Even the Rat Was White at 50

Dr. Monique Swift Muhammad, proprietor of Swift Solutions Consultant Services, LLC, is a psychologist, a NJ Licensed Professional Counselor, and a NY Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She has over 30 years of clinical experience in the field of mental health and operates a private practice in Rahway, NJ where she specializes in couple's therapy and trauma.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Swift also offers keynote talks, curriculum design, personal development workshops, and professional training. She consults with religious, community-based, and non-profit organizations, public and private schools, as well as with private groups. Dr. Swift is a subject matter expert on issues that form at the intersection of trauma and race. She consults with organizations that want to become trauma-informed and racially bias-resistant.

Dr. Swift’s extensive volunteer work typically benefits the Black community specifically, and oppressed and under-served populations, in general. Her volunteer activity often involves grassroots and civic organizing, personal and community empowerment building, and addressing issues of racial inequality, and racial trauma.

Dr. Swift actively serves on several boards including the Board of Advisors for Volunteers of America, the Newark Community Collaborative Board, the Board of Advisors for the Newark Community Street Team, and the Union County Juvenile Conference Committee under the Family Division of the Superior Court. Dr. Swift is an active member of The Association of Black Psychologist (ABPsi) where she served her local chapter for 2 terms as Recording Secretary followed by 2 terms as Chapter President. She served the National Board of ABPsi as Eastern Regional Representative for 1 term and currently sits as President of The Association of Black Psychologists, Inc.

Dr. Swift has a special interest in spiritual coaching and holistic health.

Dr. Benson George Cooke, a Distinguished Professor of Counseling and Psychology at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) in Washington, DC, serves as the Director of the Graduate Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. An accomplished author and speaker, Dr. Cooke has presented on a broad array of topics at national and international conferences, symposiums, workshops, and professional institutes. Additionally, he has appeared on numerous national and local cable radio and television programs. He has been interviewed for documentary films and has been a guest speaker for numerous esteemed organizations, including the Congressional Black Caucus, University of Oxford’s Round Table Symposium, and England’s Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Program Master Class Series. Furthermore, he served as a guest lecturer at the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation at Massey University in New Zealand.

He is the recipient of the UDC Dr. Marjorie Holloman Parker Distinguished Educator’s Award and the UDC awardee for Faculty Excellence in Teaching presented by the UDC President’s Executive Cabinet. Additionally, he is the recipient of the UDC University Scholar Award. Dr. Cooke is the past national president of the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) 2009–2011 and recipient of numerous national community service, educational/faculty excellence, scholarship, and professional service awards. Dr. Cooke is a Distinguished Psychologist recognized by the ABPsi for his significant career contributions to the field of psychology. His work has been particularly impactful in developing culturally relevant interventions for the African American community, (e.g., guidelines following Hurricane Katrina in 2005), which are reflected in the psychological literature and practical applications. Before his current position at the UDC, he held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Xavier University of Louisiana, and George Mason University. He also served as a program administrator and clinician for PSI Associates, a Washington, DC-based for-profit mental health organization.

He is an author of numerous journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper interviews, and book chapters, including six authored and coauthored textbooks: (1) Personal Empowerment for People of Color: Keys to Success in Higher Education; (2) All About Depression, 1st Edition; (3) Socio- Economic and Education Factors Impacting American Political Systems: Emerging Research and Opportunities; (4) Selected Aspects of Mentoring: Advice, Challenges, and Approaches; (5) All About Depression: Issues, Treatment, and Resources, 2nd Edition; and (6) Epigenomic Awareness as a Key to Black Mental Health: The Disruptive Effects of Not Knowing. Dr. Cooke holds Ed.D. and M.S. degrees from UMass and a B.A. degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Erika Lynn Graham is a counseling psychologist from Cleveland, Ohio, who earned her Ph.D. in 2025 from the University of Akron. Her successfully defended dissertation, entitled “Redefining My Peace: Examining the Relationship Between Positive Racial Attitudes, Racial Battle Fatigue, and the Moderating Impact of Culturally Specific Coping Among People of Afrikan Ancestry,” is accessible through OhioLINK. She is active locally and nationally within the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi), serving as vice president of the Greater Cleveland/Akron chapter and nationally as a women’s healing circle facilitator.

Additionally, she has published articles with colleagues, including “A Historical Analysis of the Vocational Guidance of Women” in Psychology from the Margins and, more recently, “Hidden Challenges: Black Doctoral Psychology Trainees Navigating Racial Dynamics in Clinical Supervision” in The Clinical Supervisor. She has delivered multiple presentations as both a counseling psychology doctoral student and, more recently, as an early-career professional.

Erika Graham, Ph.D., is the Associate Clinical Director at Minority Behavioral Health Group, where she oversees a dual-diagnosis program providing culturally specific mental health, substance abuse, and addiction services to underserved populations. In alignment with the mission of ABPsi, her passion, dedication, and career work are rooted in “the liberation of the Afrikan Mind,” pursued in the most holistic way possible.

Dr. Ricardo Guthrie is Distinguished Associate Professor of Social Justice at Fisk University. He researches and teaches extensively on Afro-Diasporic culture and Indigenous consciousness between Blacks in the United States and Africa. He was a copyeditor for An African American Health Dilemma (2000, 2001) by W. Michael Byrd and Linda A. Clayton, and recently co-wrote a chapter, “Antiblackness and American Medicine,” in American Antiblackness, edited by Joe Feagin and Phillip Ewell (Routledge: 2026). His father, Robert V. Guthrie (1930-2005), published two editions of Even the Rat Was White (1976, 2004).

Dr. John Queener, Jr. obtained his BA from The College of Wooster, his MA from The Ohio State University, and received his PhD in Counseling Psychology from The University of Akron. He is a full professor and teaches graduate courses in the Counseling Psychology Program in the Department of Psychology at the University of Akron. He writes and publishes research in the areas of culturally specific interventions, retention and African American males, and Optimal Conceptual Theory. He is a founding member and currently serves as the Executive Director of Minority Behavioral Health Group, a non-profit organization created to reduce the mental health disparities for African Americans and other under-served populations. He is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists and is the current president of the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to diversifying the field of mental health and higher education.