09/08/2026
Give Her, Her Flowers
Today, I want to celebrate my sister, Command Sergeant Major Joy L. Allen Joy Allen 💖😘
She spent nearly 28 years serving our country, completed four wartime deployments, trained more than 700 future soldiers, earned a master’s degree with honors, and rose from military pay clerk to command sergeant major. She also made history as the first woman to serve as the senior enlisted leader of the U.S. Army Financial Management Command. As I sat at her retirement ceremony, I realized how much I did not know about everything she had accomplished. I kept hearing, “She was the first woman.” But through my doctoral and critical lens, I heard something more. Joy was not only the first woman. She was the first Black woman to hold that position.
Two things can be true at the same time.
She entered that role as a woman and as a Black woman. She carried both identities into every assignment, deployment, classroom, and leadership space.
That is why Joy’s story means so much.
She did not simply take a seat at the table. She entered a space where no woman had served before. She performed the work, led soldiers, advised senior leaders, and left the position stronger for the next person. At her change of responsibility ceremony, she passed that leadership role to a man whom she respected and trusted to continue the mission. Joy did not inherit a path created for her. She helped create the path.
Congratulations on your retirement, Command Sergeant Major Joy L. Allen.
You served. You led. You sacrificed. You developed soldiers. You broke barriers. You opened doors. Most importantly, you left a path for others to follow. I wish you peace, happiness, good health, and so much love as you begin this next stage of life.
Let’s love on our girl, our woman, our sister, our leader, and our history-maker.
Joy, we see you. We honor you. We celebrate you. We love you. We are so proud of you.
You were the first.
🇺🇸May you never be the last.🇺🇸
ESSENCE Oprah
…nevertheless SHE persisted
