This Enstoolment address by Dr. Pamela Lucas Kennebrew is published verbatim with permission from Dr. Kennebrew’s team.
Opening: Gratitude and Grounding
Key words: LEGACY, ALIGNMENT, AUTHENTICITY, UBUNTU, SANKOFA, LOVE
“the liberation of the African mind, the empowerment of the African character, and the enlivenment and illumination of the African spirit.”
To my Elders, Do I have permission to speak?
Sawubona. Peace and Blessings. Alaafia. Hotep. Good evening, distinguished elders, leaders, members of our beloved community, and honored guests, and my ancestors/ my great cloud of witnesses.
Honoring the Legacy
It is an honor to step into this role, guided by the mission that has sustained this organization across decades: the liberation of the African mind, the empowerment of the African character, and the enlivenment and illumination of the African spirit.
This mission aligns with a sacred framework that has guided our people for thousands of years; the Seven Virtues of Ma’at: Truth, Justice, Harmony, Balance, Order, Reciprocity, and Propriety. As I begin this presidency, I hold these principles as anchors. They remind me that leadership is not about position, but about alignment… not about title, but about service.
I stand humbly before you with deep gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. It is an honor to step into this role, as President of the Delaware Valley Association of Black Psychologists, a chapter that was founded 50 years ago by Dr. Janis Hoffman Willis and sustained over the years by a group of powerful healers.
This afternoon, I honor the legacy of those who came before me; past presidents, committed members, and community partners whose dedication has brought us to this moment. They upheld the virtue of Order, building structure where none existed; they embodied Reciprocity, giving freely so that others might rise, and upheld Truth even when truth was inconvenient. I stand on their shoulders; steadied, strengthened, and fortified by their work and inspired by their example, and ready to rise higher. I would like to honor our founding visionary, Dr. Janis Hoffman Willis.
Naming the Present Moment
In this moment, Ma’at calls us to restore what has been disrupted. It calls us toward honesty toward the Truth about our pain, but also the Truth about our resilience. WE psychologists have a unique responsibility to transform these realities and we are uniquely qualified for such a time as this.
The Association of Black Psychologists sees its mission and destiny as the liberation of the African mind, the empowerment of the African character, and the enlivenment and illumination of the African spirit.
This mission is not simply a statement, it is a charge an Ancestral Charge. Embodying the spirit of Sankofa, the mission speaks to who we are, where we come from, and the brilliance we are destined to reclaim.
We also gather at a time when our community is facing profound challenges. Many still carry those unspoken traumas resulting from the ultimate disconnection resulting from the Ma’afa (Transatlantic Slave Trade) and the perpetuation of systemic oppression evident in institutions we deal with every day. Our challenges are too often met with stigma, silence, shame, and blame.
In moments like these, Ma’at calls us back to Truth; the truth of our humanity, the truth of our resilience, and the truth that healing is not just possible, but necessary.
We are uniquely positioned and are obligated to respond to these realities, not only in our classrooms, our agencies and organizations but where the people are whether in the prison or the park; to hold space, to restore, to empower. We have a unique responsibility – What we have is to be used as medicine. As psychologists, as therapists, as healers, and as Progenitors of a liberation tradition, we cannot turn away from this reality.
Vision for My Presidency: A Psychology of Community Healing and Liberation
My vision for my presidency is a psychology of healing and liberation resting on three pillars each reflecting the virtues of Ma’at and rooted in the Framework of Sankofa and my guiding values of: Legacy, Alignment, Authenticity, Sovereignty, and Love. Where ‘psych’ means soul.
1. Healing the community in the Community-HARMONY AND BALANCE
We will expand culturally grounded mental health initiatives that speak to the heart of who we are as African people.
We will uplift collective healing practices rooted in our traditional practices that remind us we have never suffered alone and we don’t heal alone. Healing is collective, not isolated.
We will partner with community institutions to ensure support is accessible, relevant, and affirming.
We will build partnerships with community organizations, schools, and faith institutions to normalize conversations about holistic well-being and to bring support where it is most needed.
We will expand and embody mental health initiatives that honor the whole person; mind, body, soul, and spirit.
More of our members trained to facilitate Sawubona Healing Circles.
This is Ma’at in practice: restoring Harmony where there has been fracture, and bringing Balance where there has been pain.
2. Carceral Reform, Support for Returning Citizens and Communities of Return-Justice and Order
Our community cannot heal while we leave parts of it behind.
Develop and support healing-centered, culturally affirming re-entry programs.
Train psychologists and community members in re-entry support, including family reintegration and mental health needs.
We will create pathways for psychologists, advocates, and family members to support healing, reconnection, and restoration. And we will stand boldly in advocating for policies that return humanity, opportunity, and possibility to those impacted by the carceral systems.
We will train Community MEMBERS and families to support reintegration, healing, and transformation.
THERE IS AN ADINKRA SYMBOL ODOR NIHRA FIH KWINE THAT TRANSLATES “LOVE DOES NOT MISS ITS WAY HOME.” THOSE LED BY LOVE WILL NEVER LOSE THEIR WAY.
