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                                                          July 1, 2021
      Welcome to DIRECTIONS the monthly online newsletter of the Delaware Valley              Association of Black Psychologists (DVABPsi). We look forward to providing our readers
wiith pertinent information to support, encourage, and uplift our community and those who
serve the community. The goal of DVABPsi is to make a positive impact on Black Mental
Health today and for the future.
  
    DeBorah Gilbert White, Ph.D.- Editor 
                                                       

                                                      President's Message:  

                                                      Dr. Ayo Maria Gooden

                                                      Delaware Valley Association

                                                      of Black Psychologists

                                                             (DVABPsi)

     
                

 .                                                    WHEN WILL WE BE FREE?

     On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass was invited to address a crowd of primarily Caucasians/Whites.

He stated, ”…Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today?

What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of

political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?

The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is

shared by you, not by me.”  Since 1776, the 4th of July has been widely celebrated as Independence

Day in the United States of America.  However, Melanics (People of Color) were not included in the

freedoms experienced by Caucasians/Whites.  Blacks were held by Whites/Caucasians as enslaved

people until 1865.  Native People were being massacred, scalped, raped, mutilated, and forced onto Reservations.  Asians and Latinx people were abused (emotionally, physically, and sexually), and massacred. The abuse of Melanics and the denial of freedom has been a national process supported by laws created by Whites/Caucasians to support their undeserved privileges.  Blacks and other Melanics

have been taught to celebrate the holidays observed by Caucasians and accept them as “ours” instead

of the biased tools of mental and cultural enslavement.  

      In June, 2021 Juneteenth was made a federal holiday.  It is the oldest holiday celebrated by Blacks

in the United States to mark the last official group of enslaved Blacks in the United States who received

the news on June 19, 1865, that all Blacks were free from slavery.  The speech by Frederick Douglass is

a profound statement and warning about celebrating the holidays of those who have been oppressing

Blacks and other Melanics.  What appears to be an effort to include Melanics in a time of celebration is

in reality the wiping of Melanic memories and replacing them with the memories that require the rejection

of reality.  Melanics were not free in 1776 and have limited freedoms in 2021.  Rabbits do not lay eggs.

fat  Caucasian/White male does not slide down your chimney and give you presents.

      Christopher Columbus never stepped foot on North, South, or Central America.  He got lost and

landed on what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Columbus massacred over 8 million Taino

people on the island and began slavery.  He also died in prison after Queen Isabella caught him stealing from her. Thanksgiving does not commemorate the peaceful meals shared between the Native People

and the Pilgrims.  The Pilgrims invited the Native People to eat with them and then slaughtered every

man, woman, child, and baby.  After committing these heinous crimes up and down the East Coast, they gave thanks for delivering this new homeland from the “heathen savages.”  Why have these holidays

been created while altering the truth?  If everyone knew the truth about these and other holidays, the

spell would begin to be broken. Healthy Caucasians/Whites would not feel proud of the numerous

atrocities committed against Melanics in the past or present.  Melanics would begin to see Caucasians 

as they see themselves, imperfect people who need to be healed from the ravages of racism, sexism,

ableism, etc.  

      Are Blacks and other Melanics free?  Do Melanics have the freedom to wear their hair in natural 

hairstyles without experiencing discrimination in hiring, academics, and social interactions?  Are laws

equally and fairly applied to Melanics?  Do Melanics have the power to implement self-determination or, Kujichagulia, which is the second principle of the Nguzo Saba celebrated during Kwanzaa?  Embracing Black holidays is one strategy to reclaim who we are and who we should be or who we should

become.  Holidays help individuals connect to their cultural group. Blacks have been indoctrinated by

Caucasian/White society.  Freedom starts with controlling your own thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors.  

Blacks and other Melanics must start embracing culturally-specific holidays and creating meaningful traditions that help to heal and build from institutional racism. 

      Learn about the challenges your parents, grandparents, and others have experienced.  Examine

how challenges were overcome.  Create family businesses and support other Melanic businesses.  Stop cursing.  Stop name-calling.  Stop emotionally, physically, financially, and sexually harming other

Melanics.  Use your free time to join organizations that are fighting against racism, sexism, and other

“isms.”  Explore who you are and what you can do to make your life and the lives of others better.

Eliminate those behaviors that prevent you from being your best you.  Stop smoking.  Stop drinking

alcohol and using drugs.  Exercise and eat healthy foods.  Surround yourself with healthy people. 

