Thelma Wright, as I Remember Her…
If you work in harm reduction in North Carolina, you stand on the shoulders of Thelma Wright. Sadly, Thelma recently passed away, leaving behind a legacy that is nothing but lifesaving.
Even before she started NC Harm Reduction, Thelma had created the Wright Focus Group, the first harm reduction program outside of the lone syringe service program in Asheville. She was moved to do so after seeing a friend die of AIDS. She forged a close friendship with Dave Purchase, whom she affectionately called "Dad," who was the first person to do syringe exchange in North America.
After I met her as a graduate student in 2005, I would drive to her house near Greensboro and we would spend many Friday evenings talking about drugs and disease prevention. She was always quick with a bite to eat, and friends and relatives would stop by throughout the evening, admiring her work. She taught me so much about drug use in North Carolina and the South.
After she formalized NC Harm Reduction Coalition, we applied for many grants together, both of us fumbling through a system we did not fully understand how to navigate. At that time funding for harm reduction work was largely limited to preventing sexual transmission of HIV. She knew there was more happening at the intersection with drug use, even if our data collection systems were biased against uncovering these associations. She countered the lack of data with vivid and credible stories, drawn from her close community outreach.
With her magnetic personality, she was able to bring the foremost harm reductionists to North Carolina to deliver trainings at a time when our movement was barely gathering steam. We traveled together all over the state doing these sessions. We went to drug treatment programs together, to see how they could be more respectful of the rights of people who use drugs. I recall sitting in the parking lot of one terrible program in Durham in her car and it was one of the only times she was ever speechless. Other times we would attend church services together to see if this or that pastor may be amenable to working with people who use drugs. At that time, we could count the number of harm reductionists in North Carolina on the fingers of one hand. We would gather once a month or so to commiserate and scheme, always surrounded by the best food. Thelma built community better than anyone I've ever met.
She would organize rallies in Raleigh to support syringe service programs, forming alliances with AIDS service organizations. The rallies were always packed, with busloads of community members. She paid for much of this travel herself. Thelma was proud to be a Black woman doing this work in the South. She kept the focus on those marginalized by radicalized drug policies because she saw the harm with her own eyes. She was years ahead of the rest of public health.
When she stepped down as executive director of NCHRC, she returned to school. She had already worked at the Newport factory and had doing motorcycle repairs. She kept learning, never took no for an answer. She did what needed to be done, regardless of the laws that marginalize and criminalize the people we serve. Her legacy cannot be forgotten. Citizens of our state are alive today because of her trailblazing work. And we owe a debt to her, and must honor her legacy as we go forward in protecting the lives of those around us.