BLACK PSYCHOLOGY

Baldwin (1991) clearly states the definition of African psychology:

"African psychology is defined as a system of knowledge (philosophy, definitions, concepts, models, procedures and practice) concerning the nature of the social universe from the perspective of African Cosmology. ‘African Cosmology’ thus provides the conceptual-philosophical framework for African (Black) psychology." (p. 131)

"In its broadest sense, the African Personality speaks to African people's cultural idiosyncrasy as distinct from non-African peoples. Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) used the term as far back as 1883 in a speech titled, The Origin and Purpose of African Colonization to the Young Men's Literary Association of Sierra Leon (Esedebe 1982, 36). Marcus Garvey (1887-1935) popularized the concept to the African masses in the Americas, Europe, and Africa through his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Community Leagues and their organs, Negro World (1918-1933), Daily Negro Times (1922-1924), Blackman (1929-1931), the Black man magazine (1933-1939) (Esedebe 1982, 67; Lewis 1988, 80-83)." [http://www.nkrumah.net/]

DuBois prepared the world for Afrocentricity; the protector of an idea who did not fully recognize its power but who would have shouted to see it come. — Molefi Kete Asante (1988:16)

"Most of us subscribe to the idea of Black psychology being defined in terms of theory, research and practice. But contemporary Black psychology is long on theory and research, but short on practice. Yes, we treat the symptoms of a people in distress. But we must go far beyond this cooling out the mark, and apply our Black psychological perspective to force changes in the macro-secular political, economic and military systems that perpetuate European colonialism.

Doing this is a social justice issue. An authentic Black psychology can do no less. "
Halford H. Fairchild, Ph.D. Editor, Psych Discourse

Black Authenticity exposes fundamental differences in the psychologies of people of African and European descent. These differences, which are manifested in the oppressive behavior of Europeans, must be revealed before Africans can recreate an authentic Black psychology. Marcia Sutherland analyzes the various problems which plague the African world and outlines a liberated psychology which must be adopted if people of African descent are to become an independent people.

Akbar Papers in African Psychology
by Na'im Akbar PHD
"African Psychology is not a thing, but a place-a view, a perspective, a way of observing. " It is a perspective that is lodged in the historical primacy of the human view from the land that is known as Africa. It is a place that we have discovered as those who lost our way and have found a map to get back home. The papers in this volume represent Dr. Akbar's unique contribution to the conceptualization of this place or perspective that we have identified as "African Psychology."

Throughout the book, he surfaces a unique layer of history that has seldom been brought to light and uses indigenous traditions as points of discovery. Oshodi carefully and thoughtfully explains modern interpretations of historic African life, from religious to biological to political. Key cultural exchanges are also discussed, such as how Europeans benefited from the ideas and institutions of ancient Africans and developed their own psychology. “The use of African-centered perspectives of the text examines the nature and beginning of the early psychology of prehistoric or ancient people on earth,” writes Oshodi. “Mythical and racial developments in early human knowledge and domains of psychology are explored.

Light from Ancient Africa
NA'IM AKBAR, PH.D.
Light from Ancient Africa is a critical contribution to what might be called the "Re-Africanization of Psychology Project" It was within this project that we came to realize that the notion of human psychology was and remains an African invention....In this book, Na'im Akbar provides the reader with a clear and concise understanding of the African origins of psychology, provokes us to think deeply about the real meanings that Africa gave to psychology, and provides the insightful guidelines to modern-day implications and applications of the field.

Human Services and the Afrocentric Paradigm
by Jerome H. Schiele
Human Services and the Afrocentric Paradigm provides you with a concrete application of how the Afrocentric model can be employed in human services to assist African-American clients and people of all races and ethnicities." "Human Services and the Afrocentric Paradigm helps you understand, solve, and prevent problems that are confronted by several races, especially individuals of African descent. This book will assist you in making a positive difference in the lives of your multiracial clients.

This guide shows how the Afrocentric paradigm can be used to explain human behavior, solve social problems, and explore issues of interest to human services practitioners, administrators, policy advocates, analysts, educators, and students. It describes why and how human service work is hampered by Eurocentric cultural values, and provides advice on improving services to clients. It also offers a look at the cultural values, traditions, and experiences of people of African ancestry.

