The Black Scholars Index » Psychology

Dr. John A. Powell, Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

Leshell Hatley — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:41:18 +0000

Professor John A. Powell is an internationally recognized authority in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties and a wide range of issues including race, structural racism, ethnicity, housing, poverty and democracy. He is Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University and he holds the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law.

Education
University of Minnesota, Post‐Graduate Human Rights Fellow, 1978 ‐ 1980
University of California‐Berkeley (Boalt Hall), Juris Doctor, 1973
Stanford University, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Philosophy Minor, 1969

Author
Professor powell has written extensively on a number of issues including structural racism, racial justice and regionalism, concentrated poverty and urban sprawl, opportunity based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. His written work includes four books, 18 book chapters, and more than 50 journal articles, op‐eds, essays, and position papers. He is highly regarded as a public speaker with more than 125 invited speeches and presentations since 2003.

Career
Previously, he founded and directed the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota. He also served as Director of Legal Services of Greater Miami and was National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory. Professor powell has worked and lived in Africa, where he was a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa. He has also lived and worked in India and done work in South America
and Europe. He is one of the co‐founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the board of several national organizations. Professor powell has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University. He joined the faculty at The Ohio State University in 2002.

The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Under his leadership, The Kirwan Institute has taken a national leadership role in researching, developing, and advocating for regional solutions to problems associated with racialized space. To advance this work, Professor powell has developed an “opportunity‐based” housing model that provides a critical and creative framework for thinking about affordable housing, racialized space, and how an individualʹs destiny is impacted by where they live. The central principal of this model is that residents of
metropolitan regions are situated within a complex and interconnected web of opportunity structures that significantly shapes their quality of life. These opportunity structures include education, health care, employment, transportation, civic engagement and others.

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Information from The Kirwan Institute’s website.

Dr. Ivory Toldson, Associate Professor of Psychology at Howard University

Leshell Hatley — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:58:10 +0000

Dr. Ivory Toldson

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson is an associate professor at Howard University, senior research analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and current editor-in-chief of “The Journal of Negro Education.” Dubbed a rising “2028 presidential candidate” by the Washington Post, “a modern day Harlem Renaissance writer,” by the New African Journal, and “Young Researcher of the Year” by Southern University, Dr. Toldson, according to Howard University’s Quest Magazine, is “a much sought-after lecturer and researcher on a number of serious sociological and psychological issues that have implications for African Americans.” According to Capstone Magazine, “Toldson has spent a lot of time traveling across the country talking with teachers about misleading media statistics that invariably either link Black males to crime or question their ability to learn.”

Research

Dr. Toldson has more than 40 publications and research presentations in 29 US states, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Scotland, South Africa, and Paris. He has been featured on C-SPAN2 Books, NPR News, The Al Sharpton Show on XM Satellite Radio, and WKYS 93.9. Dr. Toldson’s research has been featured on The Root, Essence.com, BET.com and The Griot. He also gave expert commentary in three documentaries on Black male achievement: Beyond the Bricks, Hoodwinked, and the Promise Tracker. Known as a “myth buster,” Dr. Toldson has publish reports challenging the merits of popular research reports and news sources that present negative statistics about Black people, which have been widely discussed in academic and popular media.

Author

In 2005, Dr. Toldson won EboNetwork’s Changing Faces award for outstanding literary achievement for is novel, “Black Sheep: When the American Dream Becomes a Black Man’s Nightmare.” Dr. Toldson is also the author of “The Breaking Barriers Series,” which analyzes academic success indicators from national surveys that together give voice to more than 10,000 Black male pupils from schools across the country. Through his consulting firm, CREATE, LLC, he routinely works with schools to increase their capacity to promote academic success among Black males.

Career

After completing coursework for a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at Temple University, Dr. Toldson became a correctional and forensic psychology resident at the United States Penitentiary. There, he worked with 1960s era political prisoners and modern casualties of the War on Drugs, and completed his dissertation on Black Men in the Criminal Justice System. Upon completion, Dr. Toldson joined the faculty of Southern University and became the fourth recipient of the prestigious DuBois Fellowship from the US Department of Justice. He also served as the clinical director of the Manhood Training Village. He has received formal training in applied statistics from the University of Michigan, and held visiting research and teacher appointments at Emory, Drexel, and Morehouse School of Medicine.

