Hello Del Mar,
February is Black History Month and there are numerous Black Americans that have contributed to the mental health field. From the website, Mental Health America , here are some of those individuals:
Bebe Moore Campbell was an American author, journalist, teacher, and mental health advocate who worked tirelessly to shed light on the mental health needs of the Black community and other underrepresented communities. She founded NAMI-Inglewood in a predominantly Black neighborhood to create a space that was safe for Black people to talk about mental health concerns.
In 1969, E. Kitch Childs helped to found the Association for Women in Psychology. She was also a founding member of Chicago's Gay Liberation Front. In addition to being a leader for women in psychology and the LGBTQ+ community, she also owned her own practice in which she provided therapy to LGBTQ+ folks, people living with HIV/AIDS, and other marginalized members of her community.
Mamie Phipps Clark was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate degree in psychology from Columbia University. She previously earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University. Her experience in college and specifically graduate-level courses helped her realize the shortage of psychological services available to the African American community and other minorities.
Joseph L. White is sometimes referred to as "the father of Black psychology." He wrote the groundbreaking article "Toward a Black Psychology," which is credited as being the first-ever strengths-based (rather than deficit-based) evaluation and description of Black behavior and culture.
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