Editor's Note

Abstract

Editor's Note Jannis Moody … and what an experience it was! my initial excitement about the opportunity to serve as an editor for this issue was rooted in the opportunity to create space and platform for the expression and validation of the various sexual realities and relationships of Black women. I was also excited about the opportunity to dive into the process of engaging the work of the authors with my friends and colleagues. As a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in mental health services for Black women, I'm always amazed at the color and shape that their stories take as these women use language and culture as a brush to paint the vivid details of such intimate components of their lives. Though many of the elements of the stories, experiences, interpretations, meanings, and implications are thematic across the population, there is always a glimmer of something new that serves to inspire new questions, broaden my perspective, deepen my understanding of and connection to Black women. The journey of editing this special issue was quite the parallel experience. Sometimes we take for granted that the people who look like us and perhaps share some of our personal and professional identities, may well have their own differing backgrounds, histories, perspectives, etc. that shape how they see and understand the phenomena we are exploring. It is in that realization that we are reminded of the many within group differences that we have, and how they make for more robust exchange of ideas and the interpretations thereof. We came together as a collective of social scientists to offer insight to the world about these very intimate realities of the lives of Black women. In the process, I gained a broader interdisciplinary perspective on how we explore, discuss, research, and report on these realities, with a more acute awareness of the factors that shape our lenses of understanding. I consider that a win-win. [End Page 5] It is my hope that the articles in the issue will offer context, broaden perspective, deepen understanding and inspire the questions that serve to validate the multidimensional tapestry that is the sexuality and relational lives of Black women. [End Page 6] Copyright © 2023 James C. Wadley