Members of various faith, ethnic groups rally to stand with Kashmir and pledge their fight will go on.

by Samira Sadeque (SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS)
Sept 29, 2019

New York, US – Gurpatwant Singh Pannun still has vivid memories of the summer of 1984. A teenager at the time, he remembers security forces taking boys from his village in Punjab in the aftermath of a deadly Indian army operation in the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines.

On Friday, Pannun, a lawyer in New York, stood outside the United Nations alongside thousands of protesters to rally for human rights in Kashmir as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his speech at the world body’s General Assembly (UNGA). 

Pannun, along with others in the Sikh community, argues the violence against them in 1984 by the Indian forces mirror the current crisis in Indian-administered Kashmir where a lockdown has been in place for almost two months following the Indian government’s decision to scrap a constitutional provision that gave special rights and a degree of autonomy to the Muslim-majority state.

That is why, Pannun says, he is helping sue Modi over alleged human rights violations in Kashmir. Earlier this month, a group called Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front – of which Pannun is a spokesperson – filed a lawsuit in Houston before the Indian prime minister’s arrival to the Texan city to address a rally dubbed Howdy Modi.

“The lawsuit is based on a specific US federal law, which is called Torture Victims Protection [Act] – any official, under the official capacity, if they’re involved in or have commanded extrajudicial torture, they can be held accountable if they’re found in this particular jurisdiction,” Pannun said.

New Delhi has defended the cancellation of Kashmir’s special rights as a way to free the region from separatism and help its economy grow faster. Before the controversial August 5 move to scrap Article 370 of the constitution, the government imposed a communications blackout and deployed thousands of extra troops to the disputed territory.

Referring to the reports of mass arrests and alleged torture since then, Arjun Sethi, an American Sikh human rights lawyer and law professor in Washington, DC, said that “a lot of the atrocities that we’re seeing happening in Kashmir today also took place in Punjab throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

“Sikhs should be particularly sensitive to the violence that’s unfolding today because it mirrors so much of what our community experienced in Punjab.”

Beyond relating to the present-day struggles in Kashmir, the Sikh community of Punjab and the people of Kashmir go back a long way, according to experts.

“Punjabi cities used to host Kashmiri peasants and artisans who fled Kashmir because of repression by the Dogra forces in the pre-1947 era and because of excessive taxation,” said Mohamad Junaid, assistant professor and Kashmiri scholar in North Adams, Massachusetts, “and so Sikhs already knew the struggles of Kashmiris.” 

“Sikhs around the world have been deeply involved in movements of social justice, movements of global justice,” he added. “Sikhs who consider Punjab their spiritual and actual homeland, for them Kashmir is like a neighbour, so wherever Sikhs are from – Canada to California – they still see Kashmiris as neighbours. And so their solidarity is like the solidarity that one extends towards a neighbour in trouble.”

Other movements ‘Stand with Kashmir’ 

A number of other groups have also been attending since August when the grassroots organisation Stand With Kashmir began protesting against the Indian government’s move. Among them have been pro-Palestine groups such as Within Our Lifetime and Palestinian Youth Movement, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement.

On Tuesday, as Modi was being honoured by the Gates Foundation at an event in New York, protesters rallied outside, including members of the South Asian Solidarity Initiative and the Khalistan Movement, a Sikh separatist movement. 

On Friday, the day Modi addressed the UNGA, crowds of protesters rallied outside the world body. The rally was organised by a coalition of groups “seeking an end to the Indian occupation”, according to one of the organisers, who estimated that at least 10,000 people had participated. 

Members of various faith-based and ethnic groups were among them.

“We’re here to support our brothers and sisters, Christians in Kashmir and Pakistan,” said Hubert George, chairman of Hope for Persecuted Christians, an organisation founded by Pakistani Americans that works with Christian minorities in the country.

Sikhs for Justice, a group Pannun serves as legal adviser to, had an estimated 2,000 members present.

“It is our struggle and the struggle Kashmiris feel that connects us,” Mario Benabe, vice chair of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, told Al Jazeera over email. “The profiling. The targeting. The occupied force and violence. The killing of people and the abuse of women brings us here today,” he added.

The protests underline increasing solidarity between grassroots movements who were supporting each other’s causes – and some of the organisers were feeling that spirit. 

Benabe tied the struggle across the world, from the occupied Palestinian territories to Brazil’s indigenous communities, to “ritualised humiliation and violence” against communities of colour in the United States.

