A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Madison in the Wisconsin State Assembly for 26 years, and was Minority Leader for most of the 2001-2002 session.

[1] He worked as a high school teacher and coach, as Curator of Education of the Wisconsin Historical Society and as a conservationist for the Sierra Club.

In 1998, Black endorsed Kenosha representative James Kreuser in his unsuccessful bid for Democratic Minority Leader.

A few years later, following Democrats' disappointment with the results of the 2000 election, Black challenged Marlin Schneider for the role of Assistant Minority Leader and won a surprising upset victory.

He is currently a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was Vice President of the 2014 board of directors for the Sierra Club, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious environmental activists agencies.