Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
Frances Cress Welsing, through the sacred womb of her mother, Ida Mae Griffen, seeded by the heavenly sperm of her father, Henry N. Cress, entered the realm of the visible on March 18, 1935.
I imagine that Frances’ mother and father sent Asa G. Hilliard, Bobby Wright, Nzinga Coppock-Warfield and Harriett Pipes McAdoo to escort her into the after-life. She quietly returned to the realm of the invisible on January 2, 2016.
A native of Chicago, Frances graduated from Antioch College and Howard University’s medical school. Her first major contribution came in 1970 with the publication of “The Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation and Racism (White Supremacy).”
Dr. Welsing’s The Isis Papers, was published 1991. For many The Isis Papers is considered required reading for those interested in the psycho-biological origins and manifestations of White supremacy.
Frances was my long time friend and sister in struggle. To speak of her transitioning to be among the Dwellers of Heaven is unexpected and very difficult. She like, Queen Tiye, Hatshepsut, Queen Nzinga, Harriett Tubman, Cecile Fatiman, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Barbara Jordan, was a fiery warrior, a supreme intellect, a beautiful woman, a gentle soul, a defender of the race, and a lover of Blackness.
She was our Queen Mother.
While some will say her greatest contribution is found in the melanin theory and others her “Unified Field Theory Psychiatry,” I think to honor Frances is to always let her speak for herself. ” In The Isis Papers Frances said,
“White people are the genetically defective descendants of albino mutants,” and she went on to explain that certain inherent and behavioral differences between Black and White people were due to a “melanin deficiency” in White people. She offered us a functional definition of racism as “the local and global power system and dynamic structure maintained by persons who classify themselves as white, whether consciously or subconsciously determined; which consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action, and emotional response, as conducted, simultaneously in all areas of people activity (economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war); for the ultimate purpose of white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on planet Earth.”
In her “Unified Field Theory Psychiatry” she proposed a broader framework, encompassing biology, psychology, and physics, as prerequisites to understanding the etiology of a unified field of energy phenomena, specifically the “behavior-energy” underlying racial conflict.
Considered by Maulana Karenga to represent the radical school of Black Psychology, Frances along with Dr. Bobby Wright Jr. used their expertise in western psychiatry and psychology to critically examine the behavioral dysfunctioning of the advocates of White supremacy. Her scholarship, in my opinion, helped to consecrate Black Psychology’s separation from the toxic psychopathic core of Western thought.
To only sound-bite Frances’ genius is almost insulting. Starting in the late 1980’s, her scholarly contributions have been reflected in a series of annual melanin conferences led by Dr. Richard King; provided inspiration for the works of D. Phillip McGee, Carol Barnes, Neferkare Stewart, Edward Bruce Bynum; and, a host of Black psycho-biologists and neuro-scientists.
Her thoughts and ideas, especially her unified field of behavioral energy theory, require and deserve the greatest of attention, study, research, critique and application. Above all, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing’s life and works must be placed in the active resource arsenal for the liberation of the African mind and the restoration of the true equilibrium of humanity.
The great word-Goddess, Maya Angelou who preceded Frances in transitioning said “Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.” She also said, “Mighty women have been with us and for us from the beginning of time. “…And when great souls die, after a period, peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.”
In this moment of quietude, listen to this mighty Black woman, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing whisper to our souls. Read her thoughts and ideas that can bring forth our electric vibration. Because Frances Cress Welsing lived, our sense of who we are can never be the same. Whisper Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, as a great mighty Black woman, existed.
Or maybe rather than whisper, we should shout out loud. She, Frances Cress Welsing, exists. She exists in the realm of the invisible. She exists amongst the Dwellers of Heaven. She exists in the fabric of our minds. Dr. Frances Cress Welsing exists. This great soul, my friend and sister, will exist forever.
I give thanks that I knew her and sat in her presence. May we all give praise that Dr. Frances Cress Welsing walked amongst us.
Memorial Services for Dr. Frances Cress Welsing will take place on Saturday, January 23, 2016, from 3pm – 7pm EST Metropolitan A.M.E. Church 1518 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
The memorial service will be live streamed and live broadcast from WPFW 88.3 FM, www.wpfwfm.org
Wade W. Nobles, Ph.D is the founding member and past president, The ABPsi Ifágbęmi Sàngódáre, Nana Kwaku Berko, I, Bejana, Onebunne
To order your copy of my latest book, “The Island of Memes: Haiti’s Unfinished Revolution,” please visit Black Classic Press