The Psychology of Blacks:
An African Centered Perspective (3rd Edition)
Thomas A. Parham
This book sets about on the journey to link the African American life to the culture, values, and spiritual roots of Africa. The authors call this an Afrocentric perspective in viewing African American life. This book differienciates between viewing the world from a Eurocentric view as opposed to viewing the world from an African perspective. It necessarily does not glorify Afrocentricism, but states that this concept is important for African Americans to understand the origins of their identity and value systems.

Afrikan-centered consciousness versus the new world order:
Garveyism in the age of globalism (AWIS lecture series)
In two masterful lectures contained within the pages of this modest text, Dr. Wilson challenges the all too pervasive assumption and false perception that the "New World Order" is somehow ordained -- that if Afrikan people are to progress, they have no other alternative but to remain colonized by White-Western interests. This of course is patently false. Dr. Wilson debunks this myth with an insightful analysis of the Legacy of Marcus Garvey and the proven validity of Afrikan-Centered Consciousness as necessary psychological and material tools in the struggle for true liberation.

This book is based upon the Bantu-Kongo teachings on the art of healing, which is devoted to assisting the human being in understanding the key principles that govern life. Combining ancient practices with today's sophisticated methods of healing, here then, for the very first time, is a thorough exploration and explanation of an ancient art in a modern setting whose efficacy has survived the test of time.

Who Am I? The Supreme Understanding
(The Anatomy of Ego)
Bhagwan Ra Afrika;
This is THE book for all sincere seekers of an authentic spiritual path. In it you will find a treasure of knowledge and esoteric wisdom that is beyond measure! Bhagwan Ra Afrika is truly incomparable in his insightful way of giving discourses on the nature of "ego" and the way to be free of its entrapment. It was not until I read this book that I for the first time really grasped the true nature and genesis of "egoity" and the suffering that ensues. "Who AM I?" has always been the ultimate question since time immemorial.

Breaking the Curse of Willie Lynch:
The Science of Slave Psychology
ALVIN MORROW
Breaking The Curse Of Willie Lynch is a shocking eye opener. It penetrates the very heart of the divisions that exist among black men & women today. This book describes, in explicit detail, the brutal mental conditioning methods used on the African during slavery, and the psychological aftershock that still wreaks havoc on black men and women in the 21st century.

The African Unconscious
Roots of Ancient Mysticism and Modern Psychology
by Edward Bruce Bynum, Linda James Myers
As a "being of light," consciouness enfolds all human life and therefore, even though consciouness manifested first through the African body, consciouness itself is not dependent upon the body. Let us not make the same mistake as the ignorant by claiming something orignated with us. Consciouness is a spiritual child of God, Odu and Osiris. Having pervaded the entire world with a fragment of Himself, the unmanifest Brahman remains. However, we should celebrate the fact that Africans were the first people to be ready to be fully human. In the beginning God created heaven and earth and 3,700,000 years ago he breathed into a black Adam and mankind became a living entity.

Melanin:
A key to Freedom
RICHARD KING M.D.
The study of Melanin in the human form and throughout nature is a precious key that unlock the chains of mental slavery that presently imprison the mind of African people throughout the world. Despite the current small dance to the tunes of intentional use of mis-education, massive destruction of ancient African university libraries, scientific multimedia brainwashing propaganda, and unconscious distortion of inner vision.

African Origin of Biological Psychiatry
RICHARD KING M. D.
Black Dot is an ancient symbol for blackness, it is the black seed of all humanity, archetype of humanity, the hidden doorway to the collective unconsciousness-darkness, the shadow, primeval ocean, chaos, the womb, doorway of life. This ancient symbol for blackness was the subject of intense scientific investigation over a period of 300 thousand years by profound ancient scientists who were themselves black in consciousness.

Natural Psychology and Human Transformation
NA'IM AKBAR PHD
In this boolk, Akbar asserts that we are nmore than the sum total of our actions and more than the makeup of our physical selves. He also indicates that the essence of us is spiritual and that, as creations of God, we have growth and development potential that reaches far beyond our limited--and--limiting--perception of ourselves.

Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery
Na'Im Akbar;
Dr. Akbar develops two ideas in these essays. They are (1) the impact of slavery and (2) the influence of Caucasian images for worship on the psychology of African-Americans. Dr. Akbar introduces a behavioral determinant which he says, does not have great legitimacy in Western psychology. And that is "the notion that individual behavior can be influenced by collective factors which are also historically remote."

Psychopathic Racial Personality
BOBBY E. WRIGHT
Bobby Wright forcefully emphasizes the need for the development of a ...Black social theory. This is a very difficult assignment and cannot be accomplished by...brainwashed Black intellectuals who are awestruck by European theory and theorists...Bobby Wright's concepts of The psychopathic racial personality and mentacide are major contributions to such a theory.

Psychotherapy with African American Women:
Innovations in Psychodynamic Perspectives and Practice
by Leslie C. Jackson (Editor), Beverly Greene (Editor)
Focusing on the breadth of issues that affect psychotherapy with African American women, this unique volume is designed to help clinicians develop a broader understanding of what is useful and what is problematic when applying psychodynamic concepts to their clients. From an array of seasoned clinicians, chapters present innovative and creative reformulations of theory and technique that build upon and challenge existing models.

Building a healthy sense of self:
Essential knowledge for African people
William H. T Bailey
... uncovers mysteries behind questions such as these. It presents concise explanations for how two people can witness or experience the same event, yet form different interpretations. It explains how to maintain your sense of self when your rational perceptions differ from those of society's controlling group. "Africans coming into consciousness are reintroducing critical thinking into our spirituality-where spirituality reflects a way of being that spurs us to pursue growth-enhancing achievements. A clear examination of history and an appreciation of human behavior show that we have been taught to embrace someone else's narrative and worldview and to denounce our own. Human behavior insights, in concert with ancient wisdom, tell us that (1) thoughts inform behavior and (2) unconscious thoughts are profoundly influenced by subliminal messages regarding one's phenotype and heritage." (from the introduction)

"As the challenges of life continue to shape our spiritual character this is a choice book that every African person should read". Asa G. Hilliard III-Nana Baffour Amankwatia II

Lay My Burden Down:
Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African-Americans
Alvin F. Poussaint Amy Alexander
Our Price $25.00 Hardcover 194 pages
Through stories (including their own), interviews, and analysis of the most recent data available, Dr. Alvin Poussaint and journalist Amy Alexander offer a groundbreaking look at "posttraumatic slavery syndrome," the unique physical and emotional perils for black people that are the legacy of slavery and persistent racism. They examine the historical, cultural, and social factors that make many blacks reluctant to seek health care, and cite ways that everyone from the layperson to the health care provider can help.

Cultural Trauma:
Slavery and the Formation of African American Identity
(Cambridge Cultural Social Studies)
Author: Ron Eyerman
"Slavery has had a significant, long-lasting effect on US history and society. Along with Elizabeth Bethel in ^The Roots of African-American Identity(1997), Eyerman clearly traces this long, sometimes agonizing, process for anyone engaged n serious work on US race relations."

Racial Identity in Context:
The Legacy of Kenneth B. Clark (Decade of Behavior)
Gina Philogene
The progress toward racial equality notwithstanding, race continues to define the culture of the United States, keeping its citizens from developing the just society envisioned by Clark and his contemporaries. This volume provides a dialogue among prominent African American as well as non-African American psychologists on this sensitive and polemical issue. Contributors first discuss Clark's life and work and then explore the creation of racial identity and the current need to transform that identity in the face of enduring discrimination and the barrage of negative racial images in our culture. This powerful book examines the barriers, both psychological and social, that need to be removed before fulfilling the hopeful vision of Clark's work.

Rock My Soul :
Black People and Self-Esteem
Author: Bell Hooks
In her most challenging and provocative book to date, Bell Hooks gives voice to what many black people have thought and felt, but seldom articulated. She offers readers a clear, passionate examination of the role self-esteem plays in the African-American experience in determining whether individuals or groups succeed or self-sabotage. She considers the reasons why even among "the best and brightest" students at Ivy League institutions "there were young men and women beset by deep feelings of unworthiness, of ugliness inside and outside."

The Community of Self
(REVISED)
AUTHOR: NA'IM AKBAR, PH.D.
We need to restore our communities and to understand and develop our communities of self. We need assistance in correcting some serious problems in our psychology, our education, our economics, our families and our religion thinking. The Community of Self addresses all of these areas.