DVABPsi can provide you with help to reach your goals.  Healing from past hurts and trauma is a

journey best taken with the guidance of a trained Black professional.  DVABPsi has the professional expertise to illuminate your spirit and provide you with effective strategies to heal your life.

(1852) Frederick Douglass, "What, To The Slave, Is The Fourth Of July" • (blackpast.org)

   

                      Harambee!  Harambee!  Harambee! (Let us all pull together).

          Hotep (Peace and Blessings)- Ayo Maria Gooden, Ph.D., ABPBC, LLC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                Guest Contributor: Ingrid K. Tulloch, Ph.D. 
                    Why Black People Should Pay Attention to Inflammation

 

 

 

      Black people should pay attention to inflammation because both ancient and modern physicians recognized its role as a leading contributor to death and disease. Reports on translated Egyptian Papyri suggest that this most ancient society had descriptions of inflammatory conditions, their consequences,

and potential treatments for the conditions.1 The Harvard Medical Dictionary of Health Terms defines inflammation as "The body's reaction to injury or infection. It is characterized by swelling, heat, redness,

and pain."2 Most individuals think of inflammation in similar ways. Others relate inflammation to a specific disease, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBS). Generally, inflammation is a non-specific response

to anything harmful or stressful to the body.3 Chronic stress is detrimental to the body. The body’s

response to stress involves chemical signaling molecules as part of the stress and immune response.

For example, the hormone cortisol is one such chemical signal. However, the release of a group of small proteins called cytokines is another stress-signaling process. Researchers measure inflammation in

terms of the concentration of cytokine signaling chemicals.4 Thus, it might be easier to define

inflammatory cytokines as the body's alarm signal for mobilizing resistance to stressors. 

      A stressor is anything interpreted by the body as potentially dangerous. This danger can be real or imagined and directly or vicariously experienced as stress. Stress includes short-term physical changes, such as a vigorous exercise session that increases blood flow.5 This type of stress is beneficial. It puts

strain on the muscles in the process of strengthening them. Stress can also be a wound, in which case inflammation and cytokine-induced release of fluids and increased temperature at the wound site is necessary for bringing germ-fighting chemicals to the wound. Inflammatory cytokines also trigger the

increased production of immune cells to the wound site to facilitate healing. Elevation of cytokines in

these situations is usually a short-term and appropriate response to these types of stressors.

Stressors are also psychosocial conditions that have a negative impact on health. To illustrate the

point, imagine, if you may, an individual struggling to breathe each day because they live in a

neighborhood with high levels of toxic substances. The toxins cause asthma or make asthma and other inflammation-associated health conditions worse. For someone with asthma, when exposed to a

triggering substance or allergen, inflammatory responses occur throughout the body but especially in the respiratory system. Asthma is a chronic stress inflammatory condition that affects a larger

proportion of Black than White individuals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

                                                            Environmental and genetic contributions to inflammation and disease

                                                            Source: Kronfol Z. (2000) Cytokines and the Brain: Implications for                                                                                                                                                  Clinical Psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry.157 (5):683-694

     

     

       The systematic and institutional racism that promotes the construction of major highways and toxin-producing industries in or near majority Black neighborhoods is one causative factor of this stressor. The journal Science recently reported on a class of environmental pollutants known as fine particulate

pollution (PM2.5), disproportionately affecting Black and other non-white communities in the United

States. This type of pollutant is the leading contributor of death due to environmental toxins.

The "[…]emission sources that disproportionately expose POC [people of color to PM2.5]are pervasive throughout society."12  Systemic racism underscores socioeconomic marginalization and exclusion.

These efforts result in job scarcity, mass incarceration, home or business loan denials, and limited or no access to fresh produce, green spaces, and adequate health care. These social realities contribute to chronic stress conditions such as asthma.13, 14 Stress causes and perpetuates chronically higher

cytokine levels in the body. Black bodies withstand the most and the worst types of these inflammation-inducing stressors even when highly educated and economically stable.15 It is then not surprising that

Black Americans have higher basal levels of inflammatory cytokines from conception to death.16–19 

For example, a significant proportion of Black males who died from Covid-19 disease complications had extraordinarily high inflammatory cytokine levels.16  Rapid and significantly elevated cytokine release is

a feature of complications due to Covid-19 disease. One can imagine that having an already high

baseline level of inflammatory cytokines might contribute to mortality.