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Information taken from The Journal of Negro Education, videos from Youtube.

Dr. A. Wade Boykin: Distinguished Researcher in Psychology and Education

Leshell Hatley — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 14:18:45 +0000

Dr. A. Wade Boykin is a full professor and the Director of the graduate program in the Department of Psychology at Howard University. From 1994, to 2004 he has served as co-director of the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), a U.S. Department of Education-funded national research and development center that operated jointly out of Howard University and Johns Hopkins University.

“We deliberately speak of children being placed at risk, rather than at-risk children. The notion of the at-risk child suggests that the child has some kind of affliction or disorder that is primarily responsible for difficulties he or she experiences in school. The term placed at risk acknowledges that very often these difficulties stem more from a variety of adverse circumstances, including ones that originate in schools themselves, than from a fundamental flaw in the child.”

Education

B.A., psychology, Hampton University; M.A. and Ph.D., experimental psychology, University of Michigan.

Research

Dr. A. Wade Boykin now serves as executive director of the Capstone Institute for School Reform at Howard. Dr. Boykin has done extensive work on research methodology; the interface of culture, context, motivation, and cognition; Black child development; and academic achievement in the American social context. In applying his expertise in these and other areas, he has conducted research and evaluation projects and held workshops for several school districts across the country on topics such as evidence-based approaches to school reform, culturally responsive pedagogy, multicultural education, and minority student achievement.

Research Directions of Black Psychologists

Dr. Boykin is co-editor of Research Directions of Black Psychologists (Russell Sage, 1979), which was a finalist for the American Psychological Association’s 1980 Book of the Year. He currently is completing work on two other books: The Psychology of African American Experiences: An Integrity-Based Perspective (Allyn and Bacon), for which he is the first co-author, and Promoting High Achievement for All Children: Evidence-Based Programs, Practices and Procedures, for which he is first co-editor. He also has published numerous research and theoretical journal articles and book chapters relevant to his research interests.

The Black Cultural Ethos

Boykins (1986) described the Black Cultural Ethos with the following nine elements:

Spirituality: conducting one’s life intuitively as though governed by supreme forces.
Harmony: emphasizing versatility and wholeness.
Movement: interweaving the ideas of rhythm often associated with music and dance into everyday life.
Verve: preferring intense stimulation and action that are variable and colorful.
Affect: placing a premium on feelings, emphasizing a special sensitivity to emotional cues, and cultivating emotional expression.
Communalism: committing to the interdependence of people and to connectedness that esteems social bonds and responsibilities over individual privileges.
Expressive Individualism: cultivating a distinct personality and a proclivity for spontaneous, genuine personal expression.
Orality: emphasizing oral and aural (i.e. use of sound in an out-of- the-ordinary way) modes of communication.
Social perspective of time: viewing time as a social phenomenon marked by human interaction and by the event shared by others.

The nine elements above were derived from a description by Nobles (1980), as “a derivation of West African beliefs, values and traditions and, notwithstanding the immense variability among Blacks as a group, characterizes the way African Americans perceive, interpret and interact with the world.”

As described by Nobles (1980), the Black cultural ethos (BCE) is a derivation of West African beliefs, values and traditions and, notwithstanding the immense variability among Blacks as a group, characterizes the way African Americans perceive, interpret and interact with the world.

NOTE: Uplift, Inc. (nonprofit organization that powers BSI) this work into our research and development with Myles & Ayesha.

Career

Dr. Boykin’s distinguished professional career includes having served as co-director of the Task Force on the Relevance of the Social Sciences to the Black Experience, Yale University, and as a member of the National Education Association’s Emergency Commission on Urban Children; the National Academy of Education’s Panel on Strengthening the Capacity for Research to Contribute to Educational Practice and Public Policy; the American Educational Research Association’s Panel on Improving Federal Educational Research Programs; the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Scientific Perspectives on Intelligence Tests and Group Differences in Test Scores; and the Minority Student Achievement Network’s Research Advisory Panel. He also serves on the editorial board of Sage Publications’ book series on Race, Ethnicity and Culture and on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals.

