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 a three-part workshop series, leading up to the World Premiere of Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans + Other Urban Legends in January 2025.
Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans + Other Urban Legends is a solo performance that uses movement to explore the self-examination of Black masculinity through history, memory, text, poetry, and geography. It is a personal narrative that begins with Zachery’s youth in 1980-90’s Chicago and intersects with three legendary figures: Fred Hampton, Ben (Benji) Wilson, and Harold Washington. Guided in part by the oracular voice of Chicago ancestor and Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks, the performer grapples with the legacy of these three men – a revolutionary, an athletic phenomenon and a post-Civil Rights era politician, all viewed in their primes as messiahs.