In the winter of 1970 in New York City, 24 Black women, led by visionary Edna Beach,
began meeting in their homes to assess the problems and opportunities
left behind in the wake of the turbulent 1960s. As a result of their
meetings, they formed the Coalition of 100 Black Women. For the rest of
the 1970s, they slowly but persistently worked to master root causes of
issues that affected their families, their communities and themselves.
They boldly began to reach out to other Black women in common cause,
and eventually, mobilized their emerging stature as a visible force of
influence promoting gender and racial equity.
In 1981, the New York Coalition had over
500 members throughout New York City’s metropolitan area, far in excess
of the symbolic “100” in its title. Its effective role-model projects
and its association with grass-roots community activity won notice in
both local and national news media. As the Coalition gained
recognition, Black women from other parts of the country aspired to
duplicate its mission and programs in their own geographic areas.
In 1981, it decided to create a national
organization, to expand beyond the boundaries of New York City, and,
accordingly, to include the term “National” in the original title. The
National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW) was launched on October 24,
1981, with representatives from 14 states and the District of Columbia,
with Jewell Jackson McCabe as its first national
president. The rapidity by which the organization grew is attested to
by the statistics of 1986: 47 chapters in 19 states, with a membership
of 3,000. Discussions at meetings and other gatherings grew more and
more serious and wide ranging.
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