The NBWHP was the first organization to focus particularly on the health need of Black women and was the first, but not last, women-of-color led and focused organization to come from the feminist health movement.

NBWHP was a grassroots advocacy organization with the goal of reducing health disparities and instances of preventable conditions for Black women while uplifting the understanding of disability and health as political.

The Mission of the NBWHP

One of the most attended conference sessions, Lillie Allen's "Black and Female: What Is the Reality?" This session, which was reserved exclusively for Black women, had participants discuss what being a Black woman has meant for them. The workshop was centered around Black women telling their stories and listening to other Black women to hear others lived experiences. This session in particular became an early cornerstone of the NBWHP's self-help philosophy and practice. The success of the conference also lead to the National Black Women's Health Project incorporating into an independent nonprofit in 1984 based in Atlanta Georgia.

University of Wisconsin - Madison

The organizers of the First National Conference expected a few hundred Black women, in the end 2,000 attendees showed up. The conference had a broad focus on Black women's health, the conference also featured health screenings, group exercise spaces, a concert, and interactive workshops. Many of the workshops engaged directly with disability including "The Mask pf Lupus", "Dispelling the Myths of Mental Illness," "Health Concerns of the Physically Disabled" and "Diabetes."

The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues

Schalk, Sami. Black Disability Politics, New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478027003

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