“We all recognise that our struggles are impacting us in the same way,” he said. “We have a right to exist and as our global resistance continues to expand and connect us all – one vital truth remains – there are more of us than them.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

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Press Contacts:
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Phi Iota Alpha Announces Inaugural 40 Under 40 2019 Honorees

New York, New York – July 18, 2019

Phi Iota Alpha today has named the honorees in its first class of distinguished alumni under the age of 40.

The Forty Under Forty award is a new program presented by Phi Iota Alpha National Alumni Association, designed to recognize young alumni that are leading the way in business, leadership, community, educational and/or philanthropic endeavors.

The inaugural class of honorees aspires to uphold the core values of Phi Iota Alpha of Fuerza, Integridad, y Amistad. They have demonstrated a commitment to maintaining a lifelong relationship with Phi Iota Alpha and have made an impact in business, research, art, leadership, community, educational, and/or philanthropic endeavors.

This year’s class of outstanding young alumni will be honored during the National Convention Awards Banquet being held in Tampa, Florida on July 27, 2019.

The Phi Iota Alpha National Alumni Association 40 Under 40 Class of 2019:

• Christian Aquino – Beta Lambda Chapter
• Sergio Barrera – Beta Lambda
• Mario Benabe – Sigma Chapter
• Edwin Berroa – Beta Chapter
• Marlon Boutin – Alpha Alpha Chapter
• Alejandro Calderon – Beta Xi Chapter
• Cristino Chavez – Theta Chapter
• Kristopher Donahue – Tau Chapter
• Inez Escareño – Beta Eta Chapter
• Francisco Escobar – Alpha Gamma Chapter
• Juan Pablo Esquivel – Roosevelt University
• Nicholas Figueroa – Beta Chapter
• Rigoberto Flores – Phi Chapter
• Rene Garcia Alpha – Nu Chapter
• Rafael Garcia Alpha – Lambda Chapter
• Ruben Garcia Alpha – Nu Chapter
• Rafael Gonzalez – Alpha Delta Chapter
• Rolando Gonzalez – Phi Chapter
• Cesar Hurtado Alpha – Lambda Chapter
• Kenneth Sebastian Leon – Alpha Mu Chapter
• Luis Lopez – Alpha Upsilon Chapter
• Francisco Lugo – Chi Chapter
• Rafael Martinez – Alpha Epsilon Chapter
• Rafael Martinez – Sigma Chapter
• Johnathan Martinez – Pi Chapter
• Jason Nova – Beta Alpha Chapter
• Abel Nunez – Pi Chapter
• Carlos Ornelas – Alpha Eta Chapter
• Aaron Palacios – Tau Chapter
• Nicholas Pappas – Alpha Chapter
• Kevin Prado – Alpha Gamma Chapter
• Andrew Rios – Mu Chapter
• Peter Rojas – Alpha Iota Chapter
• Cesar Rosales – Alpha Nu Chapter
• Hector Sabido – Tau Chapter
• Juan Ramiro Sarmiento – Beta Xi Chapter
• David Serna – Alpha Gamma Chapter
• Oscar Silva – Tau Chapter
• Salvador Villareal – Alpha Omicron Chapter
• Marco Villegas – Omicron Chapter

About Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Since 1931, Phi Iota Alpha has set precedents for Latino Greek leadership in the global community. For over 87 years, Phi Iota Alpha has cultivated and inspired Latino men nationwide to become leaders of their communities across Latin America and the United States. Open to all men, this distinguished brotherhood includes many professionals and former presidents of Latin American countries. Today Phi Iota Alpha, the Oldest Latino Fraternity in existence, continues to lead as the preeminent Latino fraternal organization with chapters throughout the United States.

In anticipation of the 2019 Alumni Reunion on April 4^th, we spoke to the recipients of our three prestigious alumni awards. Each awardee has paved their way to success and serves as an inspiration to the John Jay community, both for current students and alumni. Their continued advocacy for justice is a testament to the education they received while at John Jay. Our first “Alumni Spotlight” is Mario Benabe ’14, a teacher in the South Bronx, who will be receiving the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.

Who inspired you to become a teacher?
In 7^th grade, back in 2002, I was blessed with having a math and science teacher who is now one of our nation’s most leading scholars, Dr. Christopher Emdin. His work on #HipHopEd, Science Genius and Reality Pedagogy is driving social justice work in classrooms every day. What he taught connected learning to our community and gave me a sense of awareness to address our society’s social contradictions. I know that when I was most lost in life, he gave me direction. I am forever thankful for him, and his family.

