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ABOUT

The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) is a national organization designed to articulate and promote the professional needs and goals of Black law students. As the largest student run organization in the country, NBLSA encourages the development of talented, socially conscious, lawyers of tomorrow.

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For forty years, NBLSA has built and grew on the collective courage of thousands of students united on one premise: that they want to become lawyers, change agents in society. Today, NBLSA is comprised of six regions, representing over 6000 members across the nation. With chapters at almost every accredited law school in the country, NBLSA has initiatives on the local, regional, and national level.

In 1968, Algernon Johnson "A.J." Cooper, former mayor of Prichard Alabama, founded the Black American Law Students Association (BALSA) at the New York University Law School.

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Its purpose was to effectuate change in the legal system. The association endeavored to sensitize the law and legal profession to the ever increasing needs of the Black community. This commitment has never wavered.

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In establishing the organization, Founder Cooper and the other original incorporators had a clear vision and purpose for the NBLSA Articles of Incorporation: 

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  • Articulate and Promote the Educational, Professional, Political, and Social Needs and Goals of Black Law Students. 

  • Foster and Encourage Professional Competence. 

  • Improve The Relationships Between Black Law Students, Black Attorneys, and the American Legal Structure. 

  • Instill in the Black Attorney and Law Student a Greater Awareness and Commitment to the Needs of the Black Community. 

  • Influence the Legal Community by Bringing About Meaningful Legal and Political Change That Addresses the Needs and Concepts of the Black Community. 

  • Adopt and Implement Policies of Economic Independence. 

  • Encourage Black Law Students to Pursue Careers in the Judiciary. 

  • And To Do All Things Necessary and Appropriate to Accomplish These Purposes. 

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The mission of NBLSA is to increase the number of culturally responsible Black and minority attorneys who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community.

Photo Credit: Jet Magazine & Past National Chair Robert Pickett (pictured at left).

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LAND RECOGNITION

The National Black Law Students Association (“NBLSA”) recognizes that our work takes place across many Indigenous territories across the land now called the United States of America, originally known as Turtle Island. An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Indigenous peoples continue to live on and commune with these lands, and we are mindful of broken covenants and the past and present impacts of settler colonialism. We make this acknowledgment as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those in whose territory we reside.

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ADDRESS

712 H St. NE, Suite 1519, Washington, D.C. 20002

EMAIL

questions@nblsa.org

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