As the grandson and son of Mexican farmworkers, Lucas Benitez came to America with a mission to enrich the lives of his family, especially his little brothers.
But the realities as a teenage immigrant farmworker were particularly harsh: A hard days labor didn't always come with pay, while verbal, physical and sexual abuse were rampant. Benitez spoke out and quietly started gathering with others. And it became clear to this 17-year-old that his mission would indeed grow.
Americans, he was determined, needed to know about the harsh realities in the fields. They need to understand the plight of the immigrant farmworker. And the farmworkers needed to understand they deserve basic human rights and be able to live with dignity.
And so the labor and human rights organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers was born.
Three decades later, this son and grandson of farmworkers who is a guardian of sorts over thousands of farmworkers as the co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers was awarded the Wallenberg Medal by the University of Michigan for his extraordinary achievements in the field of human rights.
Previous recipients include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Miep Gies, John Lewis, Masha Gessen, Elie Wiesel, Denis Mukwege, and His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, and the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet.
Benitez plays a critical role investigating modern-day slavery cases. He helped free some 700 workers in one case alone.
Tuesday evening, University of Michigan president Santa Ono praised Benitez for his hard work – as young man in search of a better life in the tomato fields and his decades-long fight for human rights.
“Today you inspire us to not close our eyes to injustice, intimidation and inhumanity; To not sit comfortably at a cornucopia while those who produce its fruits still suffer from excessive heat and exposure; When they are still at risk of abuse and when they live forced-labor situations, systems and indentured servitude," Ono said. "You remind us not to recline in the silent complicity, for the complicity of good people is all that evil needs to persist. Most importantly, you teach us to be optimistic.”
Ono told the crowd gathered for the award that he witnessed Benitez' optimism first-hand: "It is the optimism that reminds us that just one whisper for positive change — just a whisper can drown out the cries of the skeptics and can move a silent multitude to action."
About Raoul Wallenberg
The Wallenberg Medal honors the achievements of Raoul Wallenberg who saved the lives of tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War II.
Wallenberg, a University of Michigan graduate, issued thousands of protective passports and placed tens of thousands of Jews in safehouses while confronting Hungarian and German forces to secure the release of Jews, whom he claimed were under Swedish protection. Wallenberg ultimately saved more than 80,000 lives.
Most evidence points to Wallenberg being imprisoned by Soviet forces in January 1945 and his actual fate remains unknown. Russia claims he died in a Soviet prison on 17 July 1947. However, many witness reports suggest he may have been alive much later.
WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.