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

Byllye Avery was founder of the NBWHP and was the consistent face of the organization as she served as executive director from 1981 to 1989 and as president from 1990 to 1995. 

Byllye Avery

The NBWHP began in 1981 as a subsection of the National Women's Health Network charged with focusing specifically on the health needs of Black women. The NBWHP hosted the First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues at Spelman College on June 24th, 1983.

University of Wisconsin - Madison

- The History of the National Black Women's Health Project
- Black Feminist Health Activism

The National Black Women's Health Project as Black Disability Politics

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

Black Disability Politics

The History of the National Black Women's Health Project

Schalk defines Black feminist health activism as health activism by Black people that is critically attuned to intersectional gender, race, and class politics. Note: Schalk makes clear it does not mater whether or not the word feminist is actively used by people enacting Black feminist health activism.

Black Feminist Health Activism

Schalk analyzes the NBWHP as an example of Black disability politics because:
- how disability was explicitly and implicitly included within NBWHP's mission
- NBHWP's self-help phiilosophy
- NBWHP's holistic, cultural, and political approaches to health and wellness
- how spirituality was incorporated into NBWHP's public health work.

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