Attending an ABPsi convention is a unique family reunification ritual. For African Americans, the ratification of the 1865 Thirteenth Amendment is cited as the origin of Black Family Reunions. In 2024, I joined two different adopted family members, Trust Manzini (Tsonga) and Dr. Zethu Cataka (Xhosa), in their annual “Going Back to the Village” excursion. It translated to my own childhood experiences of “Going to the Country” to see grandparents and relatives who never left to live in the city. This experience led me to believe that, as people of Afrikan ancestry, our Spiritness will call us to ritualistically set aside time to “reunite.”
I am convinced our annual ABPsi convention is a Spirit Calling to unify with other Black professionals committed to the mental well-being of Black people.
I attended my first conference as a student; as a professional, I never stopped. This year was especially momentous because I had a plan for our Bay Area Chapter students to meet the ABPsi elders and scholars who are our “Living Black Legends.” As Bay Area residents, they already knew Baba Wade (Dr. Wade Nobles), Baba G. (Dr. Lawford Goddard), and Dr. Tony Jackson.
Like a proud mother presenting her children to the family for approval, I embarked on my secret plan to position them for Jegnaship. With each new encounter, I asked the students, “Do you know who this is?” hoping they would find out and actively seek their professional guidance.
Here’s how to position new students for jegnaship:
Embarking on my mission, I connected them not just to our Western Region Representative, Dr. Brandon Gamble, but also to other doctors in our region, including Cheryl Grills, Hal Fairchild, and Thomas Parham. My insistence that they attend Tony Browder’s Egypt on the Potomac event paid off, as Scholar Browder did not hold back in sharing his vast knowledge. At this event, they got to meet two Western Region Elders whom they only knew virtually through our Zoom events: Dr. William Thomas and Dr. Carolyn Murray. Seeing Dr. Kevin Cokely, I instructed our only female student at the convention, Zindzhi Montgomery, to take a photo with him.
I spotted the other half of the living founders, Dr. Edwin Nichols, who always graciously allows me not only to “gush” over him but also to pose with him in photos.
I caught Baba Na’im (Dr. Akbar) without his personal FOI. I took full advantage of the opportunity to sit with him and tell him about our new student president, Elijah Virachittevin.
I brought the students to Mama Huberta Jackson-Lowman, an African queen, whose husband, King, is always in attendance to ensure she has everything needed to “Queen” at the highest level.
I intentionally seated student Damien Pope next to Mama Mawiyah (Dr. Kambon), knowing how excited he would be when he found out that she and her King (Living Ancestor Baba Kamau Kambon) built a compound in Ghana with their son Dr. Obadele Kwame Kambon (University of Ghana professor). I laugh remembering I made the mistake of applying shared last names to marriage.
I also instructed my new student president, Elijah Virachittevin, to quickly introduce himself to Mama Linda (Dr. Myers) as she sat eating lunch with Dr. Maat; I recognized this as his opportunity to get Mama Linda without her usual crowd. (Forgive me, Dr. Maat).
Spotting our former chapter member Mama Patricia (Dr. Canson-Griffith), I excitedly rushed the students over to meet her. I shared how she was lovingly cared for by her King, Dr. Stanford Griffith. I didn’t want them to ever worry about being too radical as family members, so I introduced them to Dr. Mark Bolden and asked him to make sure they also met Dr. Shawn Utsey.
They were also introduced to my Big, Little Sistah, Dr. Theopia Jackson, whose footsteps I walk in as a college professor and the current Bay Area Chapter President. I wanted them to learn about NTU Therapy, so I brought them to Dr. Tracey Garrett.
International travel is important, so I made sure students met some of their international family, specifically those I call the “Real Queens of the UK,” aka Dr. Michele Perry-Springer, Rameri Moukam, and Clancey Williams.
Envisioning them as future leaders required them to meet recent past presidents like Dr. Donell L. Barnett; I enjoyed taking a photo of him with our newly licensed early career professionals, Azizi Gupton and Dani Johnson.