REFERENCES

Boykin, A. (1986). The triple quandary and the schooling of Afro-American children. In U. Neisser (Ed.), The school achievement of minority children: New perspectives, pp 57-92.

Nobles, W. (1980). African philosophy: Foundations of Black psychology. In R.

Jones (Ed.), Black psychology (pp. 23-36). NY: Harper and Row

Nobles, W. (1980). African philosophy: Foundations of Black psychology. In R. Jones (Ed.), Black psychology (pp. 23-36). NY: Harper and Row

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Information and images from:

http://www.cetla.howard.edu/featured_teacher/archive/boykin.html

http://www.capstoneinstitute.org

[From Our Black Scholars Directory] Craig Brookins, EdD: Associate Professor at North Carolina State University

Leshell Hatley — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 00:35:42 +0000

Craig Brookins, EdD

Craig Brookins, EdD is an Associate Professor of Psychology (Psychology in the Public Interest program) and Africana Studies at North Carolina State University. I directed Africana Studies from 19970-2009.

Education

Dr. Brookins received his B.S. degree from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Michigan State University in the area of ecological/community psychology. His dissertation title was “An experimental evaluation of a volunteer parent aide program for first time African American mothers.”

Research

Dr. Brookins’ research interests are in the areas of community and school-based programs for African-American youth and families, rites-of-passage interventions, community development, identity and world view assessment, and study abroad experiences. He has also worked as a consultant on a variety of issues including male adolescent pregnancy prevention, diabetes prevention, alternatives to incarceration, mentoring programs for African-American youth and students, and effective schooling.

Organization Affiliations

Association for Black Psychologists

National Council for Black Studies

African Educational Research Association

More information

http://www.blackscholarsindex.com/directory/view-profile.php?sId=23

http://ids.chass.ncsu.edu/afs/CraigC.BrookinsPh.D.FacultyPage.php

Dr. Larry E. Davis: Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh

Leshell Hatley — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:32:40 +0000

Dr. Larry E. Davis

Dr. Larry E. Davis is the Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is the Donald M. Henderson Professor and also the Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems. Dr. Davis came to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of 2001. He had been a faculty member at the George Warren Brown Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri since 1977, where he was a Professor of Social Work and Psychology and the holder of the E. Desmond Lee Chair in Ethnic and Racial Diversity.

Education

Dr. Davis received his PhD from the University of Michigan’s dual-degree program in social work and psychology in 1977. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University and a master’s in social work and a master’s in psychology from the University of Michigan. His professional interests include interracial group dynamics, the impact of race, gender, and class on interpersonal interactions, African American family formation, and youth.

Honors / Awards / Funding

He has received research funding from sources such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, and National Institute of Mental Health.

Publications

Some of his publications include “Too Many Blacks, Too Many Whites: Seeking a Racial Balance: Predicting Positive Academic Intentions Among African American Males and Females,” “Assessment of Practitioner Cross-Racial Treatment Experiences,” and “Essential Components of Groupwork with Black Americans.” He has written, edited, or co-authored four books: Race, Gender and Class: Guidelines for Practice with Individuals, Families and Groups (co-authored with Enola Proctor), Ethnic Issues in Adolescent Mental Health (Co-edited with Arlene Stiffman), Black and Single: Finding and Choosing a Partner who is Right for You (3rd edition 2004), and Working with African American Males: A Guide to Practice. He is a frequent lecturer and has given such talks as “The State of Black Singles in America” at the Smithsoni an Lecture Series in Washington D.C.

Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis: Educator, Researcher, Politician

Leshell Hatley — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:11:41 +0000

Charlene Drew Jarvis (born July 31, 1941, Washington, D.C., as Charlene Rosella Drew) is an American educator and former scientific researcher and politician who served as the president of Southeastern University [now defunct] until March 31, 2009 (13 years). As president, Dr. Jarvis orchestrated a unique merger of the University with the Graduate School (formerly the USDA Graduate School). She is now a member of the KIPP DC Board of Trustees.

Dr. Charlene Jarvis is the daughter of the blood plasma and blood transfusion pioneer Dr. Charles Drew.

Education

Jarvis earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College in 1962, a Master of Science degree in psychology from Howard University in 1964, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in neuropsychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1971.

