Meet Benjamin Lewis. It’s likely that in your years at Florida State you may have strolled by him in the union with fleeting thoughts of what on earth his story could be. Devin Healy and I had similar notions and had the opportunity to interview Tallahassee native, Benji Lewis, last week. While this man is surely exercising a unique approach to America’s first amendment by demonstrating about this touchy topic, his cause is a surprisingly interesting, and quite authentic one.
Benji has been handing out fliers for over a year at FSU with the slogan “Vote for Benji,” simultaneously advertising his high-hopes to run for President of the United States in 2016 and, if he should fail, again in 2020. He informed us that a large part of his agenda revolves around educating people about the dangers of both male and female circumcision. Move over, Kanye -- introducing #Benji2020.
For anyone that grants him the time of day, he has an abundance of knowledge about his cause and is more than willing to elaborate. Here are some of our favorite moments from our extremely fascinating conversation.
Q: Where are you from originally, and what brought you to FSU’s campus?
Well, I was born in Tallahassee in 1948. I went Leon High School and then went on to attend FSU’s summer abroad program in Monterey, Mexico where I studied Spanish. The next summer I participated in FSU’s summer abroad program again in Valencia. In the fall of 1970, I taught a natural childbirth class in the Center for Participant Education (CPE).”
Q: To start, can you explain to us more about background and relevance of your platform?
A: “Well to start, every year, three million between infancy and age 15 years old are having their genitalia mutilated internationally, and even within the United States. It’s been discovered that many of the African tribes with the most brutal warriors have been partaking in the circumcision of girls at birth. Women who have been circumcised (had their clitoris removed) don’t have orgasms. There is a hormone produced during pregnancy called oxytocin, also known as “love hormone.” Now scientists believe it is crucial for prenatal development to be conceived in a high oxytocin environment to make the people secure and protected within the womb. The reason these violent warriors are being produced is because the babies in the womb are experiencing no “love” on a biological level. (He went on to say that even male circumcision at birth creates a level of post-traumatic stress and leads to the same violent, non-empathetic personality traits).
Q: You clearly have such a passion for this issue, what originally inspired you to become such an active part of this platform?
I guess it’s been a process, but there is a specific moment that really was a life changing moment for me. I saw my brother demonstrate at the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital against circumcision. Having a 6-week-old daughter, I learned about the subject and agreed with what he was protesting. I began demonstrating with my brother on FSU’s campus, educating people about circumcision. He actually went to the state capital and got the state of Florida to quit funding circumcision for a while, after he died, they started funding it again.
Q: What kind of impact or goal are you hoping to achieve?
There are several things -- but the end goal is to run for president. I searched “how to run for office” on the Internet and it said I had the first step was to earn $5,000 of publicly funded money for my campaign.
(Benji has done exactly that, and told us that he’s earned over $5,000 for his campaign, with the majority coming from students on FSU’s campus.)
Q: How did you decide to run for President and what would be your first order of business if you were to be elected?
If I were president -- number one, every girl, child, and woman in the country on a humanitarian basis would get a medical examination. Without the chemicals released by orgasms during pregnancies, there is less oxygen and circulation into the uterus, and they are more likely to get fibroid cysts, a potentially cancerous condition that grows in a low oxygen environment. (Interestingly enough, in 1996, Congress passed several legislative measures relating to FGM (female genital mutilation) practice of FGM on a minor was defined as a federal criminal offense.)
Q: What do you think of your competitors for the presidency?
Trump is totally coo-coo. It is about bringing rationality to the campaign. People that are making money from weapons currently determine our foreign policy. We do not need more weapons. We currently have enough weapons to kill every man, women, and child on the planet. We need to use our intelligence and isolate the dangerous people from the people who are not dangerous.
Q: If you had one message for FSU students in particular, looking to support your cause, what would you say to them?
Thank you for already being extremely supportive, a lot of the money I’ve raised has come from this campus and, hopefully, the government will recognize me as a candidate.
In conclusion of our interview, we asked Benji to give us another slogan other than “Save the Clitoris” to summarize his platform; to which he quickly responded:
“In 2016, the tissue is the issue.”
Although a very foreign and sensitive subject for many of us, Benji is undeniably well acquainted with his manifesto. With his unforeseen knowledge came quite an interesting conversation confirming that regardless of your views on the matter, this unique man has a lot of plans, aspirations, and obvious passion. Next time you walk by him on campus, I implore you to throw him a dollar and let’s see if Benji can give Hillary, Donald, or Kanye a run for their money.
