Breaking The Silence Podcast: Episode 16 - Men Leading in Academia Series

Описание: 📍 Presented by Founder & Chairwoman Makaila Davis, Angels Protection Inc.

🎓 Guest: Dr. Brian L. Turner, PhD

Welcome to Episode 12 of Breaking the Silence, a podcast series by Angels Protection Inc. dedicated to amplifying voices that challenge inequity, advance healing, and protect the dignity of those most often overlooked within academic and professional systems.

This episode is part of our Men Leading in Academia Series, where we spotlight men whose leadership in higher education, research, and practice is reshaping how institutions approach mental health, belonging, and equity.

This conversation is about more than academia.
It’s about leadership.
It’s about mental health.
It’s about belonging.
And it’s about what it truly means to lead with humanity.

For too long, academic and professional spaces have prioritized productivity over people — often leaving men, particularly Black men, navigating silence around mental health, identity, and trauma.

Today’s guest speaks directly to that reality.


🎙️ Guest Spotlight: Dr. Brian L. Turner

Dr. Brian L. Turner is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, scholar, educator, and community advocate whose work centers Black male identity, mental health, mentorship, and healing within higher education and community systems.

He currently serves as Department Head and Associate Professor of Psychology at Xavier University of Louisiana and holds the Melba F. Martinez Endowed Professorship in Social and Behavioral Sciences. His leadership is grounded in culturally responsive scholarship, care-centered mentorship, and a deep commitment to student belonging — particularly for Black men navigating academic spaces.

Dr. Turner earned his bachelor’s degree from Southern University at Baton Rouge and his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Jackson State University. His scholarship includes peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and technical reports focused on community health, masculinity identity development, mentorship, and mental health in higher education — with a particular emphasis on HBCUs.

Beyond academia, Dr. Turner serves as Policy Director for the New Orleans Youth Alliance, where he helps prepare future leaders to serve their communities with purpose and equity. He is also Co-Chair of the Ethics Committee for the Association of Black Psychologists, a mentor with The SilverBack Society, and a board member with several civic and cultural organizations in New Orleans.

Dr. Turner is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Lambda Chapter, where he has served in multiple leadership roles, including Chapter Historian and Vice President-Elect, and was named 2023 Charles C. Teamer Alpha Man of the Year.

What sets Dr. Turner apart is his ability to integrate scholarship, clinical practice, cultural accountability, faith, and fatherhood — modeling a form of leadership that is rigorous, relational, and deeply human.


🎧 Topics Covered:
• Black men’s mental health in academia
• Leadership, identity, and student belonging
• Psychological safety at HBCUs
• Masculinity, mentorship, and healing-centered leadership
• Faith, fatherhood, and modeling wholeness
• What transformative leadership in academia truly requires

Together, let’s continue breaking the silence.

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