National Conference of Black Lawyers
The National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) is an American association, formed in 1968, to offer legal assistance to black civil rights activists, it is made up of judges, law students, lawyers, legal activists, legal workers, and scholars.[1][2]
Noted clients included Angela Davis,[3] Assata Shakur, the Attica Brothers, Geronimo Pratt, Mumia Abu-Jamal, the Ben Chavis and the Wilmington Ten. The organization lobbied against apartheid in South Africa.
They expanded from African-American oppression to help other groups in countries like: Northern Ireland, the Palestinian territories, Cuba, Nicaragua, Guyana, Grenada, and throughout Southern Africa.
The group's mission is: "To protect human rights, to achieve self-determination of Africa and African Communities and to work in coalition to assist in ending oppression of all peoples."
References
- Barrolle, Melvin (2009). "National Conference of Black Lawyers". In Finkelman, Paul (ed.). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present: from the Age of Segregation to the Twenty-first Century. Oxford University Press. p. 161-162. ISBN 978-0-19-516779-5. OCLC 312624445.
- Barrolle, Melvin. National Conference of Black Lawyers (Report). Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.45971.
- Aptheker, Bettina Fay. The Morning Breaks:The Trial of Angela Davis (2014 ed.). Cornell University Press. p. 60. ISBN 9780801470134. OCLC 979577423.
Other attorneys, including Sheldon Otis, Michael Tigar, Dennis Roberts, Allan Brotsky, and representatives from the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the National Lawyers Guild assisted in the preparations of numerous pre-trial motions over an eighteen month period.