MISSION AND PURPOSE

The mission of this Association shall 
be to promote and perpetuate the art of 
Black storytelling... an oral tradition,
which depicts and documents tradition, culture, experience, and mores, which
inform, educate and entertain.

L ike a Patchwork Quilt-made of many pieces of fabric, DABS evolved as an organization, made of friends & acquaintances from many different walks of life, working together. It began as an idea of a group of Detroit Storytellers from various storytelling organizations; who-in 1990 attended the 8^th National Festival of Black Storytellers (NABS) in New Orleans, Louisiana.           

The group decided to send a letter to NABS to express their desire to host the 1994 Festival. After no immediate response, the Detroit group met again on October 31, 1991, along with invited Detroit teachers, school and public librarians and storytelling organizations. That evening, the Detroit Association of Black Storytellers, (DABS) was born.

A letter was re-submitted to NABS requesting that DABS host the 1995 Festival and to have an audience with the Co-Founders at the 10^th Festivals of Black Storytelling in Horry & Georgetown Counties, South Carolina. Permission was granted and planning began.

The 1995 NABS Conference was a success. The rest, and so much more, is the History of DABS:

The Detroit Association of Black Storytellers, Inc.