What do you teach and why were you drawn to this subject?
I am a STEM educator but my goal and the work that I do in this field is geared towards diversifying STEM through teaching and learning. This allows for my students and I to take an ethnomathematical approach by connecting science and math learning to our ancestral roots and knowledge systems. I am drawn to teach this subject area because it is a study that can aid us in reclaiming our indigeneity and Africanity.

“I am a STEM educator but my goal and the work that I do in this field is geared towards diversifying STEM through teaching and learning.”—Mario Benabe ’14

How did your John Jay education, help prepare you for the teaching field?
John Jay College’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program (ISP) and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program engineered many of the robust approaches to teaching and learning in my classroom today. While at John Jay, the ISP increased my desire for learning exponentially because each setting allowed for a deeper understanding of truth through an intersectional thinking process. This encouraged me to develop my skills in reading, writing, critical thinking, and speaking. The McNair program provided me mentorship under Dr. Terry Furst and a family of passionately-driven individuals that I continue to learn and grow from. The Ronald E. McNair program Associate Director, Dr. Lee offered me the tools to be able to work through my research while at the same time being there for me in moments when I needed guidance. In addition, during my time at John Jay, ISP’s Administrative Assistant and Department Secretary, Ms. Acuna provided social and emotional support during times where I felt like college was difficult and not for me. I am forever grateful for her and the support she gave me.

Can you tell me a little about Do-The-Right-Thing Pedagogy? Why did you create it and how is it implemented into your classroom?
My framework for teaching and learning is titled, Do-The-Right-Thing-Pedagogy. My responsibility as an educator is to intersect the moral passage of doing right onto the practical tools we use in our daily STEM teachings to foster a sensibility of ancestral mathematical and scientific truth. I created this framework to intersect culturally sustaining pedagogy, critical pedagogy and indigenous knowledge systems. By looking deeper into the immense complexity of the scientific brilliance of our ancestors we can inform ourselves that we belong in this field of study and we don’t have to fear math or science because it is in our blood. Recently we revived the Incas’ quipu and yupana, two mathematical tools that allow for us to calculate with a great degree of accuracy statistics, and arithmetic into the hundreds of millions by using a wooden board divided into a matrix and corn, beans and other natural material to do the calculations.

My intentions are to expand our inventory of ideas around STEM education in the profession so that it is culturally and linguistically integrated and rooted in a decolonial approach to conjure up in our students a nostalgia towards reclaiming our ancestral mathematical and scientific mind. For educational professionals this work has been far more innovative because it adds a critical layer that is missing— culture. My work in STEM education is about going back to our old ways, where we were far more restorative than destructive.

“As the founder of WFNYCS, my goal is always to make sure our educators are respected for their service, because this is a freedom project that I want teachers to lead and sustain.” —Mario Benabe ’14

What are some of your favorite moments as a teacher?
Teaching began to mean so much more when I realized that when you teach in your community there are possibilities that are so fruitful. Three years ago I was tasked with teaching my own little cousin in 9^th grade. This meant the world to me because I was given the opportunity to educate a loved one. This was a blessing for me because I was constantly in front of someone who knows you and your family struggles, but yet I understood that there was a complete living symbol of the progress happening in our family related to education. I can’t express those emotions fully in words but that experience was truly my greatest gift in teaching and yet, in many ways my greatest challenge.

The Bronx Borough President appointed you to the Community Education Council for Community School District 9. How did this role shape the way you viewed education and the school system?
Educational justice is what love and policy looks like in public and we have yet to provide an education to children that is capable of saving humanity but there is still hope because children are the future. My role beyond reviewing and evaluating my district’s instructional programs is to be a parent advocate. For me, engaging with parents and community members around issues of education is far more grounding than the work of evaluation. I work on leading culturally responsive educational workshops for parents so that they can see the importance of having this live out in their child’s classroom. Seeing parents organize and begin to advocate for their children and public schools is important because parents are creating the conditions for the direction of their child’s education.

