Academic institutions have decided what counts as real research based on where an article is published or how many citations it gets in commercial journals. If work is not published behind an expensive paywall, the academic system often acts as though it has no value.
At OBRA Incorporated, our work has always come directly from the ground up. We are artists, filmmakers, and community organizers. Over the years, our work has lived in public murals, street dance gatherings, community theater, documentary films, independent radio, and mutual aid networks created to support workers during times of crisis. We do this work to respond directly to real community needs and to keep our cultural memory alive.
We preserve and share this living history as open research archives so that our community's stories remain freely accessible to the public, students, and future generations.
We endorse DORA because we believe:
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Real impact matters more than journal metrics: Research should be evaluated by its honesty, cultural integrity, and usefulness to people, not by commercial journal scores or publisher prestige.
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Community work is valid scholarship: Grassroots archives, independent cinema, and community platforms are genuine contributions to human knowledge and deserve equal respect alongside traditional academic papers.
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Research belongs to the public: Knowledge created with and for communities should be open and free for anyone to access, not locked behind expensive subscriptions that ordinary people and independent creators cannot afford.
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Communities are knowledge creators: The people who build cultural movements, create art, and support one another through hardship are not just subjects to be studied by outside academics, they are the true creators of our living history.
To us, this is research in its truest form. It should never be dismissed simply because it lives in community collections, films, or open repositories instead of academic journals.
OBRA Incorporated Research Lab
