University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences African American Studies Program will host the 41st National Council for Black Studies Conference (NCBS) on March 8-12. NCBS is the leading organization of Black Studies professionals in the world. For 40 years, the organization’s members have been at the forefront of driving the development of Black/Africana Studies as a respected academic discipline.

Over 500 scholars from a variety of disciplines are expected to travel to Houston to attend the conference which will be held at the Hilton Houston Post Oak.

“We are excited to host the 41th NCBS conference in Houston because this event will help promote the discipline within this region as well as bring a diverse group of Black Studies scholars to the Houston area,” says Serwaa Omowale, program manager for African American Studies.

As a community outreach component to the conference, African American Studies is hosting an event that will be open to the public. Dr. Maulana Karenga, internationally known as the creator of Kwanzaa, an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated throughout the world African community, will be the featured guest at the event.

Dr. Karenga is professor and chair of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach.  He holds two Ph.D.'s - his first is in political science with focus on the theory and practice of nationalism from United States International University; and his second Ph.D. is in social ethics with a focus on the classical African ethics of ancient Egypt from the University of Southern California.

The community event will take place on March 10 at the Shrine of the Black Madonna (5309 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston, TX 77021) at 7p.m.

To learn more about the conference and the NCBS, please visit http://www.ncbsonline.org/.