You recently founded Wildflower New York Charter School. Can you tell me a little bit more about the school, and why you decided to create it?
Wildflower New York Charter School (WFNYCS) is a pre-K to 5^th grade program that offers a neighborhood-nested, child-centered, culturally and linguistically diverse public Montessori program. Currently, there is no public Montessori program in New York State, so I felt it was the right thing to do. Our school would be situated in shopfront settings that are small, neighborhood friendly embedded locations. Basically, we are reimagining a neighborhood bodega as a one-room classroom, with several classrooms spread out in the community. This for me is a community restorative approach, since our sites will sit in street-facing, light-filled spaces on walkable streets where community members will be able to see the daily work of children. This will increase the presence of children and families in the community, as they walk to and from school. Dr. Montessori wrote that schools should be aesthetically engulfing and culturally enriching for children who deserve nothing less. Following him, we are going to rely on public playgrounds, gardens and other civic spaces that would otherwise be on-site in larger institutions. We want the child development process to happen within the child’s community and not in a building.  

Something unique about WFNYCS is that we removed the role of a principal indefinitely. All of our neighborhood nested shopfront schools will have two lead teachers who will handle all facets of their school of approximately 14-24 children. Often when teachers become administrators they are forced to leave the classroom so our school fuses the two roles. As an educator I have seen how hierarchies can prevent teacher empowerment. The only way to make this experience more meaningful for teachers is to create a school that gives them full autonomy and decision making responsibilities. By providing full trust to our teachers and letting them make decisions, it reduces the chances of them leaving. As the founder of WFNYCS, my goal is always to make sure our educators are respected for their service, because this is a freedom project that I want teachers to lead and sustain.

“I teach because it is my greatest form of protest against injustice.”—Mario Benabe ’14

As you know, John Jay is a College focused on justice, how does teaching play a role in pushing the needle forward on justice issues?
I teach because it is my greatest form of protest against injustice and for me the work of social justice requires us to understand that organized people will always defeat organized power. Youth are well aware of society’s social contradictions and the injustices against them. In my classroom our students undergo a learning experience that requires support from leading organizers in New York City. We bring in senior activist from Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, Rise and Resist, New York Immigration Coalition and other local groups to inform our students on all the ways they can effectively organize to create change. For three consecutive years, our students organized a youth march for police reform.

Recently they acquired a bill sponsor from New York State Assembly Member Nathalia Fernandez for the Andrew Kearse Act, a set of legislation that my student designed to address police injustice. We also engage in culturally sustaining project based learning experiences that increase our capacity for social change. Every year our students host a “Dream” exhibit at Bronx Museums where students share their expressions on radical hope and resistance. They use art, media, writing, poetry, AR tech, and other student design thinking products to express a fundamental question, is the American Dream a nightmare? All of this takes place in a Science and Math classroom guided through the principle of justice.

During the Alumni Reunion, you will be receiving the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. What does this award mean to you?
Receiving an honor from one’s alma mater is one of the highest honors an educator can receive. I am thankful for everyone in the John Jay community who guided me to this very point. This award means everything to me as it is a signpost of humility. 

What advice can you give to other John Jay students, who might be considering becoming a teacher?
I would tell them that we need them. A teacher affects eternity. We can never tell where our influence stops. Think about your descendants, what type of world would you want them to develop in? Let that motivation guide you to make a change in the world; education helps with this change because teaching kids is teaching the future.

In a school system of 1.1 million students and 75,000 educators, there are an endless number of riveting stories just waiting to be heard.

Over the last few weeks, Chalkbeat has partnered with StoryCorps to try to collect some of them. We asked New York City teachers and students to tell us about the greatest challenge they’ve faced this school year or a moment that surprised them.

Listen to a selection of those responses below, and continue sending in your stories by using the StoryCorps app and tagging “Chalkbeat” in your recorded interview.

Understanding Students’ Realities

Bronx-native Mario Benabe, a special education math teacher at Bronx River High School, talks about trying to empower his students to make a difference in their community. 

“My vision is that students do not fear that the higher up they go in education, that they have to lose pieces of who they are or where they come from.”

Mario Benabe Received The John Hunter Community Service Award

The annual John Hunter Memorial Camp Fund Committee welcomed their 42nd class of community achievers and Hall of Famers, as well as their Lifetime Achievement honorees, at the beautiful Our Children’s Foundation, the educational, community-based program that sits proudly under the leadership of Sam Brown, the former collegiate and Rucker Pros hoops star.

It was there, on West 125th Street, that Brown joined the John Hunter Memorial Committee in welcoming Harthorne Wingo and Tom Hoover into the John Hunter Memorial Camp Fund’s Bob Douglas Hall of Fame.

