Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies

LOVE. STUDY. STRUGGLE.

In 1968, Black students at UCLA students demanded the establishment of a research center dedicated to the study of African American life, past, present, and future. The next year, in 1969, UCLA opened the Center for African American Studies (CAAS), which was later renamed the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.

Since its establishment, the Bunche Center has led the nation in supporting students and faculty in the study of Black life, hosting scholarly events relevant to Black life in Los Angeles, and producing action-oriented research that spans every field of scholarly inquiry, ranging from micro-biology to musicology.

Currently, the Bunche Center is home to the award-winning Million Dollar Hoods project, which uses big data to map the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles.  In collaboration with community advocates and policy makers, Million Dollar Hoods is helping to reimagine public safety in Los Angeles.

Giving to the Bunche Center endows Black Studies as a field of research that improves the conditions of Black life and transforms the world in which we live.