Harriette Pipes McAdoo (1940 – 2009)

Harriette and her husband, researcher John Lewis McAdoo, studied Black families in the Washington, DC area with their Family Life Project. Within this effort, they placed a focus on the middle-class, rather than the working class and those living below the poverty line.

Harriette’s research was some of the earliest to challenge the widely-held, harmful racial stereotypes held about Black families. Eventually, she earned a spot in the White House Conference on Families, appointed by President Jimmy Carter.

Dr. Cornel West (1953 to Present)

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Cornel West is a prominent political activist, doctor of philosophy, theologian, artist, and Princeton University Professor Emeritus who proudly and provocatively advocates for racial and social justice in the U.S. In positions at Harvard, Princeton, and Union Theological Seminary, he has used his pulpit to call attention to issues of racial and religious injustice internationally, never afraid to stand up to administrative power and privilege.

Dr. West is not only an accomplished academic, having written twenty books on history and current affairs related to race, religion, and politics in America, but also an actor, commentator, and spoken word artist. He has described himself as having a passion for communicating to as wide an audience as possible and keeping alive Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of speaking truth, love, and justice.

James Baldwin (1924 – 1987)

Though not a clinical practitioner, James Arthur Baldwin’s life and career as a writer and activist had a profound impact on social change throughout the twentieth century. Spending time between New York and France, Baldwin was a prolific writer and a public figure during the civil rights movement. His work pioneered portraits of America in its treatment of Black individuals and families and offered critical reflections on race, queer sexuality, gender, and class.

In amplifying the honest emotions and reckonings of his time, Baldwin offered the world necessary reflections on the moral dilemmas between self-acceptance and allegiance to ideology and to country. Baldwin’s writing has touched thousands and continues to guide and inspire today. Some of his more notable works include novels and essay collections such as Go Tell It On the Mountain, The Fire Next Time, and Notes of A Native Son. 

“I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” – J. Baldwin

Willie Gertrude Brown (1888 – 1949)

Gertrude Brown was a prominent Black social worker administrator of the 1920’s and 1930’s, leaving a legacy of impact ranging from Dayton, Ohio to Minneapolis, Minnesota and many other cities. She was a leading figure of the settlement house movement (centers that provided services and channel social reform in communities), although is often forgotten in the field of social work’s history.

Brown helped establish and lead the Phyllis Wheatley house in Minneapolis, where she championed community action and programs, such as those that addressed unjust housing discrimination and police brutality, for the greater Minneapolis African American community.

Today, we can celebrate Brown’s legacy as disrupting the status quo in the social work/settlement house movements and forging paths of opportunities for local and national Black communities during her time.

Linda James Myers, Ph.D. (1948 – Present)

Dr. Myers is known for her critique of traditional western psychological frameworks and her research on African centered psychology. She specializes in psychology and culture; moral and spiritual identity development; healing practices and psychotherapeutic processes; and intersections of race, gender, and class.

Internationally known for her work in the development of a theory of Optimal Psychology; Dr. Myers has conducted trainings in England, South Africa, Ghana, and Jamaica. She is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, and five books, including Understanding an Afrocentric World View: Introduction to an Optimal Psychology; and, most recently, co-editor of Re-centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice.

Dr. James Myers’ Oneness model of human functioning offers a trans-disciplinary focus that builds on insights from the wisdom tradition of African deep thought and converges with modern physics and Eastern philosophies. Her current research interests comprise the application of that model to a broad range of issues from health and education to business ethics. Dr. James Myers has received numerous honors and awards for excellence in research and scholarship, including being named Distinguished Psychologist by the Association of Black Psychologists (of which she is also a past president); the Bethune/Woodson Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Development of Promotion of Black Studies from the National Council of Black Studies; Oni Award by the International Black Women’s Congress; and, the Building to Eternity Award from the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization, among others.