National Council of Negro Women, 1935

Being black and being a woman is a difficult combination to navigate in the world, but within the United States especially. Historically, here there has always been a lack of unity in African American organizations which stifles community progress. We can see this trend today in the way that several groups with similar missions make slow progress working against the grain, all re-inventing the wheel rather than working together by collaborating and joining forces. In order to amend this trend by providing powerful representation and advocacy for Black women, Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in New York City in 1935 as the “organization of organizations”. She was immediately able to gain the support of 28 leaders in the most notable black women organizations, such as the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the American Federation of Teachers. All with the goal of representing Black women’s concerns nationally and worldwide. The council provided leadership, guidance, support and representation for African American women’s voices as a marginalized community worldwide. The council also gave black women a role in their own leadership, proving positions of power to Black women in local chapters around the country.

Organization is Unity, Unity is Power

Similarly to the NAACP, the NCNW fought for the right to vote and anti-lynching legislation, they also fought for jobs and education. The organization acted as a networking center for the plethora of organizations that aided Black women and their families, it was a place that connected people to the resources that they needed. The NCNW first attended the White House Conference in 1938 on Governmental Cooperation in the Approach to the Problems of Negro Women and Children. The NCNW continued to attend these conferences at the White House each year, calling for more Black females administrators in government positions. NCNW understood the importance of having black women in the powerful positions of government that would make an overwhelmingly positive impact for black women in the country. As there were only white men with limited perspectives of the Negro experience making decisions on behalf of black women and their families, this dangerously stifled the amount of progress that could me made for the African American Community.

Women Get What they Want, When They Work Together

The NCNW made much progress in their history. In 1941 the NCNW became a member of the U.S. War Department’s Bureau of Public Relations under the Women’s Interest Section where they lobbied for black women in the U.S. Army and that following year the Army accepted Black women. In 1946 the UN approved the NCNW’s application to become an official non-governmental organization (NGO) member. Betheune also established an NCNW magazine under her leadership, African Women’s Journal, a publication that presented the concerns for their community, aiding in helping women understand the policies that influenced them and their stance, urging members to organize in regards to, “the outlawing of the Poll Tax, the development of a Public Health Program, an Anti-lynching Bill, the end of discrimination in the Armed Forces, Defense Plants, Government Housing Plans and finally that Negro History be taught in the Public Schools”. The NCNW was one of the first women’s organization and is still operating successfully today with 250 chapters across the country as well as publishing a quarterly newsletter.
Visit them online at http://www.ncnw.org/
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