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Logo of the National Black Law Students Association
The National Black Law Students Association
(NBLSA), founded in 1968, is a nationwide organization formed to
articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students
and effectuates change in the legal community. As the largest
student run organization in the country with over 6,000 members,
NBLSA includes chapters or affiliates in six different countries
including The Bahamas, Nigeria, and South Africa. NBLSA encourages
the development of talented, social conscious lawyers of tomorrow.
NBLSA help start the Black Law Students Association of Canada
(BLSAC), The National Latino/Latina Student Association (NLLSA),
National Association of Law Students with Disabilities (NALSD), and
The National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
(NAPALSA). The headquarters of NBLSA is located in Washington,
D.C.. Organized into six regions (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic,
Southern, Mid-West, Rocky Mountain and Western Region) the
organization has over 200 chapters and is present in all but a few
of the nation's accredited law schools, as well as unaccredited law
schools. Each year, the organization holds an annual convention to
engage in legal activism and while preparing new generations of
black lawyers to "effectuate change." Additionally, the Frederick
Douglass Moot Court and Thurgood Marshall Mock
Trial Competitions are held during its Annual Convention.
In 1968, Algernon Johnson Cooper, former mayor of Prichard,
Alabama, founded the first Black American Law Students
Association at the New York University Law School. In
1983, BALSA revised its name and the word "American" was deleted to
encompass all blacks, including those not of American nationality.
Later, the word "National" was added to reflect the organization's
national expansion, which now includes representation in the law
schools of forty-eight states and Puerto Rico.
Tiffany Munsell, a third year law student at Indiana University
School of Law - Indianapolis is the current National Chair for the
2009-2010 term. The immediate past chair is Wintta Woldemariam. The
Association has ties with the National Bar Association, the
Council on Legal Education Opportunity, The National Black
Alliance, and the National Black Leadership Roundtable. However,
the most important affiliation and duty this organization has is to
the black community -- nationally and abroad. The theme for the
2009-10 term is "Awareness. Advocacy. Activism." The organization
has witnessed a surge in social activism in recent years. NBLSA has
followed and taken action on the Genarlow Wilson case, the Jena Six
controversy, the Seattle and Louisville Cases, as
well as other popular controversial legal issues (such as the
American Bar Associations 301-6 Bar Passage Standard Proposal and
Proposing Accessible and Affordable Education through Student
Lending Reform). The year 2010 marks the 42nd Anniversary of the
organization. Until his death in 1993, U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Thurgood Marshall was the honorary
national chair.
NBLSA's 42nd annual convention will be held from March 10-14,
2010 in Boston, Massachusetts.
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