Our guest expert, Dr. Ayanna Abrams is a licensed clinical psychologist in Georgia and CEO/Founder of Ascension Behavioral Health, LLC. Dr. Abrams enjoys providing consultation and guest speaking opportunities to organizations (specifically non-profit), schools, churches, hospitals, & amp; other media and has been featured on Huffington Post Live, Therapy for Black Girls & Silence the Shame. She is also the proud co-founder of Not So Strong, a mental health initiative focused on emotional healing of black women through use of vulnerable narratives.

The American Psychological Association released “Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Boys and Men” to help psychologists better address their male patients who are either victims or accused of bullying, physical or sexual harassment, depression, and/or anxiety. While the guidelines serve to address boys and men regardless of their backgrounds, the APA acknowledged that specific identities--including race—play a role in how masculinity is experienced and performed.

In 1974 Welsing received her first taste of controversy with the publishing of her essay “The Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation,” which featured her theories of  racism being rooted in the white feelings of inferiority because of a lack of melanin.

For her doctoral research, Prosser examined the self-esteem and achievement of black children in segregated schools and compared it to the self-esteem of those in integrated schools. Her findings supported higher self-esteem and achievement of those black children in segregated schools.

Jennifer Eberhardt’s research into racial bias and its effects on outcomes in criminal justice has real world impact and implications. Eberhardt, a social psychologist, has linked deeply imbedded stereotypes of blacks with harsher sentencing and a greater likelihood of being identified as criminals by police officers.

Born in Hot Springs, Ark., in 1917, Mamie Phipps Clark received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University.  It was at Howard University that she met her husband, Kenneth Clark, who convinced her to pursue psychology instead of mathematics. Mamie’s Clark’s master thesis, “The Development of Consciousness of Self in Negro Pre-School Children," formed the early basis for the famous doll studies, which looked at the black child’s self-perception.

While she is noted for her psychological work with special needs children and for research in child development, Howard’s roots were firmly planted in social work.  She earned a degree in social work from Simmons College in Boston and then a master’s degree in social work from the same school.

In 1942 Clark became the first black tenured full professor at the City College of New York, and also started the psychology department at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). He would also become the first black president of the American Psychological Association.

Dr.  Joseph L. White had a distinguished career in psychology that spanned five decades and earned him the moniker “Godfather of Black Psychology.”  A professor, mentor, writer and clinical psychologist, White was also a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists.

Francis Sumner’s research was focused on understanding racial bias in the justice system. He also wrote papers about racial bias in education and on religion and psychology.

The book, titled “Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology,” is now regarded as a classic in the university classroom.  Guthrie was the first black psychologist to have his papers deposited in the National Archives of the American Psychology Association.