Print

x Preface are exposed to political rhetoric that demoralizes Black women legal prec- edent that penalizes Blackness misogynoir (anti-Black misogyny) mes- sages that label Black women as dangerous, aggressive, angry, and ugly and the accepted violence against Black women and their bodies. Third, White and male supremacy continue in psychological research. With multiculturalism and social justice being adopted as the fourth and fifth forces of psychology, the psychological community has far to go in changing psychological narratives and translating research to practice. Black women scholarship continues to be devalued and underutilized, pushing the current movement of #citeblackwomen. Take, for example, the fact that Black women scholars such as Drs. Beverly Green, Bev- erly Tatum, and Janet Helms and emerging Black women scholars such Drs. Jioni Lewis, Bryana French, Della Mosley, and Candice Hargons have extensively written about anti-blackness and gendered racism, while one of the top selling anti-racism books is written by a White woman, Robin DiAngelo. This book is written for all mental health professionals serving Black and African American women. Shared ethnicity, race, and gender may help Black and African American women mental health practitioners better appreciate and connect with Black and African American women. However, shared identity status does not automatically translate to com- petent care. Black and African American mental health professionals receive much of the same psychological training as their White and male counterparts thus, many must also develop awareness and skill in pro- viding culturally competent practice. Non-Black and African American women and men benefit from this book by gaining clinical information, an insider’s view of the therapy room with African American women clinicians working intimately with their clients, and support for racial and gender justice advocacy. In recent years as Black Lives Matter activism has forced the nation to face how it treats Black and African American members of this society, many non-Black and African American people, mental health clinicians included, have come to understand and own their deficits in understanding and supporting the Black experience in this country. Many have made a concerted effort to increase their multicultural awareness and anti-racist approaches to their clinical work. This text will serve as a great resource in these endeavors. WHO ARE BLACK AND AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN? In this book, the terms African American, Black, and Black American are used synonymously to represent women and gender-expansive folx within the United States who are the descendants of the fourth African diasporic stream. This book speaks specifically to the descendants of individuals brought out of Africa to what is now the United States in the