The mission of the World Stage is to provide leadership to secure, preserve and advance the position of African American music, literature and works in the oral tradition to a local, national and international audience by providing workshops where classic and emerging forms of creative expression can be supported and presented.

The World Stage represents art as a vital force for the cohesion and health of the community and an essential tool to build bridges of understanding between various cultures. As an educational center and performance gallery, The World Stage fosters exchange and interaction between artists of all levels, from beginning to advanced, and provides a place for self-discovery, experimentation and critical feedback with an expressive audience in a nourishing environment.

Through its educational programs in music and literature for youth and adults, The World Stage embraces, nurtures, and links youth with elders in the African American cultural tradition. Performance and education blend perfectly in master classes. Our master classes which have been conducted by musicians such as Max Roach, Ron Carter, Elvin Jones, and Geri Allen and literary giants such as Sonia Sanchez, the Watts Poets, the Watts Prophets, Yusef Komunyakaa and South African revolutionary poet Keopisitle Kgositsile, all who have graced the Stage with their wisdom and spirit.

The fruits of this fertile mixture flower in the World Stage alumni who hone and have honed their musical and performance skills through training and exposure here in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles. Some of these artists include musical groups B Sharp Jazz Quarter, Young World Stage All-Stars and Black Note; bestselling authors Michael Datcher and Jenoyne Adams; Pulitzer Prize nominee Ruth Forman; vocalist Dwight Trible; Sundance Film Fellow Nyesha Khalfani; author, poet, publisher and radio personality Peter J. Harris and many others.

We also give special acknowledgment to the efforts of the World Stage Board of Directors for stabilizing the organization and maintaining its vision.

Co-founder in 1989 of the World Stage with Billy Higgins and other artists, Kamau Daáood has said, "I am a devout artist, a poet. I have honed my skills in small community arts venues. Great artists laboring in local settings who worked to develop human beings through the medium of art, I consider my mentors. [...] I have witnessed the power of the arts as a vehicle for self-discovery, revelation, inspiration and healing. Words, sounds, shapes, colors and movement used to build bridges of understanding between human hearts. Art is a higher language beyond our native tongues. It is the light that cuts through dogma and spiritualizes our moments and grounds us in the sacredness of time."

The World Stage Performance Gallery is not a space but a spirit.