The Pan African Arts Society (PAAS) is a non-profit 501c3 organization that organizes and executes a myriad of arts education, social change venues throughout the year and within the Denver metro-area. The PAAS also collaborates with individuals, organizations and corporate entities in the community-at-large in order to increase dialogue and action in diverse settings through the use of cultural icons including film, performance, creative writing and oration.
 
The mission of the PAAS is to cultivate the palate of a young urban audience as well as provide sustenance for the arts connoisseur of Black art forms, and to include cinematic expression in that universe as a valid form of social art. It is our hope that these seeds will be nurtured and yield increased possibilities for public engagement, professional, spiritual, and personal development, and preservation and perpetuation of cultural heritage.
 
These programs include:
Denver Pan African Film Festival (DPAFF)– our partnership with the Denver Film Society and the Starz Entertainment Group – is an award-winning showcase of independent and mainstream films from the international Black experience including guest presenters, independent filmmakers, workshops, panels, parties and an educational youth fest.  DPAFF is the LAST week of April in various locations in Denver metro-area.
 
Café Nuba (Its Hot & It’s Black)– award-winning monthly microcinema, poetry and open mike set at The Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut Street – in Northern Downtown Denver, featuring local, national, and international artists and performers, independent films, music, and free HIV testing and education.
 
SOIL Emerging Artists Series & Youth Internship Program – quarterly collaboration with various arts institutions to present new and established but "not known to this market" artists, through public interviews, multi-media exhibitions and studio visits. At the DPAFF “SOIL” is the title for the Panel Series. 
 
SOIL Youth Internship goals include developing, highlighting, and encouraging the work of male youth cultural workers by mentoring their creative careers through presentation, and participation in local, national, and international forums including conferences, lectures, and festivals for one full year.
 
!BLAM (Black Literature, Art & Music) Youth Program – K-12 arts education curriculum/programming utilizing Black art forms to educate, entertain, cultivate and inspire students and educators within specified venues or in the school setting. !BLAM also includes a summer, 4-week arts education and self-esteem intensive session called “A Young Sistah’s Bootkamp” specifically for teenage girls age 12 – 19; the !BLAM Youth Fest @ the Denver Pan African Film Festival; and the “Q-POC (Queer People of Color) Lounge,” a safe-to-be yourself, social, artistic, and empowering space for youth who identify as LGBTQ.