Abstract
The Journal of Black Psychology (JBP) is the premier journal on the psychology of Blacks across the African diaspora. That is why I am proud and humbled to become the sixth editor-in-chief of the journal. I truly stand on the shoulders of Kevin Cokley (outgoing editor-in-chief), and the prior editors Shawn Utsey, Kathleen Burlew, Curtis Banks, and William David Smith (the founding editor; Williams, 2008). They have established a foundation and legacy that I am passionate about and committed to sustain and build on. Since my inaugural introduction to the Association of the Black Psychologists and JBP in 1991, as a student at Ball State University, I have used both as guiding foundations for my scholarship. Of all of the psychological journals published, this journal has always been the one that I aspired to be an editor of. Even in the 21st century, nothing else comes close. Why?
From the beginning in 1974, the journal provided an outlet to recognize the theoretical, empirical, and practice perspectives of Black psychologists, whose voices had been marginalized when the criteria for scholarship were a moving target (White, Williams, & Majzler, 2011). Besides recognizing such voices, the journal has been a platform for innovation on the psychology of people of African descent. One of the most innovative pieces of scholarship published in JBP was Frederick B. Phillips’ (1990) work on “NTU Psychotherapy: An Afrocentric Approach.” This article is not only a classic but it is also current and is demonstrated in the clinical and community work offered through the Progressive Life Center, which initially started in Washington, D.C., and now is located in five other locations (e.g., Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA). Or look at one of the most recently published articles by Goode-Cross and Grim (2016) on Black therapists’ experiences working with Black clients. Although research on client–therapist pairings on same race has been extensive (e.g., Coleman, Wampold, & Casali, 1995; Maramba & Nagayama Hall, 2002; Sue, Fujino, Hu, Takeuchi, & Zane, 1991), the focus has been on the efficacy of the same versus the different race pairings, but not on the experiences of Black therapists working with Black clients. Or read the article by Litchmore, Safdar, and O’Doherty (2016), who examined the ethnic and racial self-identifications of second-generation Canadians of African and Caribbean heritage. This singular focus on examining the experience of being Black in various contexts and roles and around the world highlights the unique status that JBP has in the field of psychology.
Like all editors of JBP who have come before me, and Utsey (2002) stressed as incoming editor, I “pledge” to “act responsibly” and “to strive to maintain the high quality of the scholarship of the journal” (p. 195). My vision for the journal is still unfolding, but I present here some elements of my vision. I want to encourage noted and emerging Black scholars to publish in JBP on the various psychological experiences of Blacks across the diaspora. The lens should not be comparative or from the “other,” but the lens should be from Blacks themselves. The lens should reflect the reality of being Black; thus, the Black perspectives will include African-centered frameworks as well reflect the Black experiences from a nationality or local view from around the world. At the base, the lens must be from the Black perspective. Like Utsey (2002) and Cokley (2009, 2016) indicated, I want to cover areas about being Black that have not received as much attention in other journals, such as health, vocational, and applied clinical work. Although the journal has published a significant number of works on Black identity, I would like to see this work evolve beyond self-esteem and discrimination. What makes racial or Black identity useful in the lives of Black people?
There continues to be basic challenges of running JBP. We continue to need Black scholars to serve as ad hoc reviewers and on the editorial board. Furthermore, we need to shorten the amount of time for manuscripts to be reviewed. As Cokley (2016) noted, the bulk of the reviews of manuscripts has fallen on a small number of reviewers, who (a) agree to do the review and (b) actually follow through in a timely manner. If you are interested in being an ad hoc reviewer, email me. The expectation would be for you to accept about one to three manuscripts per year to review and to do so in a timely manner (within a 30-day time period). If you have experience as a reviewer and want to serve on the editorial board, email me. The expectation would be for you to accept about six to eight manuscripts a year to review and to do so in a timely manner. If you have had extensive experience as a member on an editorial board and wish to become an associate editor, email me so I can share with you the expectations and the time commitment involved to do an excellent job.
I will share with you in the near future more of my vision for JBP. However, my initial goal is to orient myself to how the journal currently functions. I do live by the philosophy of “don’t fix what is not broken.” As editor, Dr. Cokley has done an excellent job of maintaining and moving the journal forward. Thanks, Kevin! My goal is to build on that legacy. I hope you will join me in that enterprise. My go-to-word that I have used all my life is “faith” or imani. Keep the faith with me as I move the Journal of Black Psychology forward.
Imani.