National Conference of Black Political Scientists records

Founded in 1969, the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) is a political science organization committed to the promotion, study, and enhancement of the political aspirations of people of African descent in the United States and globally. Thirty-five Black political scientists gathered at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA in April 1969. They came together to discuss the problems they faced in teaching political science at historically Black colleges and universities. They met again in September 1969 at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in New York. They decided that the problems facing Black political scientists, regardless of geographical location or institution, were similar enough to warrant establishment of a national organization. The group voted to establish themselves as the National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS). The organization held its first conference, known as the 1st Annual Meeting, in May 1970 at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University) in Atlanta, GA. NCOBPS holds an annual conference every year in March or April.

NCOBPS "aims to contribute to the resolution of the many challenges that Black people confront” (www.ncobps.org). It promotes the research and critical analysis of topics such as those overlooked and/or marginalized in general political science scholarship. The organization addresses wide-ranging "real world" issues.

Founding members of NCOBPS include; Mack H. Jones, 1st Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, from Atlanta University, Jewel Limar Prestage, 2nd Vice Chairman, from Southern University, William P. Robinson, Sr., Chairman, from Norfolk State College, and Shelby F. Lewis from Southern University as well as others from various historically Black colleges and universities.

In the 1970s, NCOBPS, through a separate foundation, started the Graduate Assistantship Program, Inc. (GAP). This program provided assistantships to Black political science students to attend graduate school. Currently, the program provides travel grants to graduate/undergraduate students to attend and participate in the annual conference. Additionally, the organization started its own refereed publication known now as the National Political Science Review. Previously knowns under different titles, including The Journal on Political Repression, today, the National Political Science Review is published annually and includes articles on various subject areas within political science such as global studies, policy history, and race and ethnicity.

Members of NCOBPS include political science faculty, students, elected politicians, and policy analysts. Members are committed to the study and practice of black politics. The scholarship of NCOBPS members range across the political science sub-fields, and include political theory, international relations, comparative politics, methods, public policy, and American politics.

Information about the history of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists was obtained from their website, www.ncobps.org