I am honored to serve as the inaugural editor-in-chief of the Journal of Black Military Studies.

I came into this field of research quite by accident. A colleague, A. Y. Jimoh, approached me about providing the historical context to selections of literature that she had collected and building a class around African American literary representations of war and military service. I was in the process of transforming my doctoral dissertation into my first book at the time. Nevertheless, I could not say, “No,” to this opportunity, though it was a tangent from my research agenda. A grant, a set of graduate seminars, and a few years later we published, These Truly Are The Brave: An Anthology of African American Writings on Patriotism War and Citizenship with the University Press of Florida in 2015. Since then, I have taught classes too, and worked with students in this area. More recently, my friend and president/founder of the newly created Society for Black Military Studies, Le’Trice Donaldson, contacted me to join the society’s executive board. She deftly convinced me to help her build this journal, and then to serve as its editor in chief.

Most blessings are unplanned. Aimee Diehl at the University of Vermont Press guided the entire process that brings us to this achievement—a new, fully accessible journal without charges for authors or readers, which provides the opportunity to work with top scholars in this interdisciplinary field, as well as military veterans and personnel, all dedicated to creating and preserving knowledge.

The JBMS inaugural Advisory Committee has envisioned this journal as the place not only for scholarly work, but also for annotated and analyzed primary sources, art, and literary work. We, along with our full Editorial Board, are excited to play a role in curating this new archive as we wade through this era of retrenchment, anti-intellectualism, and purposeful undereducation. Just as those before us embodied courage and bravery despite systems designed to destroy and annihilate them, we now take up the challenge to do the same. Join us on this journey!

— Françoise N. Hamlin, Ph.D.
Editor in Chief
Journal of Black Military Studies
September 27, 2025

Banner image: A Soldier’s Journey, World War I Memorial, Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of National Park Service)