Global Black Thought: An Interview with Keisha N. Blain & Robert Greene II
In today’s feature, Jocelyn Dawson, the Director of Journals at the University of Pennsylvania Press, interviews Drs. Keisha N. Blain and Robert Greene II about the new journal, Global Black Thought. Published by Penn Press, Global Black Thought is the official journal of the African American Intellectual History (AAIHS) devoted to the study of the Black intellectual tradition. The journal publishes original, innovative, and thoroughly researched essays on Black ideas, theories, and intellectuals in the United States and throughout the African diaspora. Global Black Thought features historically based contributions by authors in diverse fields of study throughout the humanities and social sciences. Blain, one of the founding leaders of AAIHS and Former President, serves as the journal’s Editor-in-chief and Greene, the current President of AAIHS, serves as the journal’s Managing Editor.
Jocelyn Dawson (JD): Please tell us about the need you saw for a journal focused on the study of Black thought in the US and throughout the African diaspora and how the idea for the journal developed. What gap does it fill in the academy?
Keisha N. Blain (KNB): During the formative years of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS), my colleagues and I discussed the possibility of launching a journal. Sometime around 2018, we began having those discussions in earnest and arranged several meetings with leaders at various academic presses interested in collaborating with us. We ended up not moving forward with those plans for a myriad of reasons–including the fact that we were all untenured and could not imagine having to shoulder the responsibilities of leading an academic journal at that stage. I was the senior editor of the blog at the time and the president of the organization. I remember being so consumed with my duties that I could not imagine taking on such a major new role. But I thought it was such an important endeavor and hoped to one day be involved in an effort to make this a reality.
Last year, while discussing the upcoming 10th anniversary of AAIHS with the current president Robert Greene II, the idea for the journal came up again. We began to brainstorm and also met with mentors and colleagues to ask for feedback and advice on how best to move forward (if we did in fact move forward). The information Robert and I gathered during this process helped us map out a plan for the journal, and we believed the timing was right. As we witnessed the widespread efforts to stifle the teaching of African American history in schools across the country, we believed this journal would offer a powerful counter to this disturbing trend. The journal provides a vital space to center Black ideas, theories, and philosophies from both a national and global perspective. It’s an extension–and in many ways, an expansion–of the important work we have been doing on Black Perspectives.
Robert Greene II (RG2): I’d like to add a few more words on the subject of timing. As Keisha points out, the timing was right for so many reasons. In addition to challenging the broad efforts to marginalize Black people’s histories, the journal also arose from the explosion of interest in Black intellectual history the academy—and the general public—have witnessed in the last twenty years. The creation of the African American Intellectual History Society, and its blog Black Perspectives, were but one iteration of this interest. Global Black Thought is the next step. As Black intellectual history matures as a field, it is only natural that it has its own academic journal.
JD: How does the journal speak to the current political moment?
RG2: In our current Black Lives Matter era, the thoughts of people of African descent are an important part of every major political and cultural debate of our time. Whether it is the battle against resurgent right-wing movements, climate change, or the shifting balance of power worldwide between traditional and emerging world powers, Black people across the globe are going to have a critical role to play in those debates. Understanding how those contemporary debates are informed by the long and rich history of Black intellectual discourse is important for everyone.
KNB: I mentioned earlier the nationwide efforts to limit the teaching of African American history. We see this most clearly in the attacks against “critical race theory” as well as the anti-DEI movement, which has now made it difficult–and even criminal in some states–to tell the unadulterated history of Black people in the US and across the globe. As this wave of anti-Blackness and anti-intellectualism grows, we must oppose these forces. The journal is one way we can do this as academics–sending the message that the ideas and contributions of Black people everywhere are significant and should be widely engaged and valued.
JD: What can readers expect to see from the journal’s first volume? What future special issues are planned?
KNB: We issued public calls for two special issues to launch the journal and ended up receiving so many excellent submissions that we are excited to release the first volume next year. We are featuring a special issue edited by Erika Denise Edwards on race and ethnicity in colonial Latin America and the Caribbean. We are also releasing a special issue on Black Feminist Truth Telling, edited by Stephanie Y. Evans.
RG2: Readers can expect to see us hit the ground running, with a diverse array of journal articles, book reviews, and interviews. In particular, we want to make clear that Global Black Thought is going to link together both various eras and geographic centers of Black intellectual history. We have already lined up future special issues on Haitian Feminism(s), Global Black Power, Black Queer and Transgender Identities, and many other topics that display the full breadth and depth of Black intellectual history.
JD: What advice do you have for potential contributors to the journal? What types of submissions are you looking for?
RG2: We want contributors to view us as they would any other academic journal. Contributors should know that we want to see work that can push the boundaries of Black intellectual history. And we want to be clear: this is not a journal devoted solely to African American Intellectual history; instead, our journal is dedicated to the entirety of the Black diaspora. Thus, our name- Global Black Thought.
KNB: I would also add that we are looking for original, innovative, and thoroughly researched essays on Black ideas, theories, and intellectuals. We expect essays to be historically based but we welcome authors in diverse fields of study throughout the humanities and social sciences.
JD: What will the journal’s relationship be with the Black Perspectives blog?
RG2: We plan to continue the strong writing tradition at Black Perspectives. The blog will remain a key part of the AAIHS publications umbrella. However, this will offer us unique opportunities to, for example, preview journal articles and special issues for Global Black Thought on the blog. Black Perspectives will continue to publish blog posts but will also have the opportunity to complement the longer works that will run in Global Black Thought.
KNB: Yes, what’s great about this new initiative is that authors will have an opportunity to have their work featured in the journal and the blog. We have already planned out blog features that will run simultaneously with the release of each issue. This means that in addition to publishing an essay that academics will read and appreciate, the scholarship will also reach thousands of nonacademic readers who are avid followers of the blog. Rather than debate whether to write for a journal or a public-facing outlet, authors can do both in one fell swoop.
JD: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
RG2: We are fortunate to experience a renaissance in Black intellectual history. Global Black Thought is our attempt to create a clearinghouse for cutting-edge work being produced by scholars across the world. We are anxious and excited to get the journal out into the world and to encourage scholars to submit. All essays published in the journal will be considered for the revamped Maria Stewart journal article prize.
KNB: We encourage scholars to reach out to us if they would like to get involved in some way. As we manage the high number of submissions, we are always looking for individuals willing to evaluate manuscripts and we have a long list of books we would like to feature, so touch base with us if you’d like to write a book review for us. We are open to reviewing proposals for future special issues and book forums as well.
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