Welcome to my new website designed by the amazingly talented, very patient, calm Sophia Catania. I am so grateful that after having a “dying” website for several years, she has infused new life into it. Thank you, Sophia!!! If you need help with your digital needs, please check her out at https://scatania.myportfolio.com/
February marks Black History Month. Here are some helpful links. I’m grateful to my colleague Dr. Holly Houston for posting these resources on the Illinois Psychological Association website.
The story of Black History Month begins in Chicago during the summer of 1915. An alumnus of the University of Chicago with many friends in the city, Carter G. Woodson traveled from Washington, D.C. to participate in a national celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of emancipation sponsored by the state of Illinois. Thousands of African Americans traveled from across the country to see exhibits highlighting the progress their people had made since the destruction of slavery. Awarded a doctorate in Harvard three years earlier, Woodson joined the other exhibitors with a black history display. Daryl Michael Scott, Former National President of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
2024 Black History Month Theme: African Americans and the Arts
History, Videos, Articles, Photo Gallery
Information for Youth:
Celebrate Black History Month in Chicago:
PBS Programming for Black History Month 2024:
Black History Month 2024 Books for Kids:
Black History Month 2024 Books for Adults:
Movies to Watch during Black History Month:
I am also sharing some of my favorite quotes from authors/activists I love and respect.
"That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare it, because .being American is more than a pride we inherit—It's the past we step into, and how we repair it." — Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb
"The fact is that justice is indivisible; injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "The Other America" from The Radical King
"To soar toward what's possible, you must leave behind what's comfortable." — Cicely Tyson, Just as I Am
"I knew my life would be a fight, and I realized this: I had it in me." — Viola Davis, Finding Me
"It's okay to be discouraged. It's natural. But in the discouragement, find your courage." — Tabitha Brown, Feeding the Soul
"To those who’ve survived: Breathe. That’s it. Once more. Good. You’re good. Even if you’re not, you’re alive. That is a victory." — N. K. Jemisin, The Stone Sky
"Self-definition and self-determination is about the many varied decisions that we make to compose and journey toward ourselves, about the audacity and strength to proclaim, create, and evolve into who we know ourselves to be. It’s okay if your personal definition is in a constant state of flux as you navigate the world." — Janet Mock, Redefining Realness
"Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth." — James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
"Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part. And if we believe in the change we seek, then it is easy to commit to doing all we can, because the responsibility is ours alone to build a better society and a more peaceful world." — John Lewis, Across That Bridge