September 2, 2026
Breaking Invisible Chains: Financial Trauma, Mental Health, and the Liberation of the African Spirit

Breaking Invisible Chains: Financial Trauma, Mental Health, and the Liberation of the African Spirit

THE CHAINS WE CANNOT SEE Our ancestors endured chains that could be seen. Today, some of the chains affecting Black families are harder to see. Financial stress. Economic fear. Shame. Survival thinking. Intergenerational scarcity. These invisible chains may not leave marks on our wrists, but they can leave marks on […]

Seen, Strong, and Still Rising: Black Disability, Public Policy, and the Psychology of Resilience

Seen, Strong, and Still Rising: Black Disability, Public Policy, and the Psychology of Resilience

A Disability Pride Month Commentary on Intersectionality, Mental Health, and Collective Liberation Abstract: Disability Pride Month provides a chance to honor resilience, leadership, and lived experiences of people with disabilities while confronting systemic injustices. For Black Americans with disabilities, disability cannot be understood apart from race, history, and public policy. […]

Trauma Bonds, Liberation, and the Black Female Nervous System

Trauma Bonds, Liberation, and the Black Female Nervous System

An African-Centered Framework for Healing and Family Restoration The relational experiences of Black women cannot be understood outside of the historical, neurobiological, and structural forces that have shaped the Black family across generations. Trauma bonding, relational instability, and attachment disruption within Black relationships are often interpreted through individualistic or pathologizing […]

Re-envisioning Interdisciplinary Labs as Research Homes

Re-envisioning Interdisciplinary Labs as Research Homes

As we think about our individual research houses, we must also consider how we can support each other. As interdisciplinary scholars, our work is reflective of the inclusion of many schools of thought. As practitioners, we should bridge that spirit of inclusion to our collaborations much like our opening song renders.

Strong but Sinking: The Hidden Toll of Family Strain, Incarceration, and Suicide Among Black Men in the African Diaspora

Strong but Sinking: The Hidden Toll of Family Strain, Incarceration, and Suicide Among Black Men in the African Diaspora

Strong but Sinking: The Hidden Toll of Family Strain, Incarceration, and Suicide Among Black Men in the African Diaspora by Abasi Key, M.A. and Felicia Swafford, Ph.D. Photo by Asso Myron on Unsplash For the Black/Afrikan diaspora community, this conversation is both urgent and deeply necessary. For too long, suicide […]

WISDOMBEARERS:  A Study of Proverb Use and Values Among African American Elders

WISDOMBEARERS:  A Study of Proverb Use and Values Among African American Elders

By: Huberta Jackson-LowmanJustin WilliamsChrista JohnsonStephanie BarnesJasmine PlummerEarnestine RichardsonFlorida A&M University ABSTRACT This study investigated knowledge and use of proverbs, values associated with proverb use, and proverb prioritization among Afrikan American elders 60 years of age and older. Forty elders living in retirement homes in the southeastern part of the country […]

Divine Energy Made Manifest (DEMM)

Divine Energy Made Manifest (DEMM)

In this series, I am intentionally exploring the idea of Divine Energy Made Manifest (DEEM) with or against (1) Its Introduction; (2) Astral Energy; (3) African Epistemic Reflections (4) the Energetics of Black identity and African consciousness; (5) Quantum Reality, (6) Epigenetics, and (7) Footprints in the Air Going Forward.