Celebrating Some of the Most Influential Past and Present Black Psychologists
Historical Black Psychologists
Dr. Francis Cecil Sumner
Known as “the Father of Black Psychology”, Francis Cecil Sumner was the first Black American to receive a Ph.D in Psychology and established the Department of Psychology at Howard University.
Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser
Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser was the first Black American woman to receive a Ph.D in Psychology. Her work found that Black children in segregated schools performed better academically, as they were frequently mistreated in integrated schools.
Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark
Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark’s research, colloquially known as the “Doll Study,” studied Black elementary school students and how they perceived black dolls versus white dolls. The children associated black dolls with negative traits and white dolls with positive traits, despite the children feeling that black dolls most represented themselves. This demonstrated internalized racism in Black children, and was essential to the Brown vs. Board of Education decision to end segregation in the public school system.
Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark
Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark showed that Black children become aware of their racial identity as early as 3 years old, and worked with her husband Dr. Kenneth Bancroft Clark to show that many of these children began to internalize society’s racial views.
Contemporary Black Psychologists
Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt
A social psychologist and professor at the Stanford University Department of Psychology, Dr. Eberhardt has done groundbreaking and influential research on the role of racial implicit bias, leading to the proliferation of implicit bias trainings in law enforcement and many other state agencies.
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s influential book “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” And Other Conversations About Race gives an overview racial identity development and the role of race in the classroom.
Dr. Janet Helms
Dr. Helm’s shifted the status-quo on racial identity research with her 1992 book A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have. Still considered a landmark work in psychology, her book outlined the many various complexities of racial identity.
Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson
Dr. Riana Elyse Anderson’s work focuses on the concept of racial socialization and how racial discrimination impacts mental health. Rather than comparing Black individuals with other groups, she focuses on their own best well-being, whatever that may look like.
