Colors and Letters: The Development of an Ethnic Minority Psychological Publication 495The history of ethnic minority psychological publishing has
been arduous. Navigating between the mainstream ocean
and the waters of color, scholarship of color has struggled
with dominant psychological paradigms. Mainstream mod-
els’ cultural insensitivity and irrelevance to people of color
aggravate the challenge. Since ethnic minorities are often
exposed to intellectual imperialism and domination at the
expense of their cultural values (Said, 1994), internalization
of dominant psychology frequently interferes with the pro-
motion of a culturally competent psychology. As a result of
professional socialization, many psychologists of color suffer
from cultural Stockholm syndrome, taken hostage by the
dominant cultural values—including the stereotypes of their
own group—and in turn, accepting, internalizing, and believ-
ing them (DiNicola, 1997).
Professional socialization can cause confusion and per-
plexity in the publication of scholarship of color. Looking
through a monocultural glass, dominant psychological publi-
cations have discounted and even excluded the divergent
experiences and realities of people of color. Serving two mas-
ters, ethnic minority psychologists struggle to harmonize dom-
inant and scholarship of color. In doing so, they often engage in
dualism and pluralism. Those engaged in dualism simultane-
ously publish in ethnic and mainstream journals, thus offering
a dual outlet to their work. However, to be published in main-
stream journals requires conformity with the dominant para-
digm. Dualism, however, risks segregation because it tends to
place indigenous psychological paradigms in separate ethnic
journals, rarely read by mainstream psychologists. Within plu-
ralism, on the other hand, psychologists of color offer diverse
interpretations to reality, aiming at the co-existence of ethnic
minority perspectives with dominant psychology.
As the written word is the DNA of culture, ethnic minor-
ity psychology propagates itself by publishing. However, a
history of marginalization of psychologists of color within
the publication process has hindered such process. Contem-
porary concerns about cultural appropriateness, irrelevant
application of psychological knowledge, issues of inclusion,
and equal opportunities are prompting psychology to revise
its traditional tenets and assumptions based on a limited
Western European conceptualization of humankind.
The APA officially recognized the limited number of publi-
cations on ethnic minority theory, research, and practice and
in 1984 created the Publication and Communication Board’s
Ad Hoc Committee on Increasing the Representation of
Underrepresented Groups in the Publication Process. Identify-
ing issues and concerns, the Ad Hoc Committee offered struc-
tural strategies to enhance the publication of ethnic minority
psychology. One recommendation—educating underrepre-
sented groups in the publication process—was immediatelyColors and Letters: The Development of an Ethnic Minority Psychological Publication
LILLIAN COMAS-DIAZWe need to write before being written off.
—JANETSANCHEZ,
AFRICANAMERICANPSYCHOLOGISTthat labor evidenced in the predominant place ethnic minority
issues occupied in many policy decisions such as the forma-
tion of the Center for Minority Group Mental Health in 1972
under the auspices of the National Institute of Mental Health,
and the 1973 National Conference in Levels and Patterns of
Professional Training in Psychology. Strides in professional
psychology were matched with organization and leadership
in research through ABPsi’s convening of the Conference on
Empirical Research in Black Psychology in Ann Arbor,
Michigan in 1974—a conference that continues to this day
(Boykin, Franklin & Yates, 1979).
As the new century began, ABPsi was recognized as the
largest organization of African American psychologists in the
world. Embracing an Afrocentric worldview, it maintains a
steadfast commitment to work on behalf of all people of
African descent.
However one chooses to do the accounting, the founding
of the Association of Black Psychologists was remarkable, its
impact immediate and its legacy lasting. Those pioneers who
came together in a San Francisco hotel room in 1968 brought
with them an incredible intensity of purpose that was quick to
point out challenge and strong enough to create change. As
the historical record will attest, ABPsi, since its inception,
has played a significant role in shaping social science policy
and practice in America.