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Challenges Of Black Psychology

Decent Essays

Black psychologists faced many unique challenges in their quest for inclusion and voice in the professional and academic community of Psychology. However, the Civil Rights movement began an era of transformation that impacted several sectors of society, including the professional and academic spheres. Both the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) and the Black Students Psychological association (BSPA) played a significant role in challenging the American Psychological Association’s (APA) discriminatory actions towards the Black community and the general lack of awareness of the field’s exclusively White and euro-centric framework. The ABPsi was established at the APA convention of 1968, where they disrupted a meeting of the APA Board of Directors meeting to present their concerns with the establishment. During this formal protest, they declared that “Members of the Association have pledged themselves to the realization that they are Black people first and psychologists second. Accordingly, they will not continue to ignore the exploitation of the Black community” (Williams, 1974).

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