Dr. Poussaint helped widen debate about Black culture and identity in books, essays and as adviser for the popular sitcom “The Cosby Show.”

A psychiatrist at Harvard and an adviser to Jesse Jackson and Bill Cosby, he challenged Black Americans to stand up to systemic bigotry.

As a professor and writer, Dr. Poussaint helped shape how the nation understands the ways racism affects Black lives.

Dr. Altha Stewart, so far the only Black member elected president of the American Psychiatric Association, wrote in remembrance that Poussaint inspired her to “get serious” about her professional role as a Black psychiatrist while she was attending a summer program at Harvard, McLeod-Bryant said.