      Citing the World Health Organization's report on health indices, a StatPerls research review suggests that approximately two-thirds of all chronic disease conditions are related to inflammation.17 Furthermore, increases in inflammation-related chronic conditions and death are predicted for the next thirty years.18 These are health conditions that top the list of the leading cause of death in the United States, and Black people are disproportionately affected.19 Conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes top

the list annually. However, allergies, arthritis and joint diseases, cancer deaths, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and autoimmune conditions are also high on the list.

 

 

 

                 Inflammation in multiple disease conditions. Source: Ambrose Cell Therapy

.              https://ambrosecelltherapy.com/chronic-inflammation-is-that-all-there-is-to-disease

 

      Additional conditions associated with chronic inflammation are neurological and mental disorders

such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, anxiety, depression. These conditions are all increasing or

occurring at earlier ages in Black Americans.20, 21 For example, the proportion of Black children 

committing suicide surpassed white children for the first time in 2018. The suicide rates of black children were increasing while it was in decline for white childen22. These Black children likely had high levels of brain inflammation because studies have reported increases in inflammatory cytokines in the brains of individuals who attempt and complete suicide. 23,24 Compounding these health concerns is that Black people are terrorized and traumatized directly through systemic discriminatory psychosocial conditions

and indirectly through media reports. Almost daily, one hears of another Freddie Grey, George Floyd, and

too many others to list in a short article. The terror and homicide committed against individuals that share one's skin color and because of their skin color would naturally keep black bodies in a constant state of biochemical and psychological alarm. That alarm is a chronic inflammatory state, and such conditions

lead to chronic illness, early death, or suicide.

 

      What can be done?  

Things that be done to mitigate chronic inflammation are challenging when one is immobilized by terror

and illness as cited in a review of cytokines in health and behavior6. However, we can and must consider

the following seven items.  First, can and must acquire knowledge, and reflect on how our thinking and behavioral responses either exacerbate or mitigate inflammatory conditions as our biochemical alarms

are blaring for us to do something. Second, we can and must search for and use green spaces to relax

and breathe deeply. Third, we can and must start moving as Michelle Obama encouraged us to do

because physical activity promotes the production of healing chemicals in the body. The increased blood

flow also allows these chemicals to reach areas of the body desperately in need of them.24  Fourth, we

can and must eat a life-promoting diet and avoid death-promoting refined sugars and toxified protein sources.25,26 Many spices, fruits, and vegetables indigenous to Africa and available in the West contain anti-inflammatory substances. 27,28 Fifth, we can and must get sufficient sleep because lack of sleep increases inflammation.29  Sixth, we can and must engage in more healthy social interactions and relationships and community building30. When unhealthy social interactions cannot be fully avoided, we

can take time to rejuvenate through meditation, prayer, or even a walk in the park and find other

like-minded individuals. Seventh, we can and must continuously educate ourselves on how we are

affected by and affect the world around us. 

      Living while Black is living with a body in a constant state of inflammation. We might be greater than

our bodies but we need our bodies in this world to be able to do the important work we were born to do.

As Black educators and practitioners, we need to pay attention to the conditions and behaviors that lead

to inflammation and its associated health consequences and work together to mitigate them. To do

otherwise is to accept a leading cause of chronic disease and death as documented by the Ancient Egyptians and currently discussed and studied by biomedical researchers worldwide.

1. Hartmann A(2016). Back to the roots - dermatology in ancient Egyptian medicine: Dermatology in ancient Egyptian medicine. JDDG:Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft. 14(4):389-396. doi:10.1111/ddg.12947

2. Inflammation.(2011) In: Dictionary of Medical Health Terms. Vol I-L. Online. Harvard Health Publishing; 2011. Accessed February 28, 2021. https://www.health.harvard.edu/medical-dictionary-of-health-terms/d-through-i#I-terms

3. Henochowicz SI. (2020) Immune Response. In: A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia. Vol Online. April 2. Medline Plus Medical Enclycopedia. U.S. National

Library of Medicine, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health; 2020. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000821.htm

4. Wolkow A, Aisbett B, Reynolds J, Ferguson SA, Main LC. (2015)Relationships between inflammatory cytokine and cortisol responses in firefighters

exposed to simulated wildfire suppression work and sleep restriction. Physiol Rep.3(11). doi:10.14814/phy2.12604

