“I Am Because We Are”: Ubuntu as a Foundation for Group Psychotherapy During Black History Month
Michele Ribeiro, EdD, ABPP, CGP, APA-F, AGPA-F
Dr. Joseph White
Since the current Administration has dismantled so much of what we, as a country, have been attempting to reconcile regarding equity and diversity, I feel called to lift up and honor the brilliant minds, spirits, educators, healers, storytellers, artists, builders, entrepreneurs, farmers, athletes, and visionaries whose lives and legacies shape us always, but also as we recognize this year’s Black/African American History Month.
I also want to highlight the pioneer and “Father of Black Psychology,” Dr. Francis Cecil Sumner, who formalized Black psychology as a discipline in direct challenge to Eurocentric, deficit-based views of Black people. Sumner became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology in 1920 and later established the psychology department at Howard University in 1928, training generations of Black psychologists (Wikipedia Contributors, N.D.). Among them was Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser, the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology in 1933.
Drs. Kenneth B. Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark (whose landmark “Doll Study” research exposed the psychological impact of segregation and internalized racism) played a pivotal role in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Dr. Kenneth Clark later became the first African American president of the APA (APA, N.D.).
And although there are many more, I would be remiss not to honor Dr. Joseph White, a leading advocate for the development of Black Psychology and a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) in 1968 (Wikipedia Contributors, N.D.). Dr. White challenged the explicit whiteness embedded in psychological theory and practice and insisted on a psychology rooted in the lived realities and strengths of Black communities. I had the privilege of photographing him (above) during what was likely one of his final public addresses at the APA’s 125th anniversary convention, a moment I carry with reverence.
During my doctoral training at Rutgers University, I was introduced to the Winter Roundtable at Teachers College, Columbia University. I attended the conference from 1999 until leaving New Jersey in 2005. That conference became one of the cornerstones of my commitment to DEI work and white consciousness studies. Around that time, I also encountered the Akbar Papers and immersed myself in African-Centered Psychology (Nobles, 2013; Akbar, 2003). Further, having returned from an immersive experience in India in 1998, I knew then that cultural psychology; grounded in global, relational, and spiritual traditions; was now my true intellectual and professional home.
African-Centered Psychology is grounded in Ubuntu: “I am because we are.” This philosophy asserts that our humanity is relational. It also affirms that there is no group without cohesion, and no individual fully realized outside the collective that holds, mirrors, and sustains them. An African-Centered Psychology articulates seven principles that guide optimal community functioning, inclusive of our ancestors and future generations. As I deepened my work in group psychology, I began to see clear resonances between group psychotherapy and African philosophical traditions. I highlight four of these principles here: Umoja (Unity), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Nia (Purpose), and Imani (Faith); and offer reflections on how they can guide our work as group psychologists.
Umoja: Unity (Oneness)
Umoja calls us to realign our heart, mind, and spirit as we lead groups. It reminds us that healing divisions within ourselves are inseparable from healing divisions between us. Unity also requires that we advocate for systemic accountability rather than confining our work to individual-level change.
In group psychotherapy practice, Umoja might involve:
- Co-creating norms emphasizing shared responsibility, mutual care, and accountability (“How do we hold one another when someone is struggling?”).
- Shifting from individual pathology to relational and ecological context; recognizing that trauma and healing live between people, not just within them.
- Incorporating collective rituals: opening check-ins, shared grounding, and intentional closures; to reinforce belonging and continuity.
- Naming and repairing ruptures as collective concerns rather than locating them within a single “problem” member.
In group research, Umoja may include:
- Framing research questions connected to collective well-being, not solely individual outcomes.
- Using community-based participatory action research that centers shared ownership of knowledge.
- Practicing transparent authorship and equitable credit-sharing to counter hierarchy.Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility
Ujima reminds us, we work on concerns together. It calls for group-as-a-whole approaches while attending to subgroup and individual realities.
In practice, Ujima may look like:
- Encouraging members to support one another’s goals through peer accountability or mutual aid.
- Normalizing shared responsibility for safety and care, while acknowledging that inequities create differing levels of safety within any group.
- Creating structured opportunities for members to share resources, strategies, and lived wisdom.
- Addressing power dynamics openly, including racial, institutional, and professional hierarchies.
In research, Ujima might include:
- Triangulating data and sharing interpretations with community participants to ensure cultural resonance.
- Designing dissemination strategies that give back to stakeholders through workshops, reports, and policy briefs.
Nia: Purpose
Nia asks: Why this group, at this time, together? As practitioners, we must continually clarify the deeper purpose of the groups we convene.
In group practice, Nia may involve:
- Helping members articulate a shared purpose beyond symptom reduction (e.g., reclaiming voice, restoring dignity, healing generational wounds).
- Connecting individual goals to broader communal or liberation-oriented aims.
- Inviting reflection on how healing within the group ripples outward into families and institutions.
- Revisiting purpose during moments of fatigue, impasse, or divisiveness.
In group research, Nia compels us to ask:
- Who does this research serve? Who benefits?
- Are our methods aligned with social justice, healing, and empowerment?
- How will findings be used for the common good?
Imani: Faith
Imani means we believe in ourselves, our people, and our collective capacity to heal. This principle is deeply personal for me, rooted in the faith modeled by my mother; not only religious faith, but faith expressed through selfless service. Imani calls us to hold belief in the possibility that struggle can generate transformation.
In group therapy practice, Imani may be expressed through:
- Cultivating hope grounded in cultural resilience, rather than unanchored optimism.
- Naming trauma and survival as coexisting truths.
- Holding faith in members’ strengths when they cannot yet access them themselves.
- Integrating mindfulness, contemplative, ancestral, or meaning-making practices when culturally appropriate and consented to.
In group research, Imani encourages us to:
- Affirm qualitative and community-based knowledge as rigorous and legitimate.
- Trust that culturally grounded scholarship can transform dominant paradigms.
- Resist deficit-based interpretations that reinforce illness narratives over strength.
As we honor Black and African-centered paradigms, we are expanding and enriching our knowledge and practices. Traditional wisdom from African philosophical/practical traditions can guide and deepen Eurocentric frameworks, moving our group work toward practices that are embodied, relational, moral, and liberatory.
I close with an integrative frame drawn from these four principles of African-Centered optimal functioning:
Umoja reminds us how we belong.
Ujima asks us how we work.
Nia clarifies why we gather.
Imani reinforces what sustains us.
In times when equity efforts are challenged, these principles are not abstract; they are necessary. They offer us a roadmap for how group psychology can remain ethically grounded, culturally responsive, and committed to collective healing.
References
Akbar, N. (2003). Akbar Papers in African Psychology. Retrieved online on February 8, 2026 from https://ayanetwork.com/Tanzania%20Trip/Akbar%20Papers%20in%20African%20Psychology%20(Naim%20Akbar)%20(Z-Library).pdf.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Maime Phipps Clark, PhD, and Kenneth Clark, PhD. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/ethnicity-health/psychologists/clark
Nobles, W. W. (2013). Fundamental task and challenge of Black psychology. Journal of Black Psychology, 39, 292-299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0095798413478072
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Francis Sumner. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 11, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Sumner
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Joseph White (psychologist). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 11, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_White_(psychologist)