Mission
The mission of the Department of Afro-American Research, Arts, and Culture (DAARAC) is to identify the global significance of the creative contributions pioneered by an international diaspora of Blackness.
Blackness is a psychological and physical imprint of being, living, and learning. DAARAC serves as an educational point of reference to assist in the proud narrative of the Black experience worldwide in literature, film, photographs, memorabilia, and various forms of performance art.
There were over 500 Afro-American films produced between 1915 and the 1950s. Today, fewer than 100 remain due to many being lost or destroyed. However, recent conservation efforts have restored damaged films while lost films are resurfacing.
DAARAC will carry out its mission by means of public education and preservation of Afro-American arts and culture by actively engaging our audience to create awareness through public speaking, showcases, film festivals, restorations, and symposiums.
DAARAC's
Archive of Afro-American Cinema
DAARAC's Archive of Afro-American Cinema was our original organization's website that we used to archive and digitally preserve our findings of Afro-American Cinema. The site has become a reliable resource for a variety of institutions, scholars, and collectors. There are over 1500 posts made on this site, which features visual perspectives of Afro American culture with some material being scarce in society. We have defined multiple areas of Afro American arts and culture that help us organize our narratives. DAARAC's Archive will continue to serve as a point of reference for our mission as we continue to build on to our archive.
We have identified and digitally archived over 2000 Afro-American films from the 20th century. This archive includes over 40,000 combined images from these films, which provides for the identification of actors who may or may not have credits in these films.