Political Career

Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvix

Ward 4′s representative to the Council of the District of Columbia, Arrington Dixon, won the election for chairman of the council in November 1978, leaving the Ward 4 seat vacant. Jarvis won the special election to fill the seat on May 1, 1979. She was then reelected to the council in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996. Among her accomplishments were laws creating the Office of Banking and requiring national banks to invest in neglected communities; creating a Housing Producation Commission and a Housing Production Trust Fund; and helping to support commercial, retail and housing development through the Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) and tax increment financing (TIF). Jarvis sought reelection again in 2000, but she was defeated in the Democratic primary by Adrian Fenty.

As Chair of the Committee on Economic Development, Dr. Jarvis spearheaded efforts to increase revenues for the District of Columbia to answer the city’s financial crisis. She introduced legislation which paved the way for the new MCI Sports Arena and the new Convention Center, both of which will create jobs, increase business and increase tax revenues for the District of Columbia.

Service

Dr. Jarvis has served on the boards of, or as an advisor to: The National Institute of Mental Health, The Washington Chapter of the American Red Cross, The Breast Cancer Task Force of the Department of Health and Human Services, The Women’s Health Initiative of the National Institutes of Health, The National Museum of Health and the National Bone Marrow Program.

Acknowledgements & Honors

Dr. Jarvis has received more than 100 awards for her professional and civic accomplishments and her outstanding leadership, including an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Amherst College in 1994 and an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from George Washington University in May 2001. In the January 2000 issue of the The Washingtonian Magazine, she was named one of the “Nineteen Ninety Nine Washingtonians of the Year. The Women’s Business Center, Inc. on May 9th will honor her for her outstanding support of women-owned businesses over the years. She is a nationally recognized speaker on legislative policy, health science and economic issues.

She is listed in the following publications: International Who’s Who of Professionals, 1998; Who’s Who Among Top Executives, 1998-1999 edition; Who’s Who of American Women 22nd edition, 2000-2001; Who’s Who in America, 54th edition 2000; Who’s Who Among African Americans; Who’s Who In Executives and Businesses, 2000 Millennium Edition; Who’s Who in the World, 18th edition, 2001; International Who’s Who of Professional & Business Women, 7th edition, 2000; the 2,000 Notable American Women, Millennium Edition; the Nationwide Register’s Who’s Who In Executives and Businesses, 2000 Millennium Edition; World Who’s Who of Women 15th edition, 2001 and Who’s Who in America 56th edition, 2002.

[From Our Black Scholars Directory] Dr. Beverly Greene – Professor of Psychology at St. John’s University

Leshell Hatley — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:29:46 +0000

Dr. Beverly Greene is a tenured Professor of Psychology at St. John’s University in New York and a Practicing Clinical Psychologist. Her area of specialization includes examining the role of institutionalized racism, sexism, heterosexism and other oppressive ideologies in the paradigms of psychology and practice of psychotherapy in organized mental health – understanding psychological resilience and vulnerability in socially marginalized people and their use in psychotherapy.

Education
B.A., 1973, New York University, Psychology
M.A., 1977, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Clinical Psychology
Ph.D., 1983, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Clinical Psychology

Dr. Greene was awarded a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Derner Institute of Adelphi University, and was a Doctoral Fellow in Mental Retardation at the Mental Retardation Institute of New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York.

Author

She has served on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly journals and is the author of nearly 100 publications in the psychological literature. Nine of those publications have received national awards as significant contributions to the psychological literature on women, women of color, sexual minorities, African American women and families.

She is the founding co-editor of the APA Div. 44 book series Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Issues.

Honors & Awards

She is also the recipient of numerous national awards that include:

the 1996 Outstanding Leadership Award from the APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns;
2000 APA Society for the Psychology of Women Heritage Award;
2003 APA Committee on Women in Psychology Distinguished Leadership Award;
2004 Award for Distinguished Senior Career Contributions to Ethnic Minority Research(APA Division 45);
2005 Stanley Sue Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Diversity in Clinical Psychology (APA Division 12);
2006 Helms Award for Scholarship and Mentoring (TC, Columbia Univ Cross Cultural Roundtable);
2006 Florence Halpern Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Clinical Psychology(APA Division 12);
2007 Distinguished Scientific Contributions to LGB Psychology Award (APA Division 44);
2007 Distinguished Career Award (Assn for Women in Psych);
2008 Carolyn Wood Sherif Award(APA Division 35);
2009 Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest Senior Career Award(APA).

Service

A Fellow of 7 divisions of APA,(9,12,29.35.42.44.45) she has served in many leadership positions in the association and currently serves on the Division 35 Executive Board, the Association’s Policy and Planning Board and a representative of Division 44 to the APA Council of Representatives.

Organizational Affiliations

American Psychological Association, Fellow
Association for Women in Psychology
American Orthopsychiatric Association, Fellow
Academy of Clinical Psychology, Fellow

Information from Our Black Scholars Directory. Dr. Greene’s Profile can be viewed here.

You too can become a part of our Black Scholars Directory NOW!

[HBCU Presidents] Dr. Beverly Wade Hogan: Tougaloo College

Leshell Hatley — Tue, 04 May 2010 19:33:04 +0000

In May 2002, the Tougaloo College Board of Trustees named Dr. Beverly Wade Hogan, a former trustee and College administrator, the 13th President of the College.

Education

President Hogan holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Tougaloo College and a master’s in public policy and administration from Jackson State University. She was conferred the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Wiley College. She has done additional studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, University of Georgia and St. Mary College. She is presently pursuing the doctorate in organizational management and leadership. To complement her formal education, President Hogan has received certificates of training in leadership development, organizational management, policy development, health and human resources management, alcohol and drug studies, urban development and administrative law.

Career

President Hogan comes to the presidency with more than twenty-five years of experience in executive management and leadership. Prior to becoming President, she had served as the College’s Interim President, founding Director of the Owens Health, Wellness & Human Resources Center, Executive Assistant to the President and Vice President for Institutional Advancement. She also served for ten years as the Commissioner for the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission, four years as the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Federal State Programs, nine years as the Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Hinds County and the State of Mississippi, respectively. She has been an adjunct instructor in public policy at Jackson State University and a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University. Additionally, she has been involved with employment and educational training programs in Denmark, Sweden and West Germany in affiliation with the German Marshall Fund. She has been a scholar with the Kettering Foundation where her research focus was Higher Education and Civic Responsibility. President Hogan has been a participant and presenter in the Oxford Roundtable at Oxford University in Oxford, England.

While at Tougaloo

Throughout President Hogan’s distinguished career, she is credited with pioneering programs that improved the quality of life for many citizens, including, but not limited to, the founder of the first psychiatric halfway house in Mississippi, establishing the first rape crisis center and shelter for battered women, and initiating the State’s Self Employment Demonstration Project to reduce welfare dependency and the Rental Rehabilitation and Low Income Tax Credit Programs to increase the availability of housing for low income families. She has received extensive recognition for her trailblazing contributions, and remains active on various boards and commissions in her continuing commitment to give of her talents and resources for the betterment of society and a generation yet unborn.

Tougaloo’s Future

President Hogan’s aim is to build upon Tougaloo College’s deep and strong legacy of academic excellence and social commitment while advancing the institution toward a legacy of fiscal responsibility to ensure that it will stand and prosper.

More information about Tougaloo College can be found here: http://www.tougaloo.edu.

Barry C. Black: Chaplain of the United States Senate – From the Hood to the Hill

Leshell Hatley — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:03:57 +0000

Barry C. Black is the 62nd Chaplain of the United States Senate. He was elected to this position on June 27, 2003, becoming the first African-American, the first Seventh-day Adventist, and the first military chaplain to hold the office of chaplain to the United States Senate. He ministers to a flock of 6,000, comprising senators, spouses, Chiefs of Staff, and Capitol Hill employees. Black is advisor to the most powerful people in the United States government on moral, spiritual, and ethical issues that affect the lives of millions in the United Sates and abroad. (The Senate elected its first chaplain in 1789.)

Early Life

Chaplain Barry C. Black was born on November 1, 1948, in the inner city of Baltimore, Maryland, to Pearline and Lester Black.

“My mother was a beautiful person who connected with all her children and made each of us feel special,” Chaplain Black said in an interview with Contemporary Black Biography (CBB). “She was a storyteller with the ability to find allies and build networks, and she was athletic. I inherited these skills from my mother.”

