| January 12, 2008 | ||
| 7:00 pm | to | 10:00 pm |
The first annual New Leafs For Old Causes Benefit will take place at 123 Community Space on Saturday, January 12, at 7:00 p.m. The benefit will help raise funds to develop more youth programs at the newly established 123 Community Space in this rapidly changing Brooklyn neighborhood, and to honor one young person with the first Brooklyn Hooks Black Beret Trailblazer Award. Suggested donations are $15.
The New Leafs For Old Causes Benefit is the brainchild of actor, director, screenwriter, producer and TOMI film festival co-founder Ephraim Benton. Benton started Black Beret Entertainment with a longtime childhood friend and aspiring rapper named Jason “Brooklyn Hooks” Jackson. Jackson was gunned down in 2005 in the Tompkins Houses.
“Sadly it’s an all to common situation as violence among the young generation increases and they steadily become lost causes,” said Ephraim. As neighborhoods everywhere are facing gentrification, he feels that being an inspiring role model for young people is his responsibility. “In five years this area will have totally changed for the better, but at what price if the true residents feel like outsiders where they’ve lived all their lives?” said Benton.
Benton plans on working with the new community space at 123 Tompkins Avenue to find a resolution that can create opportunities of hope for the youth in the neighborhood. At Saturday’s benefit he will honor his best friend’s memory by making one young person the first recipient of the Brooklyn Hooks Black Beret Trailblazer Award to inspire kids to stay on the positive path. Benton will also show his two short films “Brown Paper Bags” and “3 Quarters Of Face Value” that he wrote, directed, produced and stars in along with his fellow cast mates.
About 123 Community Space:
123 is a new community space in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. It was formed by four grassroots groups (A New World In Our Hearts, Freegan Bike Workshop, Misled Youth Network, Anarchist Black Cross) and many individuals who pooled time, energy, and funds to build the space. 123 was started primarily by young people from outside the neighborhood. However, their goal is not to make a center to serve themselves, but rather to open up the space to people of Bed-Stuy as a place to make their voices heard, learn together, share, and organize.
About Black Beret Entertainment:
Black Beret Entertainment was founded in 1998 by Ephraim Benton and Jason Jackson to utilize our talent, energy and real life street pain to get families out of the hood. Black Beret Entertainment has evolved from a music company into a film company and has produced two short films as well as screenplays looking to be developed.
