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I would like to begin a bit unconventionally with a personal disclaimer: I felt both gratified and resentful about being asked to write this review. On the one hand, as the Chief Advisor on diversity, inclusion strategies, and culturally responsive care education for a major New York City academic health centre, I have a breadth of career experience and a deep interest in issues of race. On the other hand, as one of the very few people of colour in the Jungian analytic community, reviewing the groundbreaking work of another African American can risk creating a competitive dynamic between two black women while keeping the rest of the community insulated. The small number of black Jungians worldwide reflects a lack of compositional diversity and an insufficient critical mass of this under-represented demographic, a situation that can pit individuals who identify similarly against one another - a common result of tokenism. Marginalization of this kind is a manifestation of living within racist structures that inhibit the consciousness of individuals and organizations, preventing their responsible reflection and action. Because I am familiar with these pitfalls, I have chosen to not fully criticize or affirm certain aspects of this book. The absence of black representation and the resulting consequences for our therapeutic and intellectual community are core issues that Brewster well describes while also helping us contemplate ways to become more racially aware. It remains to be seen if the Jungian community has the capacity and desire to actively reflect on our unconscious bias, along with the courage to redress it.
To be sure, Fanny Brewster's book, African Americans and Jungian Psychology: Leaving the Shadows, is long overdue. She notes the shortage of critical thinking and writing concerning race throughout the history of analytical psychology, a blind spot that her book well illuminates by exploring a wide range of topics and raising many important questions. Her to