The National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) was incorporated in 1974 and was originally organized as the Southern Conference of Black Mayors (SCBM) forty years ago. The thirteen mayors who founded the group were elected after the enactment of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

and the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

and held its first meeting in Santee, South Carolina. Three significant black mayors elected after the Civil and Voting Rights acts were:

Carl Stokes Carl Burton Stokes (June 21, 1927 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician and diplomat of the Democratic Party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, and taking office on January 1, 1968, he was ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio; Kenneth Gibson of

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, New Jersey; and Richard G. Hatcher, of Gary, Indiana. In 1973,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, elected

Maynard Jackson Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. (March 23, 1938 – June 23, 2003) was an American politician and attorney from Georgia. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in 1973 at the age of 35 as the first black mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and of ...

the first black mayor of a major southern U.S. city. By 2005, nearly every large U.S. city had a black mayor within the previous 30 years. In April 1990,

Unita Blackwell Unita Zelma Blackwell (March 18, 1933 – May 13, 2019) was an American civil rights activist who was the first African-American woman to be elected mayor in the U.S. state of Mississippi.Blackwell 2006, p. 10. Blackwell was a project dir ...

was elected the first woman president of the association. She was the first black woman mayor in Mississippi in 1976 when elected the mayor of Mayersville. In November 2013, 138 black women were U.S. mayors. In later years, the NCBM suffered from financial difficulties, and filed for bankruptcy in early 2014 after the controversial tenure of Kevin Johnson, then mayor of

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, as NCBM president. Johnson sought to make major changes at NCBM, then left the group along with a number of other mayors to form a new mayor's group, the African American Mayors Association (AAMA). By the end of 2016, the bankruptcy cases were decided and the AAMA purchased the NCBM's assets and naming rights."K.J.’s shadow coup: Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson left office with a huge political victoryso why haven’t you heard about it?"
''

Sacramento News & Review The ''News & Review'' is a group of free alternative weekly newspapers published by Chico Community Publishing, Inc. of Chico, California. The company publishes the ''Chico News & Review'' in Chico, California, the ''Sacramento News & Review'' i ...

'', December 22, 2016.

Notable members

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

, president, Washington, D.C. *

, president, Mayersville, Mississippi *

Charles Evers James Charles Evers (September 11, 1922July 22, 2020) was an American civil rights activist, businessman, radio personality, and politician. Evers was known for his role in the civil rights movement along with his younger brother Medgar Evers. A ...

, founding member SCBM, Fayette, Mississippi *

Johnny Ford Johnny L. Ford (born August 23, 1942 in Midway, Alabama) is an American politician and mayor of Tuskegee, Alabama, and a former Alabama State Representative. Early life and education He was raised as a child and attended elementary school in T ...

, president, Tuskegee, Alabama *

Clarence Lightner Clarence Everett Lightner (August 15, 1921 – July 8, 2002) was an American politician and mortician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina from 1973 to 1975. He was the first popularly elected Mayor ...

, charter member, Raleigh, North Carolina * James L. Usry, president, Atlantic City, New Jersey * Wellington E. Webb, president, Denver, Colorado * Kevin Johnson, president, Sacramento, California

References

External links

National Conference of Black Mayors
ormer website
Conference of Black Mayors (CBM)
uccessor organization
African American Mayors Association (AAMA)
{sndsuccessor organization * Government-related professional associations in the United States Organizations established in 1974 Organizations disestablished in 2016

Notable members

See also

References

External links