National Council for Black Studies (NCBS) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of the field of Africana/African American/Black Studies. It is a not-for-profit organization established in 1975.^[1] The National Council for Black Studies was founded by Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, the founding director of the Black Studies/Afro-American and African Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Within the context of the Civil Rights Movement, a growing recognition of the need for the study of African-American world experience spurred student movements on several campuses for inclusive educations. The Black Studies movement (1968–1969) and the Black University concept (late-1960s) helped create more African and African diaspora-centered courses on various campuses. In April 1968, a national conference for Black teachers took place.^[2]

Bertha Maxwell-Roddey spearheaded NCBS in 1975 as part of this larger movement for African American studies.^[3] However, before its inception, Maxwell-Roddey's pioneering work at UNC Charlotte included a Black Studies program that served as the inspiration and backdrop for the NCBS's structure, philosophy, and aims, in addition to the meetings and conferences that Maxwell-Roddey organized.^[4]

Members of NCBS are committed to the proliferation of the field of Africana Studies. Their work has promoted and retained K-12, community college, and university curricula inclusive to the experience and contributions of African diaspora peoples and other marginalized peoples. NCBS actively:^[7]

• Facilitates, through consultation and other services, the recruitment of Black Scholars for all levels of teaching and research in universities and colleges;
• Assists in the creation and implementation of multicultural education programs and materials for K-12 schools and higher education institutions;
• Promotes scholarly African-centered research on all aspects of the African World experience;
• Increases and improves informational resources on Pan-African life and culture to be made available to the general public;
• Provides professional advice to policymakers in education, government and community development;
• Maintains international linkages among Africana Studies scholars; and
• Works for the empowerment of African People.

The California Bill ACR-71 Africana studies programs led to success with the efforts of former NCBS member and president Shirley Weber.^[8]

Current NCBS board member and department chair of the Africana Studies program at California State University at Long Beach, Maulana Karenga is the founder of the Pan-African holiday Kwanzaa.^[9]

NCBS also has a community grant available for members to apply for. The funding has helped new leaders and scholars bring African Studies to various communities.^[10]

NCBS is currently housed at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. Its previous location was the University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio.