Press contact: Valerie St. John Starbird

valeriestjohn@aol.com
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2-5-08

Our airwaves are cluttered with the disturbing statistics -- an estimated three in every 10 black males are incarcerated at least once during the course of their lives; African-Americans, just 13% of the population, account for 50% of sentenced drug offenders; in collections of data on urban homicides, African-Americans continue to be disproportionately affected. At a time when San Francisco’s homicide rate hovers at its highest in a decade, the demographic segment of our population most in need of mentors often makes headlines _ but typically for all the wrong reasons.

On a special night this spring, Jack and Jill will honor a special group of young African-American men - select high school juniors and/or seniors, and college freshmen chosen for their achievements in academics, sports, the arts, community, church, leadership, and overall commitment to the advancement of African-Americans. They are young men who buck the stereotype, the kinds of role models blacks so rarely hear about in press reports and yet desperately need to know exist.

This inspirational evening, Beautillion 2008 - A Man Among Men: Building Pillars of Strength and Integrity for Future Generations, takes place on Saturday, March 29, 2008. The young men, or “beaux”, will be presented at the Four Seasons Hotel at 757 Market Street in San Francisco. The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with a reception, followed by the beaux presentation and dinner. Tickets may be purchased online at www.sfbeautillion.org.
Angelique Tompkins, General Chair for Beautillion 2008, stresses, "These young men are the mentors and leaders that African-Americans can be proud of and seek to give them inspiration."

During weekly sessions leading up to the Beautillion 2008, the beaux participate in a life-preparation program including emphasis on the following:

• Leadership Development. Civic and community responsibility are tenets of our program. As future leaders, African American youth must find support in their neighborhoods, gaining trust through their actions and personal integrity. They will learn to support the causes which impact them and encouraged to find their own political voices.

• Rites-Of-Passage. A curriculum framed by three themes: Reasoning, Responsibility, and Reciprocity. The beaux explore each through lecture, video, mentoring, thoughtful discourse, and physical challenge. Our Career Exploration Seminar (February 10th) is one of the program highlights and features an exchange with African-American professionals and community leaders.

• Community Service Learning. The result of a partnership with the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), the goal of this element of our program is to encourage the beaux to reflect on the importance of sharing their individual gifts with a wider community.

• Cultural Awareness. The demographic of our beaux, commonly dubbed the ‘hip-hop’ generation, embrace their ancestors’ hard-won freedoms with nonchalance. Pioneers of the nation’s civil rights movement were at the forefront of well-documented struggles to gain the rights African Americans now take for granted - fortunately, many of those pioneers are still with us today. We will expose the beaux to first-hand accounts political heroes and cultural icons who paid the price for many of the freedoms they now enjoy.

"Each and every Beau will take away a very personal experience," says Tompkins. "It’s one we hope will give them an innate sense of self and connection to the larger community; to understand that their transition into manhood is one which demands that they shed selfish tendencies to use their voices and gifts for the enrichment of others."

In 1951, when Dr. Ruth Howard (1907- 2003) invited a small group of mothers to meet and share their ideas on cultural and community activities they might organize for their children. Out of this informal gathering, Jack & Jill of America’s San Francisco Chapter was established, receiving its charter in July of 1952. In 1983, the first Beautillion Ball was held in Washington, D.C. Nineteen boys were presented to society after months of workshops, seminars, cultural events, and fellowship. The first San Francisco Bay Area Beautillion was held in 1988. Proceeds from Beautillion 2008 will be apportioned to Jack and Jill's National Foundation and select non-profit organizations of the greater Bay Area in support of programs which enhance children's academic skills and leadership.

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