Alive, Reflective, & Radically Committed! An Exploration into the Rebirth of Black Men in Conversation with Dr. Na'im Akbar

Abstract:"Alive, Reflective, & Radically Committed!" presents Dr. Na'im Akbar's reflective musings of his vocational career, commitment to the advancement of African peoples, and his continued vision for Black men. One of the leaders and developers of African psychology, Dr. Akbar brings over sixty years of experience as an activist, scholar, psychologist, and public speaker. He has numerous books and peer reviewed articles, yet his work transcends academia. Drs. O'Shan D. Gadsden and Travis Harris also work in and outside of academia. Their respective positions guided their questions to Dr. Akbar regarding Black men. The overall guiding question "Alive, Reflective, & Radically Committed" asks is this: From the late 1980s to early 1990s when Dr. Akbar was working on Visions for Black Men, to present, what new vision does he have for Black men? Dr. Akbar's answer is to not get stuck on the "cross" or the approach that focuses too much on the ways in which slavery persists for Black men. Instead, Dr. Akbar's vision for Black men is to look at the resurrection power that has helped us to survive all of these years. This power will provide us with what we need to uplift Black men and thereby uplift Black people as a whole.