Sensing his destiny, Pearline told her son, “You will have a special destination in life and a life with God.” This she believed because when she was baptized and pregnant with the chaplain she had asked God to do something special with his life.

Pearline taught her eight children the importance of God and education as the way to a better life without poverty. Raising a large family alone, Pearline, a Seventh-day Adventist, found church to be the supportive environment she needed to accomplish this. At Berea Temple and its Baltimore Junior Academy her children found a thriving community of helping hands, a quality education, and much needed tuition assistance. Black’s mother found friends like Albertha Brown, who shared her home with young Barry after school, providing him a haven from the mean streets of Baltimore.

During church services Black heard the best preachers in the community and began to develop his language skills. “Mother supplemented this by giving us a nickel for scriptures we memorized. She had to put me on a flat rate; I was breaking the bank,” Black remembered. At school young Barry would study the prose of Longfellow, Emerson, Milton, and Thoreau.

“I entered poetry readings and oratorical contests. I had a love for the music of language,” explained Black.

Hearing his oratory skills, the congregation and school provided affirmation that oratory was also his gift.

Heeded His Calling

Black felt from an early age that he wanted to be a minister and knew he had a “special feeling for God,” but he resisted. “I wanted to pursue God, but most ministers in the inner city seemed poor. In my junior year of college I decided to go with the desire of my heart and pursue the ministry even if it meant poverty.”

He is the author of From the Hood to the Hill:

Education

First Black received his bachelor of theology degree in 1970, from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. He entered Andrews Theological Seminary at Berrien Springs, Michigan, earning a master of divinity degree in 1973. There he enjoyed the focus on theology. Next Black moved to Durham, North Carolina, to pastor seven churches in South Carolina and North Carolina. Preaching two or three times each week allowed Black to learn quickly; within two years he was sent to pastor three other churches in North Carolina.

By this time Black had married Brenda Pearsall, who he met during his junior year at Oakwood College, and he began work on a master’s degree in counseling, completing it in 1978. Brenda was an English major; her skills would become a valuable asset as Black developed his language skills. In 1982 Black completed a doctorate in theology, and received a master’s degree in management in 1989. In 1996 he was awarded a doctorate in psychology.

One day in North Carolina, while speaking with three young servicemen from Norfolk, Virginia, Black wondered why they did not worship back on base. When asked, they said they had never heard of a black Navy Chaplain.

“It planted a seed,” says Black. The Navy needed African-American chaplains, and Black wanted to work with young people. “Also I didn’t want to minister to just people from my own race,” he told CBB. “I wanted a broader challenge.”

Found His Place and Mission

Black was just 25 years old and, citing his young age, church leaders would not grant Black approval to minister to the young people of his church. Subsequently he did find what he was searching for with the United States Navy in 1976. At the time his church was seeking individuals interested in providing ministry in the military, so Black joined the Navy. Intending initially to stay three years, Black knew after his first day he had found his niche.

“The variety of denominations, the improved salary, the appreciation on the part of a diverse group of people for my particular talents and gifts, the additional challenge of being physically fit, the joy of working with young people, all those factors I recognized very quickly and thought this is too good to be true. The experience was a protracted honeymoon for 27 years that went by very quickly,” said Black.

Appointed to Top Posts

Black held several posts during his 27-year career in the Navy, eventually becoming Deputy Chief of Chaplains in 1997, and in 2000 he became Chief of Navy Chaplains. As chief he held responsibility for the spiritual care of servicemen from 190 religious traditions. He advised and provided ministry to the Chief of Naval Operations, the Secretaries of the Navy and Defense, and the Commandants of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

He officially retired from the Navy on August 15, 2003.

Dr. Cynthia Winston: Professor & Researcher at Howard University

Leshell Hatley — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:02:10 +0000

Dr. Cynthia Winston is an Associate Professor in the Howard University Department of Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Identity and Success Research Laboratory. She also is the Principal and founder of Winston Synergy L.L. C., a psychology and research consulting firm.

Career & Awards

As a leading edge narrative personality psychologist, Dr. Winton’s profession career is devoted to understanding identity, as well as the psychology of race, racism, and success within lives. Dr. Winston has received several professions awards including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Professor Fellowship from Brown University, the Emerging Scholar Award for the Howard University Faculty Senate, the Howard University Syllabus of the Year Award, and the National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award.

