Mission: The UCLA National Black Law Journal has been committed to scholarly discourse exploring the intersection of race and the law for 35 years. The NBLJ was started in 1970 by five African-American law students and two African-American law professors. The Journal was the first of its kind in the country. Because of the drop in African-American students at UCLA School of Law after the passage of Proposition 209, the Journal was sent to Columbia where publication could be continued.

One of the Journal's founding editors noted that it was important that there be a forum for providing a theoretical framework for practical daily application of black legal ideas and concepts. The Journal has aimed to build on this tradition by publishing articles that make a substantive contribution to current dialogue taking place around issues such as affirmative action, employment law, the criminal justice system, community development and labor issues. The Journal has a commitment to publishing articles that inspire new thought, explore new alternatives and contribute to current jurisprudential stances.

In 2005, a group of students at UCLA began the process of bringing the Journal back to its birthplace through the organization of a symposium entitled "Regression Analysis: The Status of African-Americans in American Legal Education." In the fall of 2009, a group of committed students reformed the NBLJ Board and in spring 2010, NBLJ was published at UCLA for the first time in more than a decade.

Volume 30, Issue 1

Articles

Forgotten First: Macon Bolling Allen and the Journey to Becoming America's First Black Attorney
Browning, John G.

Contrasting Legal Perspectives on the Necessity of Positive Law to Sustain Slavery in Antebellum America
Gelobter, Evan Matthew

Student Comments

Unveiling Complexity: Genetic Testing, Black Ancestry, and Legal Implications
Stallworth, Michael

Reparations for Inculcation: Deconstructing the Supreme Court's Tacit Endorsement of White Hegemony in School and Reparations as a Path Forward
Trubetskaya, Maria

Republished Articles

Stealing Education
Baldwin Clark, LaToya

Movement and Crisis: A Social Health Manifesto
Banuelos, Alejandro; Clarke, Aaron