National Council for Black Studies facts for kids
The National Council for Black Studies (NCBS) is a group that helps grow and improve the study of African American and Black Studies. It's a non-profit organization, which means it doesn't aim to make money. NCBS was started in 1975 by Bertha Maxwell-Roddey. She was also the first director of the Black Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
How NCBS Began
During the Civil Rights Movement, many people realized that it was important to study the history and experiences of African Americans. This led to student movements at colleges, asking for education that included everyone. The idea of "Black Studies" (around 1968–1969) and the "Black University" concept (in the late 1960s) helped create more courses about African and African diaspora cultures at different schools. In April 1968, a big meeting for Black teachers happened.
Bertha Maxwell-Roddey led the creation of NCBS in 1975. Her important work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) with its Black Studies program inspired the way NCBS was set up. Her meetings and conferences also helped shape the organization's goals.
UNC Charlotte's Role
Maxwell-Roddey saw that Black Studies education was needed at UNC Charlotte. The program she started there was key to creating NCBS. She was the second Black full-time professor at UNC Charlotte. She also helped start the Afro-American Cultural Center in North Carolina, which is now called the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. She was also the national president of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority from 1992 to 1996.
The Black Studies program at UNC Charlotte was designed to help with the "academic, intellectual, social, and economic life of the Black student." Students went through different stages of courses:
- Phase I: Who Am I?
- Phase II: Why Am I Here?
- Phase III: Where Did I Come From?
- Phase IV: Where Do I Go From Here?
Each stage included community service projects. The higher stages also involved research projects. The earlier stages were introduction classes about African American history and other subjects. The Black Studies committee wanted the program to help the community and work with the whole university.
Several groups at UNC Charlotte were connected to the Black Studies program. These included the Black Student Union, Black Gospel Choir, Basketball teams, Student Government, and various Black sororities and fraternities.
Early Days of NCBS
The first idea behind NCBS was that "Education should lead to both excellent learning and social responsibility." NCBS wanted to make academic programs and community efforts stronger in African American studies. It started as a group for Black Studies professionals. Their goal was to make Black Studies a respected academic subject.
What NCBS Does
Members of NCBS are dedicated to making the field of Africana Studies grow. They work to make sure that school lessons from kindergarten to college include the experiences and contributions of people from the African diaspora and other groups. NCBS actively:
- Helps colleges find and hire Black scholars for teaching and research.
- Assists in creating and using multicultural education programs for all schools.
- Supports scholarly research about the African World experience.
- Improves information about Pan-African life and culture for everyone.
- Gives professional advice to leaders in education, government, and community work.
- Keeps connections strong among Africana Studies scholars around the world.
- Works to empower African People.
Recent Achievements
The California Bill ACR-71, which supports Africana studies programs, was a success thanks to the efforts of former NCBS member and president Shirley Weber.
Maulana Karenga, a current NCBS board member and head of the Africana Studies program at California State University at Long Beach, is the founder of the Pan-African holiday Kwanzaa.
NCBS also offers a community grant that members can apply for. This funding has helped new leaders and scholars bring African Studies to different communities.
NCBS is currently located at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. Before that, it was at the University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