Let’s serve and lead with love and we will advocate boldly for policies that reflect Justice—justice that restores, justice that repairs, and justice that honors the potential within every person. Justice that restores dignity and possibility, not punishment and exclusion.
This is Ma’at in motion.
3. Destigmatizing and Decolonization of Mental Health Supporting Resiliency-Truth And Propriety
Offer Mbongis and other public education programs that reflect the beauty, strength, and resilience of African people.
Increase visibility of Black psychologists in community conversations.
Create safe spaces for dialogue about trauma, healing, identity, and cultural resilience.
We will confront the stigma surrounding mental wellness.
We will use our voices as psychologists to offer Truth—truth that mental health is not weakness, but wisdom.
We will challenge the false narratives that have kept our people in silence.
We will elevate the visibility of Black psychologists, counselors, and healers as truth-tellers and cultural guides.
And we will embody Propriety, carrying ourselves with dignity and purpose as we model what Healing and wellness can look like for our people.
It is time to rewrite the narratives surrounding mental wellness in our communities. We will elevate the visibility of Black psychologists as educators and trusted voices. We will create safe, brave spaces where our people can speak their truths, confront their pain, and imagine new futures. And we will launch initiatives that celebrate our resilience, our creativity, and our right to emotional and spiritual wellness.
EPISTEMOLOGY
3. Collective and Inclusive Empowerment
Let me be clear: this vision is not mine alone. It belongs to all of us. It will require your ideas, your labor, your wisdom, and your heart. We move forward not as individuals, but as a collective each of us bringing our own gifts, each of us essential to the whole.
Ubuntu-I am because we are
But none of this can happen alone.
Throughout this work, we will practice Reciprocity—knowing that liberation is a collective journey.
This vision is not mine alone. It belongs to all of us. Together, we shape a future built on truth, justice, and harmony.
Your brilliance, your creativity, your scholarship, and your heart are essential.
I invite members of the community to bring their brilliance, creativity, and scholarship.
I ask you to join me in this work by joining DVABPsi.
To commit to healing—within yourselves and within our community.
To embody the liberation we seek.
To stand firmly in the truth that our people deserve mental, emotional, and spiritual freedom.
VI. Call to Action
As we begin this new chapter, I hold a vision of a future where the African mind is liberated from limiting narratives… where the African character stands fortified in self-love and purpose, fortified in the virtues of Ma’at… and where the African spirit shines so brightly that it illuminates not only our own path, but the path of generations to come.
I would like to affirm that liberation is an active, ongoing process that requires courage, solidarity, and cultural pride.
As we begin this next chapter, I want to invoke a final guiding principle: Sankofa.
Sankofa calls us to look back to reclaim the lessons, the wisdom, and the strength of our ancestors so that we may move forward with purpose and clarity.
Sankofa reminds us that healing is not just a forward motion, but a return.
A return to truth.
A return to balance.
A return to the wholeness that has always been our birthright.
As we embrace Ma’at and honor Sankofa, we position ourselves to transform our communities—not by abandoning the past, but by carrying its wisdom into the future.
SANKOFA IS OFTEN EXPRESSED AS A BIRD THAT FLIES FORWARD WHILE LOOKING BACKWARD WITH AN EGG (SYMBOLIZING THE FUTURE) IN ITS MOUTH.
I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE EGGS-THE FUTURE OF DVABPSI
In the beginning of my enstoolment, I was told to sit down in humility and rise/stand in the principles of Ma’at. The time will come, when I will sit down again in humility, it is my hope and my vision that one day the children who pulled me in will be pulled in by those who are yet unborn. That those who carried in my stool, will have someone carry their stools.
You will be elders, jegnas, Queen Mothers providing guidance and support to others. I encourage our students, young professionals to commit to your healing, the healing of the community, and to the work of DVABPSI.
Let’s encourage and be intentional regarding intergenerational leadership: honoring wisdom traditions while empowering emerging leaders.
THERE IS ANOTHER ADINKRA SYMBOL CALLED THE “AKOKO NAN” AND IS REPRESENTED BY THE LEG OF A HEN. IT MEANS “THE HEN TREADS ON HER CHICKS, BUT SHE DOES NOT KILL THEM.”- CORRECTION COMES BEFORE LEADERSHIP AND IS PART OF THE PROCESS.
VII. Closing: A Vision of the Future
So today on the 6th Day of December, I offer this vision:
A future where the African mind is liberated…
Where the African character is fortified by the virtues of Ma’at…
And where the African spirit, illuminated by ancestral wisdom/Sankofa, lights the way for generations yet to come.
And I look forward to walking this journey of healing, liberation, and cultural restoration with each of you.
I thank you for this honor.
I thank you for your trust.
As your president I am going to ask you to repeat after me, mission of ABPSI after me “ The Association Of Black Psychologists see its mission and destiny as the liberation of the African mind, Empowerment of the African character, and the enlivenment and illumination of the African Spirit.
Stand with me and walk this journey of liberation and healing and Ma’at with me.
“When the African mind is liberated, our character is strengthened, and our spirits are illuminated, we transform not only ourselves but the world around us.”
Forward Always!!
Asante Sana
