As we approach Black History Month in February, the Psychology Department at Seattle University is compiling a list of texts, articles, podcasts, trainings, and essays that offer a perspective of our Black-bodied colleagues from around the world. This is a perspective that is often unrecognized, lost, or forgotten in the discipline and history of psychology.  

• May we bow in honor of those who bring voice to the field of psychology through the Black/African-American experience. 
• May we continue to acknowledge White supremacy’s domination of this field and create space for Black/African-American authors. 
• May we listen attentively to those who have had little access to the conversation through the decades.    

It's only a beginning…we must continue to live as lifelong learners who “read the text” of life experience, relationships, and the many written and verbal expressions of all who reside in this diverse and rich conversation. As we pause in this month to pay tribute and create space for the history of the Black experience, may we grieve the loss of inclusion through the centuries.  

Please join us in honoring the rich and diverse voices on this list and the thousands of others in other disciplines. 

Books in the SU Library

Alverez, Alvin N., Liang, Christopher T. H., and Neville, Helen A.
The Cost of Racism for People of Color: Contextualizing Experiences of Discrimination

Ani, Marimba
Yurugu: An African Centered Critique of European Thought and Behavior

Brown, Laura
Cultural competence in Trauma Therapy

Bryant-Davis, Thema
Thriving in the Wake of Trauma: A Multicultural Guide

Burlew, Ann Kathleen
African American Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice

Diangelo, Robin
White Fragility

Eyerman, Ron
Cultural Trauma: Slavery and the Formation of African American Identity

Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity

Fanon, Frantz
Black Skin, White Masks

Guthrie, Robert
Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology

Hollins, Caprice, and Govan, Isla
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Strategies for Facilitating Conversations on Race

Jennings, Willie
The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race

After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging

Jones, Reginald Lanier
Black Psychology

Menakem, Resmaa
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending our Hearts and Bodies

Rankine, Claudia
Citizen: An American Lyric

Sue, Derald Wing
Race Talk and The Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race

Tate, Shirley Anne
Black Beauty: Aesthetics, Stylization, Politics

Turner, Erlanger A.
Mental health among African Americans: Innovations in Research and Practice

Watkins, Mary & Shulman, Helene
Towards Psychologies of Liberation

Watts, Roderick J. and Jagers, Robert J.
Manhood development in urban African-American communities

White, Joseph and Parham, Thomas
Counseling Persons of African Descent: Raising the Bar of Practitioner Competence

Wilkerson, Isabel
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents