The National Mental Health Association (NMHA) presented Poussaint with its annual Into the Light Award at a ceremony on Capitol Hill last month.

Poussaint was awarded for "his relentless work to eliminate disparities and injustices in mental health treatment for African Americans and all people of color," stated a press release from NMHA. The award was presented by Michael Faenza (above, left), president and CEO of NMHA.

The award honors those who are devoted to improving care, treatment, and services for children and adults with mental, emotional, and substance abuse disorders.

Past honorees have included U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and Elizabeth Dole.

Poussaint is director of the media center at the Judge Baker Children’s Center in Boston and a professor of psychiatry and faculty associate dean for student affairs at Harvard Medical School.

Poussaint is the coauthor of several books, including Raising Black Children, published in 1992, and Lay My Burden Down: Unraveling Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans, published in 2000. He also was a script consultant on NBC’s "The Cosby Show." ▪