Dr. Winston conducts interdisciplinary psychology, science, and engineering education research. Adopting a novel interdisciplinary approach, her research integrates personality psychology, narrative psychology, and psychology engineering. She also has a special interest and expertise in mixed methods research design and data analysis. Through integrating digital technology with narrative, survey, and case study research methods, she has created the Identity and Success Life Story Research Method to stimulate the construction of autobiographical memories, life review, and personality assessment.

Currently, Dr. Winston is engaged in five psychology and education research projects funded by the National Science Foundation, Howard University, and Winston Synergy, L.L.C.: the Identity and Success Life Story Project; the Narrative Engineering Project, the Personality and Narrative Identity Study: the Howard University Mathematics and Science Middle School Academic and Psychological Development Success Project, and the HBCU-UP Black Excellence in Science Teaching Project.

Dr. Winston is the former Director of Educational, Fellowship, and Internship Programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and Program Director for the SNF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate at Howard University.

Education

Dr. Winston earned her Master’s degree in Psychology and Ph.D. in Psychology and Education from the University of Michigan. She earned a Bachelors of Science degree from Howard University.

A Grassroots Celebration of Mazi Mutafa and Words, Beats, & Life!

Leshell Hatley — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:07:16 +0000

Mazi Mutafa - Exec. Dir. of Words, Beats, & Life

NEW: CHECK OUT WBL, INC. OPEN HOUSE
JULY 11TH 12NOON-4PM!

We start this week with a celebration of Words, Beats, and Life – the actual organization, that is, and its founder/Executive Director, Mazi Mutufa. He shares his experiences in an interview here with Perspectives from the Pipeline.

Words, Beats, and Life, Inc. had its beginnings at the University of Maryland’s Hip-Hop Conference in 2000. In 2003, Mazi Mutafa and two of his fellow students, officially incorporated WBL, Inc. in Ward 7 of Washington, DC with a mission to transform individual lives and communities through hip-hop. Soon after, the development of the organization’s first program, The Urban Arts Academy was in full swing.

Today, The Urban Arts Academy is a multimedia arts program which offers workshops in organized graffiti writing (mural creation), scratch dj-ing, and rapping and writing to youth in its surrounding communities. WBL, Inc. now offers these same workshops, official called The University Project, to students on college campuses with a goal to reconnect college students with the communities around them, while educating these students about the art of hip-hop. These workshops are combined with what WBL calls ‘The Great Pop Culture Debate.’ This This debate engages participants in critical discussion around issues of popular culture, and has two components. The first is a multi-round debate between scholars and artists on various topics related to pop culture. The second phase involves small group facilitated discussions and debate lead by the artists and scholars. Sample Topic: “Gay bashing on Wax,” “Sexual Exploitation,” “Media Representation,” “Rap music vs. Hip-hop culture,” etc.

But WBL, Inc. hasn’t stopped there. WBL, Inc. also hosts what they call ‘The Cipher.’ The Cipher has two components:

The Cipher Incubator – a nonprofit incubator where growing hip-hop nonprofits and entrepreneurs obtain office space through and receive capacity building and other training.
The Cipher Workshop – a weekend workshop (or teach-in) called Remixing the Art of Social Change: A Hip-Hop Approach where participants gain insights about funding opportunities, successful program models, and partnerships & collaborations, along with witnessing youth art/skill showcases. The 2nd Annual Remixing the Art of Social Change occurred last month (June 2009) at Howard University and has toured other universities around the country.

WBL, Inc. also sponsors The Global Journal of Hip-Hop and currently has a call for submissions for its 4th Issue. This journal features scholarly submissions, creative writing, and visual art. The first 3 issues of the journal are available for sale and preview on their website.

But there’s still more. WBL, Inc. also hosts a Chess Competition called Bumrush the Boards. Check out the video below for insight.

The Black Scholars Index is proud to highlight Mazi Mutafa and the contributions made by Words, Beats, & Life, Inc. Visit their website for more information and to donate to this exciting organization.

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If you know someone who should be featured on BSI, please contact us immediately at featured@blackscholarsindex.com.