5. Tian R, Hou G, Li D, Yuan T-F.(2014) A Possible Change Process of Inflammatory Cytokines in the Prolonged Chronic Stress and Its Ultimate Implications

for Health. The Scientific World Journal.2014:1-8. doi:10.1155/2014/780616

6. Kronfol Z.(2000) Cytokines and the Brain: Implications for Clinical Psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry.157(5):683-694.

doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.5.683

7. Zschucke E, Renneberg B, Dimeo F, Wüstenberg T, Ströhle A.(2015)The stress-buffering effect of acute exercise: Evidence for HPA axis negative feedback. Psychoneuroendocrinology.51:414-425. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.10.019

8. Chen M, Lacey RE.(2018) Adverse childhood experiences and adult inflammation: Findings from the 1958 British birth cohort. Brain, Behavior, and

Immunity. 69:582-590. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2018.02.007

9. Miller AH, Haroon E, Raison CL, Felger JC. Cytokine targets in the brain: impact on neurotransmitters and neurocircuits. Depress Anxiety. 2013;

30(4):297-306. doi:10.1002/da.22084

10. Ray A.(2016) Cytokines and their Role in Health and Disease: A Brief Overview. MOJI.4(2). doi:10.15406/moji.2016.04.00121

11. Djukanović R.(2000) Asthma: A disease of inflammation and repair. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.105(2):S522-S526. doi:10.1016/S0091-6749(00)90055-1

12. Tessum CW, Paolella DA, Chambliss SE, Apte JS, Hill JD, Marshall JD (2021). PM 2.5 polluters disproportionately and systemically affect people of color

in the United States. Sci Adv. 7(18):eabf4491. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abf4491

13. Brondolo E, Gallo LC, Myers HF. Race, racism and health: disparities, mechanisms, and interventions. J Behav Med. 2009;32(1):1-8.

doi:10.1007/s10865-008-9190-3

14. American Psychological Association.(2017) Stress and Health Disparities: Contexts, Mechanisms, and Interventions among Racial/Ethnic Minority and

Low-Socioeconomic Status Populations. R. American Psychological Association. Accessed April 24, 2021.

http://www.apa.org/pi/health-disparities/resources/stress-report.aspx

15. Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality.(2017) State of the Union: The Poverty and Inequality Report. Stanford University; https://inequality.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Pathways_SOTU_2017.pdf

16. Arshad AR, Khan I, Shahzad K, Arshad M, Haider SJ, Aslam MJ. (2020) Association of Inflammatory Markers with Mortality in COVID-19 Infection. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak.30(10):158-163. doi:10.29271/jcpsp.2020.supp2.S158

17. Pahwa R, Singh A, Jialal I. (2019) Chronic Inflammation. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; Accessed January 13, 2020, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493173/

18. Roth GA, Abate D, Abate KH, et al.(2018) Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet. 392(10159):1736-1788. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32203-7

19. Schmeer KK, Tarrence J.(2018) Racial-ethnic Disparities in Inflammation: Evidence of Weathering in Childhood? J Health Soc Behav.59(3):411-428. doi:10.1177/0022146518784592

20. Price JH, Khubchandani J, McKinney M, Braun R.(2013) Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Chronic Diseases of Youths and Access to Health Care in the United States. BioMed Research International. 2013:1-12. doi:10.1155/2013/787616

21. Cunningham TJ, Croft JB, Liu Y, Lu H, Eke PI, Giles WH.)2017) Vital Signs: Racial Disparities in Age-Specific Mortality Among Blacks or

African Americans — United States, 1999–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 66(17):444-456. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6617e1

22. Bridge JA, Horowitz LM, Fontanella CA, et al.(2018) Age-Related Racial Disparity in Suicide Rates Among US Youths From 2001 Through 2015. JAMA Pediatr.172(7):697. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.0399

23. Gassen J, Prokosch ML, Eimerbrink MJ, et al.(2019) Inflammation Predicts Decision-Making Characterized by Impulsivity, Present Focus, and an

Inability to Delay Gratification. Sci Rep. 9(1):4928. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41437-1

24. Dimitrov S, Hulteng E, Hong S.(2017) Inflammation and exercise: Inhibition of monocytic intracellular TNF production by acute exercise via β 2 -adrenergic activation. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.61:60-68. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2016.12.017

25. Giugliano D, Ceriello A, Esposito K (2006). The Effects of Diet on Inflammation: Emphasis on the Metabolic Syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology.48(4):677-685. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2006.03.052

26. Firth J, Veronese N, Cotter J, et al.(2019) What Is the Role of Dietary Inflammation in Severe Mental Illness? A Review of Observational and Experimental Findings. Front Psychiatry.10:350. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00350

