Joseph White, Father of Black Psychology

***The following is an excellent interview. Do find some time to give a listen.

"Joseph White's 1970 article "Toward a Black Psychology", published in Ebony Magazine, was a seminal document in the formation of African-American Psychology as a professional field and the rise of ethnic and cultural psychology. The article argued that whatever the future of race relations and the destiny of black people, the creation of a Black Psychology was necessary because the psychology created by white people could never adequately apply to African-Americans. Dr. White went further to point out that the application of mainstream white psychology to black people resulted in weakness-oriented deficit finding, rather than an accurate appraisal of the situation of people of African descent"
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The Freedom Riders and Lessons for Today

Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg

Audio Document

The Freedom Riders and Lessons for Today
With
The Rev. Dr. James Lawson , helped coordinate the Freedom
Rides in 1961, the Meredith March in 1966, & while working as a pastor
at the Centenary Methodist Church in Memphis, played a major role in
the sanitation workers strike of 1968. On the eve of his assassination,
Martin Luther King called Lawson "the leading theorist and strategist of
nonviolence in the world and (complete page)

Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics

The 1936 Olympics were in Berlin, Germany, during the rule of Adolf Hitler. Hitler hoped to use the Olympics to show the superior prowess of the German athletes. He wanted to deny Jewish and black athletes the right to participate in the Olympics.

Jesse Owens was a successful track and field athlete at Ohio State University and held several world records. He, along with several other African-American athletes, was selected for the United States Olympic team. Though the International Olympic Committee finally forced the Germans to allow all those who were qualified to participate, many in the United States suggested that Owens and other athletes should boycott the games.

Walter White, the director of the NAACP, was one of those who spoke out against Owens’ participation. In a 1936 letter that was never sent to Owens, White wrote that, “It is my firm conviction that the issue of participation in the 1936 Olympics, if held in Germany under the present regime, transcends all other issues. Participation by American athletes, and especially by those of our own race which has suffered more than any other from American race hatred, would, I firmly believe, do irreparable harm.”
Letter from Walter White to Jesse Owens 12/4/1935

A life history written as part of the Federal Writer’s Project quotes Owens as responding to critics, “After all, since we are all Americans, Negroes should have a chance in every sport. Certainly the showing of Negroes in track events shows that if they have half a chance, they produce the goods”.

Jesse Owens won four Olympic medals in the 1936 Olympics, confirming that he could “produce the goods.” Others have won as many medals, but few experienced the kind of pressure Owens did.

This Is Your Life TV Program featuring Jesse Owens

Benjamin Hooks interviewed by Richard D. Heffner on Affirmative Action (The Open Mind) 1983

 In 1983 Benjamin Hooks was interviewed on the program "The Open Mind" on the subject of Civil Rights and the effects of affirmative action laws. Listen to mr. Hooks and see if you think his assessment of the state of affirmative action is on target.  Hooks offers some interesting solutions and makes some interesting comparisons re: making affirmative action work. Do you believe any of these solutions have been earnestly attempted.

 They discuss the subject of activist American leadership. Where are the contemporary leadership going to come from? Who do you think has stood out from the crowd since that time?

 Thirty years later can you see any points that Mr. Hooks was missing?  What about mass incarceration do you think it's possible that affirmative action caused mainstream-Americans overlook the incarceration of many young African-Americans, in order to remove them from the affirmative action formula?