By Carole Copeland Thomas, 1st Episcopal District
An AME Woman of Faith and Action: Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel
By Carole Copeland Thomas, 1st Episcopal District
I was excited to read a recent issue of The Christian Recorder announcing the election of Rev. Dr. Thema Bryant, the incoming President-Elect of The American Psychological Society (APA), one of the premier organizations in the United States. To read about her recent APA election reminded me of her mentor, a pioneering woman of faith who has blazed trails in the field of psychology for decades. The excitement grew, knowing that Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel, Dr. Thema’s mentor was also a longtime member of the AME Church.
When reflecting on her latest achievement, Rev. Dr. Thema Bryant states, “Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel is my mentor and inspiration. She was the first Black woman to be president of the American Psychological Association and introduced me to the Society for the Psychology of Women with my first appointment when she was President of the Society. I am because she is. I am honored to have been elected the fourth Black woman to be president of the American Psychological Association.”
According to the APA, Jessica Henderson Daniel, Ph.D., ABPP, was Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. At Children’s Hospital, Boston, she was director of training in psychology, department of psychiatry, and associate director, Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) Training Program, Division of Adolescent Medicine. In November 2016, she was elected to serve as the 2018 president of the American Psychological Association. In addition, she served as APA’s president-elect in 2017. She was the first African American woman elected to lead the Association.
Health challenges prompted Dr. Henderson Daniel’s retirement, yet, she remains a strong voice for empowering women of color in the field of psychology.
Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Gregory Groover recalled an incident with Dr. Henderson Daniel that involved the 1997 death of my 17-year-old son, Mickarl D. Thomas, Jr. He recalls, “Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel never separated her practice from her witness at Charles Street AME, her church, for forty years. When one of our active teenagers – Mickarl D. Thomas, Jr. (Mikey) – was tragically killed in a car accident, it was a devastating and extremely traumatic moment for the entire church. While the adults were trying to make sense of this tragedy in the church service on the following Sunday, Dr. Henderson Daniel took it upon herself to focus on the church’s youth, many of whom were close friends with Mikey. She counseled them in their “hour of shock,” listened and comforted them in their hour of struggling and their questioning God, and provided them safe space to cry and grieve together.”
She has mentored Dr. Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter, a mental health care consultant and psychologist at the Park School in Brookline, Massachusetts. “Dr. Henderson Daniel is a treasured giant in the field of psychology, and I have been privileged to stand on her strong shoulders since meeting her in 1980,” states Dr. Moorehead-Slaughter. “My first Black woman mentor in psychology, she has demonstrated the highest commitment to excellence, stellar leadership and service, and the amplification of the voices and concerns of children and adolescents of color.”
The apple does not fall far from the tree, and Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel’s only child, Margaret Daniel, Ph.D. says it best: “My mother has always considered her greatest achievement to have been the mentoring and training of new generations of psychologists of color. The fact that her modeling of that mentoring has left a lasting impact on how a number of those “academic children”—who now have both biological and academic children of their own—themselves give back to the field of psychology and their respective communities continues to be very precious to her.”
Two of her closest friends, Maurice and Elda Wright, say, “Jessica Henderson Daniel is a longtime friend that we consider family. We [have shared] holidays and celebrations for decades. We honor Jessica’s achievements and talents, and we are grateful for such a faithful servant to her friends, her community, and for her local, national, and international leadership,” shares Maurice Wright. He and his wife remain good friends and admire and respect Dr. Henderson Daniel for her years of public service and professional outreach to others.
We salute the achievements, dedication, and visionary leadership of Dr. Henderson Daniel, an AME Woman of Faith and Action.