In addition, the committee also honored their selected class of community achievers and Appreciation Award recipients, as well as the Native New Yorker honoree. Former Harlem Globetrotter Bobby Hunter was the master of ceremonies.

The Bob Douglas Hall of Fame, founded in Harlem by Eddie Younger and his sister Lorraine Younger, along with Benny Garrett, the former New York Renaissance hoops star, is without question the most renowned African-American sports hall of fame in the United States.

Eddie Younger paved the way for celebrating and honoring this nation’s legendary African-American athletes from the U.S. and worldwide. The Bob Douglass Hall of Fame is home to the greatest of this nation’s African-American athletes. There is no other organization in existence that has recognized and honored the African-American athlete of yesteryear as has the Bob Douglas Hall of Fame.

African-American male and female athletes, for the most part, went without recognition for their accomplishments in this city, the nation and the world. That was until Eddie Younger, Lorraine Younger and Garrett founded the John Hunter Memorial Camp Fund to honor and recognize these legendary men and women.

Countless men and women went without recognition until the founding of the John Hunter Memorial Camp Fund, which has since sent hundreds of young children to summer camps.

Early pioneers and legends Fritz Pollard, the first African-American quarterback; Bob Douglas, owner and coach of the New York Renaissance, the very first team to win a professional basketball championship; George Gregory, Columbia University; Paul Robeson; Ed Younger, Renaissance; Joe Yancey; Alice Coachman; Joe Lillard; Tank Conrad; Judy Johnson; Pop Gates; John Isaacs; the New York Renaissance; Tarzan Cooper; Cool Papa Bell; Monte Irvin; and Jackie Robinson were some of the African-American athletes who did not receive recognition before the founding of the John Hunter Memorial Camp Fund.

Mario Benabe

High School Math Teacher  

Bronx, NY

Mario Benabe is the founding Math Teacher at the South Bronx Community Charter High School (SBCCHS), a school birthed out of the New York City’s Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) and the Expanded Success Initiative (ESI) School Design Fellowship. Prior to teaching at SBCCHS, Mr. Benabe spent two years as the Special Education, Mathematics Specialist at the Bronx River High School. Mr. Benabe holds a M.S.T in Special Education from Fordham University and a B.A. in Culture and Deviance Studies with cross disciplinary research training in Sociology and Latin America and Latinx Studies from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Throughout his early teaching career, Mr. Benabe has advocated for educational justice for youths of color. At Teach For America’s 25^th anniversary summit Mr. Benabe spoke at the #StayWoke: Stop the Violence and Increase Opportunity program to an audience of over 1,200 people at the Walter E. Washington convention Center in D.C.. In 2015, The Entertainment Industry Foundation honored Mr. Benabe as one of three teachers selected nationally to be recognized as the 9/11 Day Teacher. Mr. Benabe has received the Robert Bob Douglass Hall of Fame – John Hunter Community Service Award for his dedication in serving youths through education for the National Association of  Each One Teach One program.

Mr. Benabe is the initiator of “Do-The-Right-Thing Pedagogy”, which frames the importance of examining the ways in which teaching and learning occurs in afrocentric and indigenous populations and using that as a Dialectical Opposites [Do] To Heal Education [The] that invites Reality, Immersion, Good-Hearted Teaching [Right] Through Historical Indigenous/Afrocentric and Native Grounds [Thing]. His role as an educator is to create conditions that allow young people to express their brilliance through their sense of what is vernacular for them so that they  can feel valued within the village of teaching and learning

Why do you Teach?

I teach as a response to a very powerful age-old adage that describes, “if the youth are not initiated to the tribe, they will burn it down in order to feel its warmth”. Often times because of our marriage to ineffective pedagogy, it creates conditions that allow young people to feel as though they are not deeply connected to the village of teaching and learning. I teach because it puts me in a position to heal and create conditions that never run counter to the spirit of young people. I teach because I understand that broken pedagogy cannot teach young people to be whole. Therefore, my work requires me to invest my efforts as an ally to the village of learners, to cultivate a teaching and learning context that is emancipatory, that invest in young people’s perception of self-worth and that builds a pedagogy of joy.

What do you love about teaching?

