benji: A film screening of an Urban Legend

This event is FREE but donations are strongly encouraged to help us continue this important work!

Benji was directed by Chicago native Coodie Simmons and his collaborator, New Orleans born, Chike Ozah. The powerful film recalls the life and impact of rising Chicago basketball star Ben “Benji” Wilson who was ranked as the number 1 player in the country in the Summer of 1984 and was deemed to be the one that would make it to the league and put Chicago on the map. Benji’s life was cut tragically short at the age of 17-years-old when, during a brief scuffle, he was shot and killed - and with him went the hopes and dreams of his family, classmates, and Black Chicago.

All reservations will be treated as first come, first served at the venue so please try to arrive on time.

This workshop is Part Three of Community Fly Zone Workshops, a series of workshops in collaboration with André M. Zachery, Artistic Director of Renegade Performance Group & Ayinde Jean-Baptiste, Lead Architect of DuSable City. This series aims to encourage introspection, uplift key historical figures, and honor the abundance of ways Black masculinity exists today through movement, film, and poetry. Community Fly Zone Workshops leads up to the World Premiere of Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans + Other Urban Legends in January 2025.

"Against Gravity: Community Fly Zone Workshop Series" is funded by a 2024 Brooklyn Arts Fund grant through the Brooklyn Arts Council awarded to André M. Zachery/Renegade Performance Group.

Registering for Black revival: A Movement Healing Ritual for Men enrolls you into the 651 ARTS email list so you can learn about more events like this.

Since its founding in 1988, 651 ARTS has become a trusted convener of contemporary African Diasporic artistic expression, a champion and nurturer for emerging artists and their work and a vital cultural resource for its surrounding community. As it moves forward, part of 651 ARTS’ mission is to preserve the legacy of Black culture in Brooklyn, celebrate the eclecticism of Black performance and to pioneer new visions of African Diaspora artists. This year – the transition year – is integral for the institution as it continues to lay the framework that will further help to reinforce 651 ARTS’ role as a leader of African Diasporic culture while also establishing it an incubator for artistic innovation in the 21st century.

Renegade Performance Group is a Brooklyn-based dance company creating innovative artistic projects grounded in Black and African Diaspora aesthetics and expressions through theatrical, immersive and site-specific performance as well as film, multimedia and technology.

Host or Publisher 651 ARTS