Understanding Black Adolescent Male Violence:
Its Remediation and Prevention
AMOS N. WILSON
In this ground-breaking volume, Amos Wilson shows in brilliant detail how American society creates and sustains Black-on-Black adolescent criminality in its inner-cities across the United States. He boldly asserts that Black-on-Black adolescent violence is rooted in historical and contemporary WHITE-on-Black violence.

Developmental Psychology of the Black Child
AMOS N. WILSON
If you have been looking for a single source which deals with these and related controversial questions from a black perspective, then this book may be the book for you. For between its covers, The Developmental Psychology Of The Black Child, the first of a UBCS series of books dealing with the growth, development, and education of the black child; the first book which deals exclusively with the physical and psychosocial development of the black child, in a scholarly but readily understandable way, forthrightly confronts these and other issues.

Black-On-Black Violence:
The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in Service of White Domination
AMOS N. WILSON
BLACK on BLACK VIOLENCE represents a distinct milestone in criminology and Afrikan Studies. Its explanatory perspectives on the Socio-psycho-logical and politico-economic causes of Black-on-Black violence are exceptionally insightful, incisive, and iconoclastic. The psychodynamics of the Black-on-Black criminal are presented here with a depth and clarity rarely seen before.

Visions for Black Men
NA'IM AKBAR PHD
Visions For Black Men raises issues which are not only important to black men but to all of us. How do we restore African manhood to those whom our society has not viewed as the chosen people. Discover the startling prediction of the mystical tradition of Ancient Africa--that the descendants of a once great nation will rise again.

Kill Them Before They Grow:
Misdiagnosis of African American boys in American Classrooms
MICHAEL PORTER
This writing tries to explain how bright African American boys become casualties in public schools. African American boys are hosts upon which system-maintaining parasites feed. These boys are used as a source of income for a vampire colony of educated Whites and mis-educated African American professionals who worship the very theories that damage African American boys.

The Psychopathic Racial Personality and Other Essays presents a thought-provoking examination of the group personality of Europeans, as manifest in their behavior towards Black people. In the essay "The Psychopathic Racial Personality", Dr. Bobby Wright contends that viewing white behavior towards nonwhites as psychopathic provides a new lens through which to analyze and combat the actions and aims of Europeans. The essay "Black Suicide: Lynching by Any Other Name" positions the phenomenon of Black suicide within the context of centuries of white genocide. In other essays Dr. Wright discusses ways in which to best educate Black children and sheds new light on the evolution of white supremacy.

Black Families in Therapy, Second Edition
by Nancy Boyd-Franklin
Now in a fully revised and expanded second edition, this classic text guides helping professionals and students to understand and address cultural and racial issues in therapy. Leading family therapist Nancy Boyd-Franklin explores the problems and challenges facing African American communities at different socioeconomic levels; expands major therapeutic concepts and models to be more relevant to the experiences of African American families and individuals; and outlines an empowering, multisystemic approach to helping clients mobilize cultural and personal resources for change. Strategies for optimizing the therapeutic alliance and overcoming barriers in treatment are illustrated with extensive clinical material.

Psychotechnology of Brainwashing : Africentric Passage :
Crucifying Willie Lynch
Kwabena Faheem Ashanti;
This book is recommended to be the Starter Foundation for beginners and advanced individuals. Dr. Ashanti develops a major new theory from "cutting edge" Africentric research, to explain the historical and scientific process of mass brainwashing of Africans in the United States and the diaspora, and its psychological, educational, economical, cultural, and spiritual impact. New dimensions are found in this book. Ashanti presents, explains, and trains the reader to reverse the negative brainwashing. Africentricity is clearly defined and solutions are offered. Recommended as a primer for those seeking to begin an Africentric transformation, and for those advanced readers who are still seeking answers. A comprehensive book destined to become a classic.

Rootwork and voodoo in mental health
Kwabena Faheem Ashanti;
This is the first major account of the religion by a practicing Vodu (Akan) priest and healer. A scholarly research work that dispels the negative, superstitious, and discriminatory viewpoints of traditional African religions. The origins of the religion is traced from the Ancient African Egyptians, the Bible, to the underground practices and beliefs of contemporary society. The professional training of priests and root doctors is revealed. A vital book for the diagnosis and treatment of patients for the health practitioner.