Prior to teaching I often guided myself to think critically about what brings out my inner peace? I felt this fear that was birthed out of a pain that maybe came from the gospel, that said, “there are many who die but do not rest in peace”. Even with all the roads in place, I stood at the border of  each pathway of opportunity thinking about why is it that life hasn’t allowed for me to fully crossover into my inner peace? It wasn’t until that special moment when I walked into a classroom as an educator for the first time where I felt like I could finally anchor my spirit, define my purpose in life, create a sustainable me, bring out my inner peace and guide young people to an education that is beyond a set of standards. I love teaching and learning because it has allowed for me to teach within a village of learners that celebrates our existing shared cultural capital as a result of me being Latino, having shared history and common experiences, speaking the same languages, and teaching within my direct community in the South Bronx, NY at the South Bronx Community Charter High School, so that when we exchange through transactions within dialogue, authenticity within the relationships shines through.

When you were a student, was there a great teacher who inspired you?

Absolutely! In 7^th grade, back in 2002, I was blessed with having a math and science teacher who is now one of the nation’s most inspiring educators, Dr. Christopher Emdin. His work on #HipHopEd, Science Genius and Reality Pedagogy is at the intersections of critical pedagogy and culturally relevant pedagogy. I can’t imagine my world without the inspiration he fills within my vessel of passion for teaching and learning. If I could relive any moment within my life repeatedly, it would be that year when I walked into his class. I speak from the deepest parts of my heart with joy and a sense of caring about the value I have for him for guiding me to see that everything that is out there is already within me. I know that when I was most lost in life, he gave me direction. I am forever thankful for him, and his family.

A charter school educator, Mr. Benabe will bring a new perspective to the ongoing discussion on Bronx and Citywide education issues.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has appointed Mario Benabe, a special education and math teacher at the South Bronx Community Charter High School, to represent his office on the Community Education Council of Bronx School District #9.

“Mr. Benabe’s experience as a teacher in a charter school, as well as his considerable resume as an educator and an activist, will provide CEC #9 with a unique perspective on the issues that face our classrooms, and I look forward to working with him as we continue our work to improve our public school system, not just here in our borough but across the city,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “Charter schools are public schools, too, and Mr. Benabe’s experience within a charter school’s walls will bring a fresh viewpoint to the important discussion that takes place at CEC #9.”

“This opportunity to serve on the Community Education Council in District #9 truly brings me inner peace. As a community, we are often looking for treasures far away, when in fact there are acres of diamonds in our own backyards. As an appointee, I know the value and importance of empowering the best sense of teaching and learning by rooting it to the community. This must include parent engagement, social and emotional learning and restorative justice,” said Mario Benabe.

A resident of Claremont Village, Mario Benabe is the founding Math Teacher at the South Bronx Community Charter High School (SBCCHS), a school birthed out of the New York City’s Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) and the Expanded Success Initiative (ESI) School Design Fellowship.

Prior to teaching at SBCCHS, Mr. Benabe spent two years as the Special Education, Mathematics Specialist at the Bronx River High School. Mr. Benabe holds a M.S.T in Special Education from Fordham University and a B.A. in Culture and Deviance Studies with cross disciplinary research training in Sociology and Latin America and Latinx Studies from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Throughout his early teaching career, Mr. Benabe has advocated for educational justice for youths of color. At Teach For America’s 25th anniversary summit Mr. Benabe spoke at the #StayWoke: Stop the Violence and Increase Opportunity program to an audience of over 1,200 people at the Walter E. Washington convention Center in Washington, D.C.

In 2015, The Entertainment Industry Foundation honored Mr. Benabe as one of three teachers selected nationally to be recognized as the 9/11 Day Teacher. Mr. Benabe has received the Robert Bob Douglass Hall of Fame – John Hunter Community Service Award for his dedication in serving youths through education for the National Association of Each One Teach One program.

Mr. Benabe is the initiator of “Do-The-Right-Thing Pedagogy”, which frames the importance of examining the ways in which teaching and learning occurs in afrocentric and indigenous populations and using that as a Dialectical Opposites [Do] To Heal Education [The] that invites Reality, Immersion, Good-Hearted Teaching [Right] Through Historical Indigenous/Afrocentric and Native Grounds [Thing]. Mr. Benabe feels that his role as an educator is to create conditions that allow young people to express their brilliance through their sense of what is vernacular for them so that they can feel valued within the village of teaching and learning.

More information about Mr. Benabe can be found at his website, www.mariobenabe.com.

