Dr. Marcia Sutherland

Dr. Marcia E. Sutherland is the previous Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at the University of Albany, SUNY. She earned her doctoral degree from Howard University. She has published on overweight and obesity among African American women and among African American children and adolescents. Her article on Black faculty at white universities has garnered many citations.  She has published on palliative care in the Caribbean region. She has also published on HIV/Aids in Africa and in the Caribbean region. Dr. Sutherland has published other seminal articles including, Toward a Caribbean Psychology and on Non-verbal Behavior among People of African descent. She has written on the Caribbean immigrant experience in the United Kingdom.  She recently published two articles on racial ethnic/ identity among Black therapists and career choices, among other topics. She has lectured extensively in the United States and in other regions of the world, including the United Kingdom, South Africa, in several Latin American countries, and in Jamaica and in other Caribbean countries on issues affecting people of African descent.

She is the recipient of the Distinguished Psychologist’s Award for Scholarly Advancement of Black Psychology from the National Association of Black Psychologists. She is the author of the book “Black Authenticity: A Psychology of the Liberation of People of African Descent.” She is the Founding President of the non-profit community organization “The Capital District of New York Caribbean American Cultural Association, Inc.” Dr. Sutherland is the Principal Investigator for a major grant project that is funded by the Mellon Foundation for the years 2023-2026.