Transcending Psychoneurotic Disturbances:
New Approaches in Psychospirituality and Personality Development (Haworth Psychotherapy)
Edward Bruce Bynum;
Transcending Psychoneurotic Disturbances is the epic adventure of the rise and unfoldment of human consciousness from its earliest days millennia ago on the African savannas, on through the first civilizations down to contemporary times. The mythic mitochondrial DNA, "mother of humanity," of 10,000 generations ago is used to personalize this journey, a journey seen to be an integral part of each of us. This includes not only her shared African gene pool with us, but also the neurobiologically interwoven evolutionary impulse that has given rise to both our pursuit of natural science and our deepest intuitions about religion and the transcendental domain. It is a living and luminous current that pervades the bodymind and its roots are explored throughout this meticuluosly documented book.

The Family Unconscious:
"An Invisible Bond
E. Bruce Taub-Bynum;
The Family Unconscious is the long awaited catalyst needed to bring the family, as an intimately interconnected conscious and unconscious system of relationships, within the spectrum of the collective unconscious.

The author, a clinical psychologist, explains how families share a field of consciousness. He demonstrates how the processes of family life, including dreams and telepathy or paranormal communication, reflect this shared field. Dr. Bynum draws on his many years of practice in family therapy, dreamwork and hypnosis, behavioral medicine and parapsychological research to integrate the many strands of this new approach to family relations. A new underlying field of shared imagery, emotional feelings and ideas emerge that communicate across the usual boundaries of space and time. A holographic paradigm is utilized.

Families and the Interpretation of Dreams:
Awakening the Intimate Web (Haworth Psychotherapy)
Edward Bruce, Phd Bynum;
Delves into the history of interpreting dreams, not only in Europe, but also in Africa, Asia, and precolumbian America, emphasizing the profound influence of family life and consciousness. Notes that the Egyptians of 3000 B.C.E. used dreams in therapy and religious practices, and how Native Americans interpreted dreams in the context of family and spiritual life. Addressed to clinical therapists, but accessible to general readers as well.

Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder:
Definition, Diagnosis and Treatment, A Guide
by Omar G. Reid, Psy.D, Sekou Mims, M.Ed MSW, Larry Higginbottom, MSW, LCSW.
Omar is a clinical psychologist who believes that depression has been passed down through the generations. He and two friends who are licensed social workers, Sekou Mims and Larry Higginbottom, have coined a term for it: post traumatic slavery disorder.

They believe the way their ancestors were treated explains the problems they see among some people in the African American community today, like the large number of single mothers. "The breeding process still affects us today. For example, there were men who were bucks who made children, and that insensitivity, that numbness, still carries on today. That's why in most cities today black men have child after child because there's no emotional connection."

500 Years Of European Behavior:
Its Effect on Afrika and African People
Nana Ekow Butweiku I
I have read a number of other treatises and writings by other distinguished Black religious scholars on the issue of the Black presence in the Bible, all of which enlightened me, and at the same time gave me a deep sense of "connection" with those Biblical personalities, as well as a sense of pride. On the other hand, it also aroused in me a sense of anger and frustration, as it confirmed to me that religious history, just as history in general, has been manipulated, twisted, distorted, and violated for the very sinister and express purpose of discrediting a People and robbing them of a very rich heritage and perpetuating a myth of so-called "superiority". This book should be mandatory reading, not just for Blacks, but for whites, as well, who have themselves been, in the words of Carter G. Woodson, "mis-educated".

Oshodi empty-pot healing approach (OEPHA): Therapist guide
John Egbeazien Oshodi;
The Oshodi Empty-Pot Healing Approach (OEPHA) is rooted in African ancient traditions and is characterized by Afrocentric-based psychological theories on therapeutic and personality dimensions. The OEPHA aims to create and fortify processes of optimal balance, vitality, harmony, and an index of achievement<196>survival motives.Therapy undergoes a circle of therapeutic actions in response to the 11 phases of the OEPHA: Entrustment, Expressivement, Ejectment, Elaboration, Enactment, Embankment, Empowerment, Ensemblement, Encirclement, Enlightenment, and Enrichment. The operationalization of the OEPHA was shown through a case study.