By Journey Artis
Hey everyone! Welcome to Our Journey With Journey series. This segment will be a little different from our usual content. As you all know we are a mental health segment dedicated to guiding teens throughout their mental journeys. However, without the work of some amazing Black minds in the field, many strives in the advancement of mental health knowledge and the overall community would not have been made, not to mention this series alone. So, in honor of Black History Month I’d like to highlight very influential people within the Mental Health field. Without further ado allow me to introduce you all to some brilliance!
Francis Sumner: Often referred to as the “Father of Black Psychology,” Francis Sumner was the first Black American to receive a PhD in Psychology. Sumner went on to become a professor in psychology at a plethora of universities and managed to publish several articles despite there being quite a few adversities that he had to overcome, due to his race. His main object of focus within psychology was “race psychology,” where he worked to understand and eliminate racial bias in the administration of justice. Sumner is also credited as one of the founders of the psychology department at Howard University which he led from 1928 until his death in 1954.
Bebe Moore Campbell: Bebe Moore Campbell was an author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate. She worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the mental health needs of the Black and underrepresented communities. She faced tireless adversities as she struggled to support her daughter who battled mental illness in a medical system that was not keen to getting her daughter the support that she needed. She founded Nami Inglewood in 2003 (which later became Nami Urban Los Angeles) which created a safe space for Black people to talk about mental health concerns. Later in 2008, the house of representatives designated July to be Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.
Jeanne Spurlock: Dr. Jeanne Spurlock was a physician, educator, and writer who drew her career inspiration from the challenges she faced as a Black woman in America. She focused much of the medical community’s attention to the stresses that affected women, minorities, and the LGBTQ+’s mental health. She aso particularly examined the unique challenges faced by single women, children of absent fathers, and Black Americans experiencing ‘survivor’s guilt’ in regards to having poor feelings towards their own success. In 1968 she was appointed to the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Meharry Medical College as well as being a prominent member of the American Women’s Medical Association, Black Psychiatrists of America, National Urban League, Physicians for Human Rights, and Delta Adult Literacy Council. She additionally wrote numerous articles addressing the problems of sexism, racism, and cultural misunderstanding in the mental health field. She was also the first Black American and first woman to receive the Edward A. Strecker M.D Award.
Mamie and Kenneth Clark: In the 1940s Mamie and Kenneth Clark designed and conducted a series of experiments more commonly known as ‘The Doll Tests,’ to study and examine the self esteem and overall psychological effects of segregation on Black children in America. Drs. Clark used four dolls that were all identical with the exception of race, in order to test a group of children’s (ages three to seven) perceptions. A majority of the children chose the White doll as opposed to the Black doll, even going as far to associate positive adjectives with the White doll and negative adjectives with the Black doll. The Clark’s were able to conclude that prejudice, discrimination, and segregation created feelings of inferiority among Black children and overall damaged their self esteem. Their study was used as testimony in the Brown vs. Board supreme court case, which was the case that ultimately ended segregation within schools.
Kitch Childs: Kitch Childs had a career focus of Feminist therapy, anti oppression, anti racism, anti sexism advocacy, as well as healing Women of Color within communities, and working towards the decriminalization of sex work. During a climate of civil resistance and extreme oppression, Childs earned her Masters and PhD in Human Development at the University of Chicago, meaning that she was one of the first Black women to do so. This PhD later allowed her to register as a clinical psychologist. Childs recognized and worked towards the importance of getting a higher education to empower herself and gain enough social standing to cause effective change and awareness towards important but not as prominent causes such as how the effects that racism had on Black Americans were causing higher blood pressure causing more Black Americans to suffer heart attacks. She additionally helped found the Association for Women in Psychology and the University of Chicago’s Gay Liberation Front in 1969. Her practices in Feminist therapy helped guide her clients self esteem and helped foster feelings of self competency and self esteem within her clients.
Alright everyone, that concludes this A Journey With Journey segment. I hope you enjoyed learning about some phenomenal Black excellence within the mental health community, and were all hopefully able to take something away from it. May we never forget these great minds! I’d like to wish you all a Happy and Service Filled Black History Month, and I will see you all in our next segment.
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