The National Council for Black Studies

Abstract

The major professional organization of Black Studies scholars is the National Council for Black Studies (NCBS) founded by education professor Bertha Maxwell-Roddy in 1976. The organization’s initial concerns were to provide support and curriculum guidance for emerging Black Studies units. However, the organization’s first decade witnessed internal divisions between Black nationalist and Marxist factions that hindered its development. The organization was heavily dependent on large public universities such as Indiana University and Ohio State for infrastructure support. Elite private schools and historically Black colleges played minimal roles in its development. More recently, the NCBS has broadened its base of support and developed a journal.