off of heroin in an Indiana hotel. He was charged for the possession of his beloved heroin but luckily the case was dismissed due to the officers not having a proper search warrant to legally search and arrest Robinson, but this incident did not hinder his heroin or marijuana use at all. This may have been a result from Robinson continuing to progress as a musician. He practically seen no problem with his abuse because of this reason, but his wife Bea did. Robinson missed a majority of his children’s childhood due to his addiction and his musical career which often upset Bea who couldn’t understand someone who could love a drug more than his entire family (Hankfork et. al., 2004).

Robinson was arrested once again upon arrival into the United States after being on tour for quite a while. This time, he was finally determined kick his heroin addiction cold turkey after Bea threatened to leave him by checking himself into the St. Francis Rehabilitation Clinic in Lynwood, Ca for four days. During this time, he experienced typical opiate withdrawal symptoms such as chills, hard of breathing, extreme chills, sweating, and vomiting, coupled with hallucinations from his childhood At this time, Ray Robinson had suffered from addiction for almost two decades before deciding to quit his addiction which is a common cycle seen in opiate addicts (Kuhn, et. al., p. 227, 2014). His persistence throughout his stay at St. Francis granted him the opportunity to postpone his initial verdict of a five-year sentence in jail for four years on probation and a fine.

In the midst of his final days in his rehabilitation program, Robinson found peace with his childhood miseries after having a spiritual conversation with his mother and brother. They reassured him that Georges death was not his fault and that he did cripple himself by becoming so dependent on heroin to live through his traumatic childhood experiences. Since then, Ray Robinson vowed to never use the drug again and that’s exactly what he did.

Ultimately, Ray Robinson’s death resulted from liver failure and hepatitis C due to his long-sustained drug abuse. The liver is the organ responsible of breaking down substances that are ingested for nutrients and source of vitamins, so damaging the liver could be very harmless to one’s health and well-being. Drugs and alcohol play a factor in the failure of the liver properly functioning due to its chemical properties being deemed as toxic to the body since there are no nutritional elements included in neither substance.

Ray Charles Robinson’s truth about his addiction closely resembles the principles of the psycho-dynamic model defined by the Australian Government Department of Health. This theory states that a person who had experienced traumatic things as a child, were more likely to use drugs as an unconscious coping mechanism as an adult. This can be supported by the constant reminders of George’s death he had experienced multiple times while doing simple tasks, like catching himself after falling down, especially when he was sober. He would also consistently see his mother during times when he felt down about the things currently going on in his life, but he would always think about the good things he endured during his childhood while being under the influence of heroin. He would reflect on the days he learned how to play the piano, how much fun George and he had, and other things that he could remember seeing for himself.

Another theory that could be linked to Ray Robinson’s addiction is the biology of desire theory presented by Dr. Marc Lewis. Its principles are based on the consideration that our neural pleasure circuits hold the sole responsibility of how and or why someone forms an addiction (2015). He explains that everyone who has a brain has the possibility to form an addiction whether its harmless or extremely harmful. Pleasure circuits can be described as a neurological brain circuits that triggers your brain to crave a particular substance that has previously given a person the feeling pleasure while physically doing something, such as eating a muffin or administering a substance to yourself. For this reason, Dr. Lewis’ new way of defining addiction emphasizes that the past models and theories were all based off of inefficient research due to the lack of understanding addiction and how the brain functioned, since it is the most complex organ in the body.

Overall, Ray Charles Robinson had an understandable reason behind his heroin and marijuana addictions due to the level of trauma caused by his childhood and how it affected him mentally, but he still used the drug despite negative consequences to his health and his loved ones. Although Robinson did not pass due to an overdose, his death resulted in the deterioration of vital organs as a result of his dependency. He once mentioned that he would have never abused drugs for as long as he did, had he known that it would take such a huge toll on his body (Williams, 2013).

Works Cited

Australian Department of Health. (2004). Models that help us understand AOD use in society. Retrieved from: https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/drugtreat-pubs-front5-wk-toc~drugtreat-pubs-front5-wk-secb~drugtreat-pubs-front5-wk-secb-3~drugtreat-pubs-front5-wk-secb-3-4

Hackford, Taylore., Benjamin, S., Baldwin, H., Baldwin, K. (2004). Ray [Motion picture]. Retrieved from: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0TfFG8nPOZ1bU92bVpwaldVMUU/preview

Kuhn, C., Swartzwelder, S., Wilson, W. (2014). Buzzed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Paikin, S. (Producer, Director). (2015). Marc Lewis: The Biology of Desire [Motion picture]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRTL88ZMPBA