Ethnic minorities, and specifically Black Americans, in the U.S. are disproportionately represented in health disparity patterns (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). Yet, when discussing the health of the Black diaspora in the U.S., ethnic and cultural differences are rarely explored. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological model as a conceptual framework, this dissertation investigates whether race, identity, discrimination, socialization, and U.S. acculturation interact to affect health and well-being for diverse subgroups of the Black diaspora (African-Americans, Continental Africans, Afro-Caribbeans, and Afro-Latinos). Focusing on within-group variation, this study explores intraracial and intraethnic differences in ethnic/racial identity as it relates to cardiovascular and psychological health in two parts. Study 1 examines the moderating effects of certain sociocultural factors (e.g., discrimination, racial socialization, and acculturative stress) on the relation of racial identity and health (cardiovascular and psychological) for African-Americans (n=215), Continental Africans (n=124), and Afro- Caribbeans/Latinos (n=59) (N=398). Unexpectedly, regression analyses did not reveal the predicted patterns. There was no significant association of racial identity and health (cardiovascular and psychological health) for the overall sample. However, notable findings did emerge in three key areas. First, surprisingly, higher (more positive) racial identity related to worse BMI and depression outcomes for the overall sample. Secondly, for Continental Africans, discrimination and socialization were found to moderate the relation of racial identity and physical activity. Specifically, higher racial identity was only related to worse physical activity for those with high levels of socialization and high levels of discrimination. And finally, for African-Americans, higher racial identity was only strongly related to lower depression for those with high levels socialization. Study 2 examined whether acculturation and years lived in the U.S. moderated the association of ethnic identity with cardiovascular health (cardiovascular disease risk factors) and psychological health (i.e., anxiety and depression) for Afro-Latinos (n=589) and non-Black Hispanic/Latinos (n=9,231) (N=9820). Using regression-based analyses, results suggested that racial identity relates to both cardiovascular health and psychological health, but only for non-Black Hispanic/Latinos. Furthermore, significant moderation effects of acculturation and years lived in the U.S. emerged only for psychological health outcomes among non-Black Hispanic/Latinos. These results suggest that while ethnic identity and acculturation profoundly affect psychological health, their impact on cardiovascular health is less clear, particularly for those who identify as Afro-descended and Hispanic/Latino. Still, overall findings from this novel research highlight the heterogeneity of the Black experience and the need to study within-group variation to obtain a “big picture” of Blackness in the U.S. as it relates to health.