Miami mayoral candidate and Trinidad and Tobago national Jeffrey Benjamin says he is overwhelmed and humbled at the level of support he is receiving from T&T nationals and the Caribbean.
Benjamin, who was born in Arima is creating history in Miami as a Caribbean national contesting the post of mayor. He maintains that one of his main priorities is promoting the interests of Caribbean citizens in the United States and ensuring that there is a level playing field in Miami for T&T businesses and nationals. Benjamin who visits T&T regularly was here last June to meet with citizens and members of the business community. One of the goals of his administration will be to spread the benefits of investment to a greater number of businesses in Miami and T&T, according to a campaign statement released on July 4.
Benjamin pointed to ongoing concerns that the economies of the Caribbean are in serious difficulties and must look for export markets out of the region. “My efforts therefore would be to focused in goods, services and employment and are geared towards helping build both the economies of the US and the Caribbean through trade, exchanges in eco-tourism, manufacturing and foreign investments in clean energy. “A strong trade relationship with Miami is likely to shield both economies from the worst impacts of the ongoing global instability, together we are likely to weather the crisis better than most others,” the statement said. Benjamin is building his campaign up with a stream of activities and events and on July 26, he will address the Young Democrats of Miami Dade as the city commemorates its 1896 inauguration.
This is a continuation of the work he has been doing to support President Barack Obama. One of the highlights of the campaign was a recent visit on July 6 to a neighbourhood known as Little Haiti. Benjamin and his team went into the area to meet residents and put up posters but the community had already made their own posters and had signs up on fences and street corners in support of him. He described the experience as one of the most rewarding of the campaign to date. “This is what it is about for me. I am doing this so that citizens of Miami, many of whom are from the Caribbean, will have a better life. When I am greeted with the kind of love that I was shown in Little Haiti, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am doing the right thing.”
He said it reminded him of his visit to Trinidad and Tobago in June 2013, when he stopped to get coconut water and the vendor said he had been following him in the news and had seen him on TV. The vendor told him that he and his wife were praying for Benjamin’s success. “This is what makes a man believe,” Benjamin said. Recent campaign statistics show that Caribbean nationals including Haitians make up about 25 to 30 per cent of Miami’s population and of this amount 7 to 10 per cent are from T&T. There are currently about 40,000 nationals of Trinidad and Tobago in Miami and Orlando, according to the campaign statement.
Benjamin is encouraged by the support he is receiving from his supporters and citizens of T&T. “I would like to thank you for believing in me. Your faith in my mission is what keeps me going. Every day I get e-mails and telephone calls from persons living in Trinidad and Tobago who want to be part of history and to all of you I say welcome. Trinidad and Tobago and my Caribbean upbringing have made me the person I am today, for that I am eternally grateful,” he said in the campaign statement. The election is scheduled on November 5. Benjamin will be back in T&T in the coming weeks.
About Benjamin
Jeffrey Anthony Benjamin is the proud father of three boys. His two older boys, Juergen and Giovanni Benjamin serve in the United States Air Force and his youngest, four-year-old Dimarco attends preschool. Benjamin graduated from North Eastern College and studied two years of Aerospace Engineering at the College of Aeronautics. He also graduated from Malcolm X College as a Neuro Diagnostic Technologist. He studied constitutional Law Classes at Moritz Law School at the Ohio State University. He also has a Fellowship in Neurology from the University of South Florida and holds a GCE from Cambridge University in Human and Social Biology, PHD and numerous other certifications. He is the author of Juvenile Injustice, The Chicago Story. It is a story which helped changed laws in the State of Illinois to benefit minors and safeguard children. His new book, Love & Cholera is based on the earthquake that devastated Haiti, and will be released at the end of the 2013.
• For further information on the campaign, you can visit www.jeffbenjaminformayor.com. Benjamin is also on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Other contacts in T&T are: Rachel Furlonge-Walker, rfurlongewalker@gmail.com, 713-7889 and Ann Marie Ganness, annmarieganness@hotmail.com, 293-8134.