JANUARY | 2020 | BLACK, GAY & GIFTED

BRAGGING RIGHTS | REGINALD BENBOW

Hey, Beaux! We are live with our first Black, Gay and Gifted feature for the new year, and boy, oh boy, do we have a treat for you! We’re spending a little time with Reginald Benbow, who is not only our first feature of the year, but our first feature of the decade as well! If you’ve been following us for the past few years, you know we put forth our best effort in sharing the stories of the best and brightest of Beaux, and Reginald is no exception! Reginald accomplished more than his fair share of feats. We’re beyond certain this humble soul doesn’t have a boastful bone in his twenty six year old bawdy, but if you spend a little time with his feature, you’ll see why we’re giving him bragging rights!

Reginald’s exploits in education have taken him to and through the University of Virginia, where he double majored in Political & Social Thought and African American & African Studies. What’s more impressive is that he picked up a minor in Middle Eastern Arabic as well. From there he hoped right on over to John Hopkins University, where he studied Urban Education.

It’ll be important to remember that last part a little later. The Baltimore, Maryland native has worked for Teach for America, Baltimore City Public Schools, and has served as a middle school teacher as well. Teaching is something that’s not for everyone, but Reginald has found passion within it.

His resume is lengthy to say the least, and its content goes a long way in describing his character and his commitment to education. Some of the roles he’s held include, but certainly aren’t limited to serving as Co-President for the Black & Latino MBA Organization at Duke, a Fuqua on Board Fellow, treasurer for the Black Graduate & Professional Student Association, and participated as a member of the university’s Dean’s Working Group on Diversity. It's pretty safe to say that Reginald wasn’t up to some of the things most of us were up to during our college days!

Reginald was the first in his family to graduate from college. “My parents, brother and other family members started college but did not finish. I was determined to go, graduate, and embark on a professional, lucrative career.” He cites the biggest challenges to his academic success as preparation and opportunity, but thanks to programs such as Upward Bound and AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination), Reginald received the guidance, mentoring, and preparation he would need to push him even further down his promising path of his future.

“Preparatory resources combined with my academic and extracurricular performance unlocked collegiate opportunity.”, he says. “ I was admitted to seven of the ten college and universities I applied to and chose Mr. Jefferson’s University of Virginia for its diverse academics and supportive environment. Moreover, UVA helped remove the greatest barrier, money, with a generous financial aid package.” 

While access to resources is always helpful when it comes to getting into and financing college, support is essential to ensure that one is able to stay in college. Reginald’s family played a supportive role for him while he was at school “My family spoke positivity into me.” This kind of support is nothing new for Reginald, and he says that others have long noticed the promise of his potential. “As early as elementary school, I was a stand-out student, for example, I was chosen to serve as “master of ceremonies” for the 5th grade closing ceremony...I felt the drive within myself. I was internally motivated to succeed. Everyday, someone told me that I was intelligent and handsome”, he says. “I was made to believe that I could ‘be somebody.’”

Reginald has dedicated a considerable amount of time working with and mentoring youth through his work with Upward Bound, helping students to prepare for college and by launching an anti-bullying group for middle school students. The inspiration behind these feats is fueled by what Reginald describes as his responsibility to help others. “Someone helped me achieve my goals, therefore it is my responsibility to help others.” Reginald is a fan of the ‘bigger picture’, and believes that the issues impacting black communities loom large, and that our personal actions matter.

“I know from personal experience, on both ends, that mentoring matters, teaching matters, and service matters. Simultaneously while we work to undo systems of oppression, we must act at the micro-level to make a difference.” Policy is another part of the bigger picture, and Reginald overstands that. “I started my career as a foot soldier for social justice, as a teacher. Now, outside of education I am more focused on helping to change policy through political advocacy, while remaining engaged through service and volunteerism.”

The biggest reward from working with youth in helping them become the best versions of themselves is the lessons they teach the teacher along the way.”Working with children reinforced two principles for me. First, youth taught me the power of simple and compelling communication. You should always work to convey complex ideas in a clear and concise manner, something I employ daily as a corporate consultant. Second, word is bond – say what you mean and mean what you say. Children listen to every word and will hold you accountable. I apply these two principles daily, especially at work.”

We’re not certain, but we’re almost sure that part about working to convey complex ideas in a clear and concise manner holds a lot of weight for Reginald. Evidence of this can be found in the role he the GSA he founded during his time as a middle school teacher. The clear and complex idea he conveyed back then was that homophobia was the move.

