Alvin Poussaint was recognized at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated and the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses’ Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts.
Poussaint is a psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School in Boston who has written more than 100 articles and professional publications, including Why Blacks Kill Blacks, and Come on, People, a book he co-wrote with Bill Cosby. He was a script consultant to NBC’s The Cosby Show and A Different World and continues to advocate for responsible programming. Dr. Poussaint attended Columbia and earned his doctor of medicine from Cornell in 1960. He received postgraduate training at UCLA.
Now in its 18th year, the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts raises scholarship funds for students pursuing visual and performing arts. Past honorees include B.B. King, Quincy Jones, Tyler Perry, Alice Walker, Robert Townsend, the O’Jays, and most recently, critically acclaimed Artist Carrie Mae Weems, award-winning Director/Producer Antoine Fuqua, and visionary Educator and Novelist Tananarive Due.
Others recognized this year were actor Phylicia Rashad and musician Bill Withers.
“Any discussion about African-American history and culture must include African-American artists,” said A. Shuanise Washington, the president and CEO of the CBCF. “Through the Celebration of Leadership in the Fine Arts, the CBCF and the CBC Spouses pay homage to those whose creative bodies of work convey the rich and diverse African-American experience. CBCF is proud to support the next generation of great artists with scholarships to pursue their education and hone their crafts.”
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated, established in 1976, is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy, research and educational institute intended to broaden and elevate the influence of African Americans in the political, legislative and public policy arenas.