Reclaiming the past and transforming our future: Introduction to the special issue on foundational contributions of Black scholars in psychology.

Abstract

The contributions of Black scholars to psychology have been erased or marginalized within mainstream, U.S.-centered psychology. As such, psychologists and trainees have little exposure to strengths-based theories and schools of thought that center and humanize the experiences of people of African descent. This special issue intervenes on anti-Black racism at the epistemic level by curating a review of foundational contributions by diverse Black scholars in psychology and related fields. The special issue is organized around five integrative and overlapping themes: (a) Black scholars who have written on topics related to race, racism, and racial identity; (b) schools of thought that embody decolonial, liberation, and African psychologies and the scholars writing within these traditions; (c) scholars who have created new theories and approaches to conceptualizing the mental health of Black children, youth, and families; (d) Black scholars adopting an intersectional lens to research and practice; and (e) Black scholars creating spaces within existing organizations to theorize about and research the experiences of people of African descent.

Applying critical consciousness through the use of testimonios to rethink Latinx cultural values.

“…Recently, the American Psychologist , in an effort to highlight the contributions of Black psychologists, released a special issue dedicated to prominent Black scholars who have investigated race-related issues, developed African-centered frameworks, engaged in scholarship to better understand Black communities, and contributed to the intersectionality literature (Tyrell et al, 2023). Additionally, the APA (2023c) recently released a call for papers for an American Psychologist special issue titled Towards a Decolonial Psychology: Recentering and Reclaiming Global Marginalized Knowledges , which aims to challenge mainstream psychology by disrupting Eurocentric psychological frameworks while centering alternative knowledge frameworks that highlight the influences of racism, colonialism, and coloniality.…”

Confronting Racism‐evasive Ignorance in Standard Pedagogy of Hegemonic Social Psychology

“…More generally, such organizations as the Association of Black Psychologists and the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race—with their corresponding publications, the Journal of Black Psychology and Cultural Development and Ethnic Minority Psychology —emerged precisely as a response and form of resistance to the racism and epistemic violence of whitestream psychology (e.g., Chappelle et al., 2023; Leong, 2009). In contrast to the atomistic focus of the prejudice problematic in hegemonic social psychology, work from these epistemic foundations on such topics as racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2007) and colorblind racism (Neville et al., 2013) provides important resources for theorizing the systematicity of racism and racism‐evasive ignorance (Tyrell et al., 2023).…”

Cultivating collaborative synergy to promote equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice in the psychology curriculum.

“…Additional endeavors within APA included four compelling resolutions that (a) provided a uniform definition of racism (APA, 2021b), (b) offered an apology to people of color for the oppression initiated and perpetuated by psychology (APA, 2021c), (c) explored how psychology can assist in dismantling systemic racism (APA, 2021d), and (d) ensured health equity (APA, 2021e). To continue its decolonizing efforts, the American Psychologist , the discipline’s flagship journal, recently released a special issue centering the voices of prominent Black scholars who have studied race-related topics, promoted African-centered psychologies, developed models for understanding Black children, youth, and families, adopted an intersectional lens, and created spaces within organizations to conceptualize and conduct research on people of African descent (Tyrell et al, 2023).…”