Abstract
Dear Journal of Humanistic Psychology (JHP) readers,
We enter this new year in mourning. 2023 has been a year characterized by loss. We have lost two visionaries in the field, Tom Greening and Donna Rockwell. We have lost many others to war, to famine, to the pandemic. As I write (November 28, 2023), people in the Middle East, including children, are dying from massacres, thirst and starvation, bombs and rockets, and increased illnesses. Some are being held hostage, some are drinking dirty water, some cannot sleep due to the thundering of weapons, and many don’t know whether they will survive another night.
One of the stranger things about trauma and loss is that life goes on when it feels like it shouldn’t. People with the privilege to eat, drink, work, and write—as I am doing here—continue to do so. And yet it is our obligation to remember and to advocate for humanistic value, including the inherent worth of each and every human being. There is a saying in Arabic, kulna fil hawa sawa, which literally means “we are all in the same air.” In English, we are all in the same boat. In Hebrew, kulanu besiyrah ahat. Or as James Baldwin (1980) once wrote: “The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe” (para. 2).
We start this issue with tributes to the memory of Tom Greening (1930–2023), who edited the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (JHP) from 1971 to 2005. Tom’s legacy as an editor, educator, scholar, and practitioner—as well as his uniqueness as a person and a poet—have left a tremendous impact on all who knew him and the field. This past May, I received word that we lost Tom from Louis Hoffman, who also suggested the idea of publishing tributes to Tom in JHP. I will let the tributes speak for themselves, but suffice it to say that the journal is what it is today because of Tom’s dedication, innovation, and vision.
After the tributes come two articles in a Special Section on Remembering People and Animals. The first, “A Critique of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers as Educators,” by Kenneth Feigenbaum (1932–2022), Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland global campus. Feigenbaum’s wide-ranging work covered topics such as humanistic pedagogy, the criminalization of mental health challenges, and fascism. “A Critique of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers as Educators” was completed the summer before his death in September 2022. The second article in the special section, “Love and Horror in Grief: An Autopsychography on the Loss of a Beloved Animal Companion,” was written by Bethany Morris and explores the depth of grief that humans experience when losing a companion animal.
The second half of the issue presents a special feature that was guest edited by Andrew Bland, who is the current President of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Division 32 of the American Psychological Association. The Special Feature on Maslow’s “Toward a Humanistic Biology” includes preeminent humanistic scholars reflecting on Maslow’s 1969 article from the viewpoint of the 2020s. Bland, as Guest Editor, introduces the Special Feature with the article “I-It Versus I-Thou Science and Society: Introduction to Special Feature” on Maslow’s (1969) “Toward a Humanistic Biology.”
The special feature, and the issue itself, closes with a piece by Donna Rockwell, who died unexpectedly in October 2023. Donna was a true visionary and leader in the field of humanistic psychology. As former President of the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Donna deeply impacted our community with her vision of One Love and the power of mindfulness. Those who knew her can attest to her understanding of the power of presence—and, indeed, the power of her presence. Tributes to Donna can be found in the winter 2023 Society for Humanistic Psychology newsletter (Society for Humanistic Psychology, 2023, p. 23). As this article was on its way to press, I received news that we lost another visionary in the field, Miraj Desai. Miraj was a researcher at the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health and a longstanding member of our humanistic community. Miraj uniquely synthesized phenomenology, social justice approaches, and the recovery movement in mental health. Anyone who knew Miraj will attest to his brilliance and creativity as a scholar, researcher, and human being. I was deeply fortunate to work with Miraj when we were both graduate students at Fordham University under the mentorship of Fred Wertz. He will be deeply missed.
We enter this new year in mourning and grief. Let us exit together in peace, with kindness and human dignity and—as Donna Rockwell would have said—One Love.
In service,