Brooklyn-based Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, which is celebrating its 19th year, has announced it will premiere its first virtual performance event, RAISING OUR VOICES FOR BLACK YOUTH BENEFIT CONCERT, Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 8 PM. It will be broadcast via OBS streaming services on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. All funds raised from the concert will be donated to its Asase Youth Summer Employment Initiative Mightycause crowdfunding campaign, which has been running since early June. The Initiative’s goal is to raise $50,000 to employ 20 teenage youth (ages 14-19) to work at the Foundation and its 14th annual Children’s Summer Arts Camp.

R & B/Soul artist Amma Whatt will serve as Master of Ceremonies of the 45-minute concert, featuring guest performances by the Asase Yaa Youth Ensemble, African Djembe ensemble Farafina Kan Next Generation, musician Kofi Hunter, rapper Kudonyc, and Philadelphia based hip hop dance ensemble Illstyle & Peace. In addition, the benefit event will include video presentations by dancer/entertainer Vianka Winborne (Drake, Sean Paul, and an alumni of the Asase Yaa African American Dance Theater), Hot 97 radio personality Shani Kulture, and actor/singer/dancer Shahadi Wright Joseph (starred in Jordon Peele’s hit movie US). RAISING YOUR VOICES FOR BLACK YOUTH is co-produced by the Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation and URNYC Media Productions. Donations can be made (a minimum of $5.00) via text, 844-844-6844 using the code YSEI, or at, https://www.mightycause.com/donate/Asaseyaa-Ysei. The Mightcause crowdfunding campaign runs through August 15th. The benefit event will be available for viewing on YouTube after it premieres on July 30th.

Osei Williams, who is the Executive Director of Asase Yaa noted, “We’re extremely grateful for the talented young artists who have volunteered their time and energy to a cause which is very dear to our heart and community.”  Many of our youth contribute much-needed income from summer jobs to their family’s survival. In these harrowing economic times, we feel an obligation use our voices to uplift our community and give our youth hope and optimism about their future.

Asase Yaa’s core tenets are to Enrich, Educate, Entertain. Under the umbrella of the Foundation they run a School of the Arts, the African American Dance Theater, a professional dance ensemble, and Arts Outreach, a robust program that services schools throughout Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx. Their mission is to empower and strengthen youth by offering them an opportunity to learn, study, and experience the history, movement, and beauty of African Diasporic dance, music, and culture at its highest level. For more information about Asase Yaa, go to: www.asaseyaaent.org