Jerrion Benjamin (now Forrester), a 1996 graduate of Brandeis University, is an attorney in the Office of the Public Defender in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was elected to the Brandeis Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 5, 2019 after earning four All-America honors, including a runner-up finish at the 1994 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. Benjamin captured 12 UAA titles and still holds program records in the 55-, 100-, and 200-meter dashes.
The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.
Coming to the U.S. from Jamaica
“Race really didn’t play a significant role in my life until I came to the U.S. I was born in Jamaica and migrated in 1987 when I was 13 years old. I hadn’t even learned a lot about Caribbean history by the time I left Jamaica and knew almost nothing about Black history related to slavery,” she expressed. “I knew about the liberators of Jamaican slavery, but I was young at the time and it didn’t impact me the way it would now.”
She went to high school at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School in Cambridge, Mass. “I was oblivious to race as a social construct. The high school had everything and was kind of a utopia for me. I didn’t know I was Black. I was a girl from Jamaica,” she reported. “I was tracked differently from a lot of the Black kids I knew. I was college-bound and some of them were not. There were times I was one of the few minorities in AP history and things like that, but it didn’t really mean anything to me at the time. I was always told to go to school, learn, and do the best I could.”
Although she hadn’t experienced that level of overt racism before, she was in the Boston area when Charles Stuart falsely alleged that his pregnant wife Carol was shot and killed by a Black man (Stuart’s brother confirmed to police that Stuart himself was the murderer and Stuart ended up taking his own life). “Family members were talking about that case (which made national headlines) and said that Black people were just scapegoats,” she recollected. “Living in Cambridge, I walked through Harvard Yard to get to school. Whenever my Black friends and I were hanging out in the Square, we were always followed in the stores. I was finally starting to pick up on what race meant here in the U.S.”
It didn’t take long for Benjamin to realize how prevalent the social construct of race is. “If you live in the U.S., you really can’t escape it. One time there were a group of us crossing the street, taking our time, and a guy in a pickup truck shouted for ‘n-s’ to get out of the road. One of the people in our group was Portuguese and very dark, but he informed me that the comment was directed toward me and my friends,” she recalled. “I was confused because our friend was as dark as me. From that point on, I started understanding that I was different racially.”
Choosing Brandeis
Benjamin applied to several schools with Syracuse University being her dream school. “I finished second in the State (in a sprint) my senior year of high school, which got (Brandeis coaches) Norm Levine and Mark Reytblat talking to me about Brandeis. Mark encouraged me to visit, which I did. Afterwards, I decided it just wasn’t the right school for me,” she recounted. “My friend’s dad was telling one of his peers at the Cambridge Board of Education and she said that Brandeis was a very good school, particularly for aspiring lawyers, which I was. We hadn’t had anyone explain that part of the process to us before my friend shared that with me.”
She gave the school a second look and decided to both pursue pre-law and run track at Brandeis. “There was a misconception that I was there because of track, yet I was focused on doing my work, going to law school, and doing things I wanted to do. I wasn’t just going to run. I didn’t see myself as an Olympian. I ran on sheer talent, not because it was a dream of mine. My dream was to be a lawyer. There were a few times I told Mark, ‘I get it, you think you got me in here, but I am not here to run. I won’t forsake my studies or whatever else I need to do,” she remembered.
Being Black at Brandeis
“The reality of racism really hit me in the face when I got to Brandeis. I felt it deeply, though some may say it was self-imposed, that I was one of the few Black kids in the classroom. I was the only Black woman sitting at the dinner table wearing braids and my hair became a topic at every dinner conversation. Some of my peers had never been in such close contact with a Black person. I was thinking, ‘Why do I know more about you and you know so little about me?’ That was my naïve thinking at the time,” Benjamin described.
She did believe she had a slightly different perspective about hair than many Black people who grew up in the U.S. “I remember one time meeting a little grandma I met who asked if she could touch my braids. I have always had an affinity for older people, and I figured if a person asked first, then they could touch my hair. She was so sweet and so I was not offended,” she communicated. It wasn’t okay for someone to just approach me and touch my hair, but if they asked, I was not offended and used them as teaching moments. Not being African-American raised, I didn’t have the defensiveness that comes with such a racialized society. I would even take out my extensions and show them how I did my hair. After a while though, it became THE subject and I wondered if we could talk about something else. If they wanted to get to know me as me, I’m all for it, but not just because I am Black and different.”
“I looked different and I felt different,” she continued. “I felt like if I spoke up, I better be articulate. Did I put that on myself? Am I representing a race or just Jerrion?’ I didn’t want to fit a stereotype. I wanted to make my own mark. I did my work, got good grades, and ran track.”