By Mario Benabe

I am bothered by the fact that a wallet can be mistaken as a gun #AmadouDiallo or the fact that we run the risk of losing our lives in our public housing building staircase #MalcolmFerguson #AkaiGurley or the fact that it doesn’t matter to them if we are out chilling at a longue #PatrickDorismond or the fact that it doesn’t matter to them if we are sitting in our car #PrinceJones. It doesn’t matter to them if I have several traffic violations, we still die #TimothyThomas. It doesn’t matter to them that I can’t walk out of my own door, I still die #YvetteSmith. It doesn’t matter to them if my one-year old daughter is in the car, I still die #MiriamCarey or the fact that I can’t be a babysitter because I get murdered— but not only that, those same officers can wear a T-shirt with the initials “BDRT” Baby’s Daddy Removal Team #OrlandoBarlow. It doesn’t matter to them if I have a cell phone, I still die #RakiaBoyd. It doesn’t matter if I have a local business for art and musical instrument reparation— I still die #OusmaneZongo. I could work for the Division of Citywide Administrative Services and on my way to work I still die #AlbertaSpruill. It doesn’t matter to them if I look at them in the eyes—I still die #FreddyGray.  I can’t open the door of my building’s rooftop because I still die #TimothyStansbury. I can’t even drive a Budget Rental Truck because I still die, but not only that, my passenger could be developmentally delayed and he still dies #RonaldMadison and #JamesBrisette. It doesn’t matter to them if I have a mental illness because I still die #ShereeseFrancis #Diana Showman #MelissaVentura or I die because they see my pill bottle as gun #RumainBrisbon. It doesn’t matter to them if I am undocumented, I still die #AntonioMontesZambrano. It doesn’t matter to them if I am in a situation where I just want to harm myself, but rather than save me, I still die #AntonyNunez. I could be driving down a road faster than the speed limit and I still die #PedroVillanueva. I can’t be 7-years old sleeping on my grandmother because I still die #AiyanaStanley. I can’t even hold my baby in my arms at home because I can die holding them #TarikaWilson #KorrynGaines. It doesn’t matter to them that I identify as either LGBTQ, I still die #JessicaHernandez #MyaShawatzaHall. It doesn’t matter if it is the day after hurricane Katrina hit, I still die #HenryGlover. It could be the night before my wedding and I still die #SeanBell. It doesn’t matter if i’m a kid, I still die #EmmettTill but not only that in the same amount of time it takes someone to tell another person that they love them, officer are shooting just as quick as 2 seconds for a toy #TamirRice, a toy #DeAuntaTerrelFarrow, a toy #CameronTillman a toy #AndyLopez. I could be born in 1914 within a time period where hate was so visible— during a time of segregation and 92 years years later, that doesn’t matter because I still die #KathrynJohnston. It doesn’t matter to them if I am waiting for a train, I still die #OscarGrant. It doesn’t matter to them if I am at the local zoo because I still die #AlonzoAshley. It doesn’t matter to them if I was a former landscaper, I still die #FerminVincentValenzuela. It doesn’t matter if I sell cigarettes I still die #EricGarner but not only that, I could be smoking a cigarette and still die #SandraBland. It doesn’t matter if I buy candy and rock a hoodie, I still die #TrayvonMartin. It doesn’t matter to them if I’m selling Cd’s and Dvd’s in front of a store that the owner doesn’t care if I do so, I still die #AltonSterling. It doesn’t matter if I tell you I’m carrying and I with my girlfriend and child, I still die #philando castile. It doesn’t matter if they stop me for a broken taillight, I still die #WalterScott. It doesn’t matter to them if I have a twin, if I’m a father of four, if I attend Tulsa Community College, If I love god, because to them, I am just a “big bad dued” #TerenceCrutcher. It doesn’t matter if I’m 18-years old, I still die—but not only that you allow my body to lay there for 4 hours, blood everywhere, and a small sheet covering about a quarter of my body #MichaelBrown.

All that matters to you is the disembodiment of our bodies in which you render our bodies disposable.

This is me letting out my cry.

I want to deeply apologize if I have left out countless names because that was not my intentions. Please cry with me by adding in the names I missed of those who have lost their lives. There are so many who die, who have not rested in peace.

I send my condolences to all of the families, our community and our ancestors whose bodies were not valued.

Teach For America has pledged to recruit 2,400 Latino undergraduates and young professionals to teach in low-income public schools nationwide.

Source: Teach For America Pledges to Recruit More Latino Teachers – NBC News