”I was the victim of several homophobic slurs and attacks from a vocal, yet small group of students and parents my first-year teaching. It was not enough that I was the only out teacher, male or female, young or old, black or white, to be openly LGBTQ at my school, I wanted to help change the culture and create a more inclusive environment.” Reginald says that he approached the principal he worked under about forming a gay-straight alliance and an anti-bullying initiative. “She agreed to the need and I started the group, named “the Alliance,” with a fellow teacher.” The Alliance met after school once a week, which is no small feat for an after school club, and provided an inclusive environment that positively impacted the school. “For National Coming Out day, we organized the students to make posters of positive messages throughout the school.”  

Reginald’s own coming out took place after his first year of college, and he recalls there being no student organizations for him to turn to with regard to embracing his then new identity as a black gay man. “The black organizations were heteronormative and the LGBT organizations were whitewashed and homonormative.” Reginald applied and was approved to serve on the board of the universities LGBT Resource Center. His role as a board member gave him the the freedom to create Minority Squared, a group that served to bridge the gap for same gender loving people of color.

“I made Minority Squared a public group that met on campus and that advertised publicly – whereas other LGBT organizations tended to meet off campus and were semi-secret – it was 2009 in Charlottesville, VA.” Minority Squared grew to a small, but stable, membership and went on to host events such as “Beautiful Bottom: Black Queer Reality” and a performance of E. Patrick Johnson’s ‘Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South.’ “Minority Squared helped change the culture of UVA and Charlottesville through unapologetic visibility”, Reginald says. “Soon, the numbers of “out” Black and brown students increased from just me to dozens.”

Reginald’s exploits in creating and maintaining safe spaces for the SGL community extend beyond academia, as he’s done much of the same as a leader of LGBT black employee resource groups within corporate America. “Serving as an employee/business resource group leader means balancing internal company politics. There is upward pressure from yourself and members to advocate for positions, and downward pressure from corporate leadership and HR to focus on certain themes and work incrementally.” This also includes building allies and working within a sometimes narrowly defined character of the resource group. “Given the sensitive nature of the work, and ongoing professional relationships, I do not want to reveal too many details about past/ongoing efforts.” he says, which is something we can totally understand. 

There are, however, certain things that Reginald can reveal, like the tool he uses in the stead of making new year’s resolutions. “I do not make typical new year's resolutions.” he says. Reginald uses a tool called the Life Model Canvas, which is a personal development framework for 10x living. LMC was created by Ayori Selassie, author of the forthcoming book, ‘The Selfpreneur’s Field Guide’. “The canvas allows me to set goals across different dimensions and track my performance against them. Some of the goals I am tracking against include traveling to South America for the first time (planned for February 2020, Salvador, Brazil, Carnaval) and completing a sprint triathlon. The key to success is to start with the goal in mind, then backwards plan.”  We actually got a chance to play around on LMC’s site and strongly recommend you all check it out as well. 

We almost hate asking the “what’s next” question, but its a necessary evil because Reginald, like many of our previous features, have accomplished so much that one can’t help to wonder other cards they’ve got up their sleeves. Reginald says that he recently joined the board of Speak Out, which many may know as a popular Facebook group. “I am excited to help Speak Out continue its mission to educate, support and connect LGBTQ people of color, and expand into hosting more events. I am also in talks to join the board of an educational non-profit based in Baltimore. Additionally, I continue my journey of becoming a professional public speaker and I am working on finding the right agency to represent me. ” 

He might also throw his hat into the ring of politics. “I have wanted to run for office ever since watching the debacle of the 2000 presidential election as an eleven year old. I swore that I would run for office at the first possible opportunity. However, while life has led elsewhere, I still plan to pursue elected office, and I am seriously considering the 2022 state legislative races in my district.”

Reginald has prepared for this by attending three political trains, by participating in coaching from the organization Leadership for Educational Equity, and through networking with various people who have run for office. “As a legislator, I would be a champion for social justice, advocating for equitable education funding, increased access to voting, and fairer economic development policies.”

We couldn’t be happier to showcase Reginald and his exploits on our platform, because he’s out here doing the work that needs to be done. He’s used his personal experiences as motivation to respectfully buck at systems of oppression in academia and corporate America, has worked to inspire SGL youth, and to educate those who would be their allies. Anyone who knew Reginald as a child would be far from surprised, as they were the ones who first saw his potential, We’re certain that they’re more than happy to brag about his accomplishments and the fact that he’s doing the things they not only knew that he could achieve, but that he would achieve. Nobody likes a braggart which means everybody loves Reginald, because he’s as humble as they come. We (not so humbly) invite you all to spend a little time with Reginald by following his exploits on his social.