They met my Lil Sistah, immediate past president Dr. Sharon Bethia.
They towered over our current “Big President,” Dr. Monique Swift, but she still personally welcomed each of them in a way that now gives them bragging rights to say they know the National ABPsi President.
Connecting them to our President-elect, Dr. Rachel Mingo, was easy; she, like the incoming student chair Veronica Mixon, readily posed with them for a photo.
Reminding myself to say Dr. JoJo (Joniesha Hickson), not JoJo, showed that students become professional in the ABPsi family.
I wanted our student attendees to know that the ABPsi conventions are not like other professional events.
Here their Spirits were meeting the Spirits of Afrikan-centered scholars who would not just treat them like beloved younger family members, but would also: (a) answer questions, no matter how trivial; (b) provide genuine encouragement (c) offer not just “in the moment” advise but also share their personal contact information.
During each encounter, my ABPsi Family did not exhibit any signs of annoyance when asked to take a photo, or even two. Everyone treated them the way I was treated as a student. Witnessing these interactions reminded me of my time as a student sitting at the feet of those who are now “Living Ancestors.”
As a student, I sat at the feet of those who are now “Living Ancestors.”I asked Dr. William Cross, Jr. (1971) to explain Nigrescence; I heard Dr. Robert L. Williams, the B.I.T.C.H. (1972) test author, instructing us to make sure we “Cross the Burning Sand” (get the doctorate) BEFORE shaking things up. I got lovingly mocked by Dr. Kobi Kambon, who asked me to tell him “Where Moses’ body is buried” to help him understand how I professed to embrace Afrikan Deep Thought Science and can still call myself a Christian.
I sat in Nana Dr. Patricia Newton’s workshop as she instructed other attendees to make sure “That I understood what she was saying,” because she knew I was a new student in the ABPsi Family. As a student and a professional, I personally knew and deeply miss seeing my brother, Dr. Derek Wilson, our chapter elder, Dr. Michael Conner, and others who have now transitioned to the ancestor realm.
At this convention, I made it my personal mission to ensure the students met as many of the “Living Legends” and “Legends to Be” who reflect the Afrikan excellence our ABPsi Family undeniably possesses.
As a student and professional, I missed Doctors Asa Hilliard, Bobby Wright, and Francis Cress Welsing because they transitioned from this realm before this became my beloved professional family. I did not want our Chapter Students, whom I have adopted as my own family and who will enter Jegnaship, to miss out on tapping into our unique reservoir of ABPsi knowledge.
As a professional scholar, I am a member of other organizations, but ABPsi is my Black Family. It is the place I return to each year and meet/learn about the scholarship of Family members. This year the family member was Dr. Tony Camp and his Rap Therapy.
A couple of years back, it was Dr. T Owens Moore; this time he told me to check out his new book “Kabafa” (2026) and let him know what I thought; of course, when I got home, I ordered it. My conceived B’s of Blackness (Nunley, 2019) includes a component I call “Black Gold,” i.e., the neuromelanin dominance Dr. Moore and others write about. As an ABPsi Family member, I know I can reach out not just to Dr. Moore but to all of our “Living Legends” and “Legends to Be” with the same confidence they instilled in me as a student.
As a professional, I now submit proposals, conduct convention workshops, and continue learning from ABPsi’s continuously evolving Afrikan Excellence.
This excellence is built on a 57-year-old strong foundation of Traditional Afrikan Deep Thought on optimal human functioning for Afrikan ancestry people. I have continued to benefit from Black scholars pouring into me.
It is not just theories and concepts; it is a unique sharing of scholarship in Sacred Spaces created when we convene. For my student attendees, I hope each of them knows that once they are professionals, there will be an annual call for them to return home to the APBsi to reunite with other Afrikan Spirits who share their passion to serve Black people.
*Photos courtesy of the author and Dr. Hal Fairchild
