The National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), founded in 1968,[1][2] is a nationwide organization formed to articulate and promote the needs and goals of black law students and effectuates change in the legal community.

Organized into six regions (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southern, Mid-West, Rocky Mountain and Western Region)[1] the organization has over 200 chapters and is present in all but a few of the nation's accredited law schools, as well as unaccredited law schools.

Each year, the organization holds an annual convention to engage in legal activism and while preparing new generations of black lawyers to "effectuate change."

Additionally, the Frederick Douglass Moot Court and Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competitions are held during its Annual Convention.

At the fortieth anniversary convention of the NBLSA in Detroit Cooper, speaking on the origins of the organization, said:[2] We organized at NYU during the halcyon days of the late '60s, in the midst of riots, and our mission was contemplated, debated, discussed, agreed upon, refined and re-refined as only law students can do.