Issa Ibrahim: Person of the Week

Issa Ibrahim is a visual artist, author, musician and filmmaker. He hopes his story of resilience and survival will inspire greater compassion and a deeper understanding of our relationship to the gift and curse of mental illness, drug abuse, art, and the art of living.

https://issaibrahim.net

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?           

A. Marijuana was my drug of choice. It was normalized and encouraged in the jazz/artsy/Bohemian household I came from. Everyone who came over smoked. It was a constant pot party. I didn’t realize I had a predisposition for addiction and psychosis. It’s been a wild ride. I’ve got over a decade clean time now. I stopped just as it became legal in my state … ironic.

Q. Where are you from and where do you reside now?

A. I was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens, New York. During the 50s and 60s it was a haven for Black entertainers to buy a house and raise their children in some degree of suburban sanity. Of course, they all smoked marijuana in abundance so naturally things went wrong. I am but a cautionary tale.

Q. What is one word you would use to describe yourself?       

A. Resilient.

Q. Describe how you came to your “rock bottom” point.         

A. Waking up in a psychiatric center the morning after I inadvertently took my mother’s life during a drug-induced psychosis. I realized what I did and immediately confessed to a social worker, giving her my address and begging her to check on my mom. So began my journey.

Q. How do you measure success?  

A. By who’s life you touch, or maybe even change, in a positive way.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?                 

A. Racism.

Q. If you had an extra million dollars, which charity would you donate it to?     

A. Mental health and homelessness outreach.

Q. Who has been the biggest influence throughout your life?

A. God, as filtered through my mom’s voice and presence, which I speak to constantly throughout the day, every day.

Q. Who made you feel seen growing up?     

A. My mom. I would not be the artist I am today without her.

Q. What do you love most about living sober?

A. The clarity. Being as sharp as one can be, and the keenness of the senses. Experiencing life as it is and being okay with it.

Q. What’s your concept of a Higher Power?

A. The funniest, most wonderfully supportive teacher.

Q. What is your Astrological sign?  

A. Gemini.

Q. What book(s) have you read more than once?      

A. Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Q. Which film have you watched the most?

A. A Hard Day’s Night.

Q. Who is your favorite film director?            

A. John Carpenter.

Q. Who is your favorite performer, living or dead?    

A. Paul McCartney.

Q. Who are your heroes in real life?               

A. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, Jesus.

Q. What is your favorite country?  

A. Holland.

Q. What is the best concert/performance/play you’ve ever attended?                 

A. British new wave group XTC at the Palladium in NYC, 1981. They quit touring the following year and had a long career making peerless pop records, which I learned a lot from as a budding songwriter/musician/producer.

Q. What do you value most in a friendship?

A. Kindness.

Q. What is your biggest fear?           

A. Going to hell.

Q. What is the greatest risk you’ve ever taken?          

A. Spending several thousand dollars on an independent psychiatrist to evaluate me and testify in court to help in the case I mounted to get released from the mental hospital.

Q. Which living person do you most despise?              

A. Donald Trump.

Q. What do you love most about yourself? 

A. I tend to be very patient and generous with my time, especially with strangers. I realized radiating love heals and fortifies the receiver and the giver.

Q. When did you realize you were a grown-up?          

A. After about 10 years in the mental hospital, knowing my family had abandoned me and I was truly all alone in the world and it was up to me to get out of that place.

Q. How important are your pets to you?      

A. My two cats, Skitzy and Cray Cray, are the ambassadors to our apartment and reminders to be kind and patient and selfless.