The National Black Law School Student Association

The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) was founded in 1968 by Algernon Johnson Cooper, Esq, along with six (6) Black American Law Shcool Students. The former mayor of Prichard, Alabama, founded the first Black American Law Students Association at the New York University Law School. When it was first founded, it was called the Black Law School Students of America. In 1983, BLSA 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.

Today, NBLSA is recognized as a 501(c)(3) corporation and the nation’s largest student-run organization representing nearly 6,000 minority law students on over 200 ABA-accredited law school campuses. NBLSA comprises six (6) regions: Western, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Rocky Mountain, and Southern. NBLSA comprises chapters or affiliates in six countries: The Bahamas, Nigeria, and South Africa. NBLSA has ties with the National Bar Association, the Council on Legal Education Opportunity, The National Black Alliance, and the National Black Leadership Roundtable.

 NBLSA aims to articulate and promote black law students' needs and goals and effectuate change in the legal community. NBLSA also helped start the Black Law Students Association of Canada (BLSAC), the National Latino/Latina Student Association (NLLSA), the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities (NALSD), and the National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (NAPALSA). The organization holds an annual convention to engage in legal activism while preparing new generations of black lawyers to "effectuate change."

Website: https://nationalblsa.wildapricot.org/

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.