27. Akinola R, Pereira LM, Mabhaudhi T, de Bruin F-M, Rusch L (2020). A Review of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa and the Implications for more

Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems. Sustainability.12(8):3493. doi:10.3390/su12083493

28. Mahomoodally MF (2012). Traditional Medicines in Africa: An Appraisal of Ten Potent African Medicinal Plants. Evidence-Based Complementary and

Alternative Medicine. 2013;1-14. doi:10.1155/2013/617459

29. Mullington JM, Simpson NS, Meier-Ewert HK, Haack M.(2010) Sleep loss and inflammation. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.24(5):775-784. doi:10.1016/j.beem.2010.08.014

30. Chiang JJ, Eisenberger NI, Seeman TE, Taylor SE. (2012) Negative and competitive social interactions are related to heightened proinflammatory

cytokine activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.109(6):1878-1882. doi:10.1073/pnas.1120972109

 

                                                       

Dr. Ingrid K. Tulloch is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Morgan State University since 2018.  She serves as the founding Director of the Animal Research Core Facility, an NIH-supported Research Centers in Minority Institutions

(RCMI) core laboratory. Dr. Ingrid Tulloch earned a BA in psychology with special honors at Hunter College and a Ph.D.

in psychology at the City University of New York Graduate School.  She completed post-doctoral research in the

Molecular Neuropsychiatry Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Tulloch’s research uses animal models of addiction to understand how early life experiences and biological

processes interact to influence risky behaviors. Her recent research has examined psychosocial factors and

inflammatory cytokine activation to predict risky health behaviors.  She has co-authored several papers on the

molecular mechanisms of addictive substance-induced toxicity and mentored over thirty undergraduate students in psychology and neuroscience. In her spare time, she gardens and volunteers as a tutor and instructor of psychology

and statistics at the Maryland Correctional Institute in Jessup, MD.

                                    

                           CONGRATULATIONS DR. AYO MARIA GOODEN

The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) has selected our President Dr. Ayo Maria Gooden

as a 2021 ABPsi Service Award recipient.  Dr. Gooden was selected based on her outstanding record of service to the African -American community. She will be recognized with the other 2021 award winners during the Awards Ceremony at the ABPsi Virtual National Convention on Saturday, July 24, 2021,

5:45 pm - 6:30 pm EST.   Congratulations Dr. Gooden from the officers, members, and friends of the Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists (DVABPsi).


                                               

 

 

 

                                                               

 

 

     

                                                          

                                                                                       

                                                      
                            
                                             
                        ANNOUNCEMENTS

   

  2021 ABPsi Annual Convention

            July 22 – 26, 2021
              Location: Virtual

The ABPsi International Convention provides an outstanding educational program that includes continuing education units and general professional development. Keynote speakers, general panelists, and general sessions cover a diverse array of topics related to practice, research, and professional development training dealing with the total well-being of our world community.

                                          .

For more information visit: 

 The Association of Black Psychologists – 2021 Annual Convention July 22 – 26, 2021 (abpsi.org)    

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
       
 
 
             
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     JOIN The Black Health Trust every Sunday 12:00 pm PDT/3:00 EDT
                   
      Visit https://www.blackhealthtrust.org/ for updates and more information.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Opportunity to Advertise in DIRECTIONS Newsletter 
Advertisements can be submitted for review and publication at least three weeks    before the next month's issue along with a check, money order payable to
Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists (DVABPsi), or online payment.    Advertisement rates are as follows:
                                 Full Page:  $100.00
                                 Half Page:  $50.00
                                 Quarter Page:  $25.00
                                 Business Card: $15.00 
 
 
Mailing address:      DeBorah Gilbert White, Editor
                                 DIRECTIONS Newsletter
                                 Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists
                                 P.O. Box 542
                                 Westtown, PA  19395-0542
                                         Newsletter Submissions
 Members of DVABPsi are encouraged to submit articles, poems, announcements,     quotations, employment opportunities, and information related to undergraduate,   graduate, and post-graduate programs in psychology.  Currently, we are seeking     Guest Contributors for the months of August, October, and December 2021.             Members of DVABPsi are invited to be Guest Contributors. Please submit a short bio and photo with articles. Related pictures and graphics can also be submitted with articles. Contact the DIRECTIONS Newsletter team for additional information at directionsdvabpsiorg@gmail.com
                                          
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