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Cel­e­brat­ing Black His­to­ry Month with Pio­neers in Behav­ioral Health

Black His­to­ry Month is a time to hon­or and acknowl­edge the con­tin­ued advance­ments and inno­va­tions of Black pio­neers, vision­ar­ies, and lead­ers along with the count­less con­tri­bu­tions and achieve­ments Black com­mu­ni­ties have made, and con­tin­ue to make. Black His­to­ry Month is an impor­tant reminder to lift up Black voic­es all year round, and to reflect and con­tin­ue to chal­lenge racism, bias­es, and struc­tur­al inequal­i­ty. KYC is proud to cel­e­brate Black His­to­ry today and every day with our staff, com­mu­ni­ty part­ners, and com­mu­ni­ty members.

As part of our Black His­to­ry Month cel­e­bra­tion, we’re cel­e­brat­ing Black lead­ers and voic­es who have shaped the body of work we serve here at KYC. Please join us in hon­or­ing these innovators.

Solomon Carter Fuller, MD

Solomon Carter Fuller

Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller (18721953) was a neu­rol­o­gist, pro­fes­sor, and psy­chi­a­trist. Born in Liberia, he immi­grat­ed to North Car­oli­na to study at Liv­ing­stone Col­lege. In 1897, he com­plet­ed his M.D from Boston uni­ver­si­ty where after he researched under Emil Krae­pelin and Alois Alzheimer at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Munich, Ger­many. Dr. Fuller spent most of his career at West­bor­ough State Hos­pi­tal in Mass­a­chu­setts where he became a promi­nent fix­ture in the study and research on those with Alzheimer’s disease. 

Paul Bertau Cor­ne­ly, MD, DrPH

Paul Bertau Cornely

Dr. Paul B Cor­ne­ly (19062002) was a physi­cian, civ­il rights activist, and pub­lic health pio­neer. Born in the West Indies, Dr. Cor­ne­ly immi­grat­ed to New York and then Michi­gan where he com­plet­ed his med­ical and doc­tor­al stud­ies. Dr. Cor­ne­ly was the first Black per­son in the Unit­ed States to earn a Ph.D. in Pub­lic Health. Much of his work was ded­i­cat­ed to deseg­re­gat­ing med­i­cine and edu­ca­tion. He was also the first Black per­son to be elect­ed Pres­i­dent of the Amer­i­can Pub­lic Health Association.

Lin­da James Myers, Ph.D.

Linda James Myers Ph D

Dr. Lin­da James Myers (1948 – Cur­rent) is the Pro­fes­sor Emeri­ta at Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege of Arts and Sci­ences. Born in Kansas, she attend­ed Kansas State Teach­ers Col­lege for her under­grad­u­ate degree in psy­chol­o­gy and spe­cial edu­ca­tion, then receiv­ing a Master’s degree in psy­chol­o­gy. Dr. James Myers then received her Ph.D. in clin­i­cal psy­chol­o­gy. She is best known for devel­op­ing the The­o­ry of Opti­mal Psy­chol­o­gy. This the­o­ry places val­ue on the inter­con­nect­ed­ness among all liv­ing beings. 

Jac­ki McK­in­ney, M.S.W

Jacki Mc Kinney M S W

Jac­ki Mck­in­ney (19342021), from the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for Rights Pro­tec­tion and Advo­ca­cy (NARPA), was a sur­vivor of trau­ma, addic­tion, home­less­ness and the psy­chi­atric and crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tems. She was a fam­i­ly advo­cate spe­cial­iz­ing in issues affect­ing African-Amer­i­can women and their chil­dren and was a found­ing mem­ber of the Nation­al Peo­ple of Col­or Consumer/​Survivor Net­work. Ms. McK­in­ney was a con­sul­tant and advi­sor to the Cen­ter for Men­tal Health Ser­vices and was well known for her mov­ing pre­sen­ta­tions to nation­al audi­ences on issues such as seclusion/​restraint, inter­gen­er­a­tional fam­i­ly sup­port, and minor­i­ty issues in pub­lic men­tal health and was a fre­quent pre­sen­ter at NARPA con­fer­ences. The Nation­al Men­tal Health Asso­ci­a­tion hon­ored Ms. McK­in­ney with the Clif­ford W. Beers award, its high­est hon­or, for her work on behalf of peo­ple with men­tal dis­abil­i­ties. She was also the recip­i­ent of a Life­time Achieve­ment Award from the Sub­stance Abuse & Men­tal Health Ser­vices Administration’s Voice Awards pro­gram, pre­sent­ed to her for her dis­tin­guished lead­er­ship and advo­ca­cy on behalf of trau­ma survivors.”

Har­ri­ette Pipes McAdoo, Ph.D.

Harriette Pipes Mc Adoo Ph D

Dr. Har­ri­ette Pipes McAdoo (19402009) was a soci­ol­o­gist and pro­fes­sor at Michi­gan State Uni­ver­si­ty. Born in Geor­gia, when she was a teenag­er, she and her fam­i­ly moved to East Lans­ing, Michi­gan. Her work includ­ed mul­ti-cul­tur­al stud­ies in many coun­tries in Africa and glob­al pub­lic health. Oth­er facets of her work include parental involve­ment and the devel­op­men­tal effects on learn­ing, social struc­tures, and the effects on ear­ly school process­es and development.

Bebe Moore Campbell

Bebe Moore Campbell

Bebe Moore Camp­bell (19502006) was an Amer­i­can author, jour­nal­ist, and teacher. Born in Penn­syl­va­nia, she spent most of her youth and young adult­hood there, grad­u­a­tion from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh with a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Ele­men­tary Edu­ca­tion. Bebe was an advo­cate for men­tal health and her first book, Some­times Mom­my Gets Angry, was the win­ner of the NAMI Out­stand­ing Lit­er­a­ture Award for 2003. From the NAMI web­site, She co-found­ed NAMI Urban Los Ange­les and became a nation­al change agent whose ground­break­ing work rev­o­lu­tion­ized the way we approach men­tal health in under­served com­mu­ni­ties. She rec­og­nized and under­stood the detri­men­tal con­se­quences of silence root­ed in stig­ma — one of the rea­sons for the lack of men­tal health care and treat­ment with­in com­mu­ni­ties of col­or. Camp­bell fear­less­ly chal­lenged the sta­tus quo, shed­ding light on the unique strug­gles faced by peo­ple of col­or and advo­cat­ing for their voic­es to be heard. Her first­hand expe­ri­ence under­scored the need for safe spaces for peo­ple in com­mu­ni­ties of col­or to share their sto­ries and expe­ri­ences with­out shame or judge­ment. She advo­cat­ed for spaces of hope and heal­ing where the unheard and untreat­ed could find inclu­sive and equi­table resources for sup­port and men­tal health care.”


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