Washington, D.C. — The Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture has recognized American Psychiatric Association Publishing contributors Donna Norris M.D., and Annelle Primm, M.D., M.P.H., with the 2024 Creative Scholarship Award for the publication of “Mental Health, Racism, and Contemporary Challenges of Being Black in America” (2024).

The Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture is a nonprofit organization devoted to furthering research, clinical care and education in cultural aspects of mental health and illness. Each year, the Society honors one group or person with the Creative Scholarship Award in recognition of a “significant creative contribution to the field of cultural psychiatry.”

“Mental Health, Racism, and Contemporary Challenges of Being Black in America” is an anthology edited by Norris, and Primm,. The book compiles over 40 years’ worth of perspectives from the American Psychiatric Association’s annual Solomon Carter Fuller Award lectures – named for the first Black psychiatrist in the U.S. The chapter authors include past winners of the Solomon Carter Fuller Award, as well as psychiatrists building on their work and scholars in fields related to cultural psychiatry. Norris herself received the Solomon Carter Fuller Award in 2010. Other contributors include James P. Comer, M.D., M.P.H., APA Past-President Altha J. Stewart, M.D., and June Jackson Christmas, M.D.

The collected reflections in the book explore the intersections of mental health with racism, public policy, economic well-being, healthcare inequities, and more. The result is a multi-disciplinary examination of the historical and contemporary experiences of being Black in America and how these experiences inform the mental health of the Black community. In addition, the book builds awareness of and appreciation for the legacy and continuing contributions of Black psychiatric leaders to the field and to the practice of medicine.

“We’re thrilled that the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture has recognized this volume as a creative academic contribution to our evolving understanding of race and mental health,” said Norris, who currently serves as an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and was the first Black female Speaker of the APA Assembly in the organization’s history. “With this book, Dr. Primm and our colleagues took the opportunity not only to preserve Solomon Carter Fuller’s legacy but also to explicate the relationship between Blackness, racism, and mental health for a broader audience.”

“Mental Health, Racism, and Contemporary Challenges of Being Black in America” is available for purchase as an eBook and a hard copy at the American Psychiatric Association Publishing website, www.appi.org.

American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the oldest medical association in the country. The APA is also the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 38,900 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses. APA’s vision is to ensure access to quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit www.psychiatry.org.