She did experience stereotypical comments directed toward her. “Once someone knew I was Jamaican, they would comment on how well I spoke and/or ask if I smoked weed. I am not a timid person by any means so I would speak up for myself if there was overt racism, but I don’t recall much of that happening,” she explained. “It was much more a feeling of being different. Part of it was being Black, but also not being Jewish at a predominantly Jewish institution. You couldn’t help but hear people say, ‘She is Jewish’ or ‘She is not Jewish.’ I was neither white nor Jewish.”
Another way she felt like an outsider was her lack of financial resources. “Most of the kids had money and had come from affluent families. I was a poor girl from Jamaica who came here for a better life. We were polar opposites,” she remarked. “I was dating a Jewish guy on the track team and received an important email about financial aid. I asked him if he got the email and he said that he wasn’t on financial aid. I had to have financial aid to attend Brandeis.”
Advice for Others Black Student-Athletes and Professionals
“Even as a lawyer now, I go into any training looking to see if there are any other Black people,” she divulged. “I affirmatively have to say to myself, ‘You are going to talk in any room, even if no one looks like you. Take a seat at the table and do what you need to do.’ I can’t constantly focus on the fact that I am Black. I neither have to advertise it nor let it control me.”
What she tells herself now relates to advice she would have liked to receive at Brandeis and would give to those navigating any space as one of the few people of color. “You are strong, you are smart like anybody else, you are able and capable. Your skin color does not define you; you define it. Be the best you. Don’t limit yourself or allow others to define you,” she recommended. “Know yourself. It is crucial and significant to know your history. That is tantamount to knowing where you come from and who you are. Once you know that and understand historically what we have been through as a race of people and that we are still standing, only God can stop us. Don’t let anyone get in your way or let someone else sabotage your success or your mind.”
As a parent of two children, including a three-year old, Benjamin has been intentional about affirming Black culture. “We must start early instilling confidence in Black children, teaching them how beautiful they and their hair are, and encourage them to have friends of multiple ethnicities. I tell them the same thing I would tell Black student-athletes: be open-minded and don’t let anyone else define you.”
Role of Allies and Institutions
“I think everyone would be well served by every college mandating an introductory course in African-American history. It is important for allies to educate themselves, but institutions can also be on the forefront of that,” Benjamin pronounced. “I had mostly Black teachers in Jamaica, and if someone was not Black, they were simply referred to as Jamaican, not Indian or Chinese, etc. My doctor was Black in a predominantly Black country. Once I got to the U.S., I discovered how different things are here.”
She believes allies must seek education on race issues, rather than relying on Black people. “I don’t always want to tell you how I comb my hair, how I do everything. I don’t want to always explain that I am angry another Black man or woman has been killed by the police. I don’t want to scream at you for you to hear me,” she articulated. “It all starts with education and learning what is going on in the country and the world. Come to the table with an open mind rather than a predisposed mindset. Be ready to listen and have an honest dialogue.”
Benjamin asserts that not dismissing hurtful comments and the experiences of Black people are critical to being a strong ally. “Be honest and ready to confront racism, your own or that of others close to you. Don’t push things aside with comments like, ‘She didn’t mean it like that’ or ‘She didn’t really mean it,’” she advised. “It is very dismissive of the Black experience to say that slavery happened so long ago, not realizing the generational, mental, and emotional damage it has done. No one is ever told to just get over the Holocaust nor should they. We need to talk about how this should not have happened to anyone and cannot happen to anyone again, not just to Black people. I know true allies exist. I have a couple dear white friends I can talk to about anything and be myself. They get it because they have listened and educated themselves.”
Role of Teams and Head Coaches
“Whether it is a team or an organization, the people at the top set the tone. The head coach or even the athletic director needs to make it unequivocally clear that racism will not be tolerated. This has to be explicit. Coaches can’t micromanage people who are 18 years old and up, who have their own ideas. Sit the team down when they return to school and let them know what is expected of them as athletes and citizens of the university,” she deemed. “Don’t allow microaggressions to be ignored. Sensitivity training is also important because it helps people think about how they say things and what some of their presuppositions are.”
It didn’t take long in her college career for Benjamin to experience the affront of preconceived notions. “I was the only Black athlete at a party and one student asked me why Black people are so lazy and collect welfare. I wasn’t offended nor did I think ‘How dare you say that?’ (though I may now!), but I was ready to have a conversation. I knew that if I was defensive as the only Black person, I would be isolating myself and not have friends,” she explained. “That is another reason why it is so important for the right tone to be set so that leaders are approachable, and teams can have important conversations.”