BY LeAna Norman, Student Clinical psychology, fielding graduate university Black History Month is much more than a month that only has twenty-eight days, and that celebrates important Black figures that America picks and chooses to highlight. Black history is much deeper and more colorful than what is highlighted in textbooks and the media. More specifically, the Black being has been arguably credited as the inspiration for modern civilization. As a psychology doctoral student, I have gained a better understanding of the importance of mental health and the psychopathology of mental illnesses. So, when I hear or see influential Black figures of [...]

BY Sheila turner, Student Clinical psychology, fielding graduate university Dr. Alex L. Pieterse frames racism as “an intentional system of POWER built on social difference…DESIGNED to restrict opportunity, PROFIT on oppression and JUSTIFY its actions by the FALSE ideology of white superiority (emphasis Pieterse, Pieterse, 2020). With the racial incidences in the United States during the last year, despite their occurrence in the previous 400 years, there has been a particular interest in anti-Black racism. Specifically, non-people of color have decided to take on the banner of what it means to be anti-racist in a racist society. To be anti-racist means [...]

BY Brianna Jones-Downey, Student Clinical psychology, fielding graduate university Cicely Tyson (1924-2021), acclaimed as one of the most poised and influential figures in the Black community, had an illustrious film career is marked by the reinvention of black representation in the media. It is no wonder that Tyson was discovered by a photographer and became a fashion model before her career as an iconic TV and film actress. During an era when Black women were bombarded continuously with Eurocentric aesthetic measures, Tyson stepped into Ebony magazine, embracing her racial identity through her choice of hairstyles. Later, she garnered much success in [...]

BY Anthony f. Greene, PhD, Doctoral faculty Clinical psychology, fielding graduate university As a Black man and a psychologist, I thought it might be healthy for me to express my reflections on Black Psychology during Black History Month. While many of us laugh at the idea of Black History Month because we celebrate Black ALL YEAR LONG, we might also wonder why Black Psychology is something we have to seek out in the Association of Black Psychologists, or as a special topic in multicultural psychology. What is Black Psychology, after all? Is it applying the traditional psychological measures, constructs, and theories [...]

BY Donica HarpER, PHD STUDENT SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY I want to take a moment and thank you for the struggles, the pain, and the hard work that helped pave the way for someone like me: a Black therapist, a Black student, a Black womxn, and a Black child. While our classes may not have shown us who you are, through future research, we discovered all the things that you did to help our community and our country better understand who we are. People do not understand that representation is vitally important to self-esteem, self-confidence, and identity. Representation affords us the opportunity [...]