[2] In the 1970s, Akbar published his first critiques of the Eurocentric psychological tradition, asserting that this model maintained the intellectual oppression of African Americans.
[4] At a time when Black people lived in both socially and economically oppressed segregated communities, this emphasis on academic excellence was fairly uncommon.
[4] His experiences at Michigan helped to set the stage for Akbar to start questioning the normative status quo approach to psychology, which was dominant at the time.
[4] Working towards his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Akbar wrote a dissertation called "Power Themes among Negro and White Paranoid and non-Paranoid Schizophrenics".
[4] In his dissertation, Akbar sought to define and explore the distinctive literature discussing definitions of psychology and mental health for Black people.
Through this work, Akbar began to seriously question many of the accepted definitions of mental health for Black people, which had their genesis in European American psychology.
[8] After teaching at Florida State University for 28 years, Akbar retired in 2008 so that he could put more time and effort into his role as the president of his private consulting and publishing company.
[1] Throughout his career, Akbar has become a distinguished author, writing numerous books and speaking publicly to share his expertise at conferences and interviews.
[4] Other key topics in Akbar's life work involving the African American family and relationships, cultural diversity, and the Afro-centric perspective.
Akbar attributed the failure of society to question these white normative traditions to a phenomenon he called “democratic sanity,” which he paralleled to a majority-rules system.
Akbar believes that black-on-black crime is a result of self-destructive disorders, and posits that alcoholics and druggies resort to a world of chemical fantasies instead of dealing with their own realities.
[10] Akbar notes that Cross’ theory was drafted as a reaction to the sociopolitical environment at the time, specifically his observations that African Americans in the 1960s began changing their self-perceptions and social behaviors.
Akbar's two major qualms with Cross’ theory, and the related papers by Parham and Helms, is that 1) the model fails to account for the view that the Black identity is the core context of the self, and 2) the model fails to account for the centrality of spirituality in conceptualization of the Black personality, a crucial element in the Afro-centric perspective.
Akbar also takes issue with the idea that a secure Black identity was realized when the African American became comfortable forging relationships with members of other ethnic groups and cultures.
According to Akbar, it makes more sense if a secure Black identity was evident when one was comfortable establishing and maintaining relationships with one's own racial/cultural group members.
[11] Akbar wrote the book to try and empower Black men worldwide to become self-determined and fulfill their due roles in society.
Akbar refers to Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, Warith Deen Mohammed, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., Paul Robeson, and Cheikh Anta Diop as examples of Black men who were leaders and advocates of change.
[5] Akbar has also be given commemorative days on his behalf in six major cities across the United States, and was named a Development Chief in Ghana, West Africa.