Alvin Poussaint was a nationally recognized psychiarist on the Black experience. A product of the NewYork City schools, Poussaint received his undergraduate training at Columbia University and his medical training at the Cornell Medicial school. After a brief stint with the UCLA Neuropsychatric Institute, he became the field director for the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi. In 1970, he joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School as Dean of Students. There he developed a lifelong interest in affirmative action. In the 1980s he was active in the Jesse Jackson presidential campaign, serving as co-chair.
His most significant role during this period was serving as an advisor for the Bill Cosby Show and A Different World. Both shows aired during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic and debates about how African Americans should best navigate the post-Civil rights period. White conservatism sought to blame the social and economic challenges that African Americans faced on a lack of individual initiative. Poussaint challenged this approach by pointing out the structural challenges and negative portrayal of African Americans in the media. Poussaint's role as adivsor for the Cosby series allowed him to assist in shaping American perceptions of African Americans, which largely challenged negative stereotypes of African Americans and Black families. He was widely consulted by public and private entitites on issues related to perceptions of African Americans throughout his career.
Poussaint died at his Chesnut Hill home in Massachusetts, He was 90 years old.
Note: This blog (with the exception of the cover media and bio was reprinted with the permission of Abdul Akailmat, PhD)
Bio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Francis_Poussaint https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/dr-alvin-poussaint-39
Lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2llHl3lye50
Panel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxqF61N63C4
His role in the Cosby TV show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vQsAaUM2wc
Dealing with the Black psyche https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO5C6ZEpIDw
The Black Power Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcw3PZxI6Y4
Controversial articles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-zDVawVyVg
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