Tag: denise carty-bennia

Denise Carty-Bennia ~ Rest In Power

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Denise Carty-Bennia, B.Michael’s dear friend and mentor from law school, died tragically at the age of 43. Her obituary appeared in the New York Times.

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At Northeastern’s memorial for Denise, B.Michael was one of two Alumni Tributes; he read a poem he wrote called “Shades of U.”

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The Northeastern University School of Law created the Denise Carty-Bennia Memorial Bar Award in her honor.

A year after her death, the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College dedicated the Denise Carty-Bennia Auditorium:

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Just a few examples of Carty-Bennia’s legal scholarship and leadership that B.Michael kept in his files.

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A discussion on “Affirmative Action: Where Are We Headed” held by Carty-Bennia at Barnard College, her undergraduate alma mater, was recorded in 1990.

One of Carty-Bennia’s Constitutional Law lectures was recorded at Northeastern some time in 1981-82.


Denise Carty-Bennia :: Friend

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Denise — B.Michael’s cherished mentor and friend — figures prominently in two of his poems: “Shades of U,” which he wrote upon her passing in 1990, and “No Space at Forty-One,” which he wrote less than two years before his own death in 2001.

A postcard to B.Michael from Denise in 1986, most likely during summer break.

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dear bert,

greetings from the southern hemisphere. aruba, 12 miles from venezuela, is a desert-like paradise. sun, sand and even blowing tropical breezes. i am trying to relax and clear my brain, but it isn’t easy. even here, there are plenty of people trying to lay a trip on a single Black woman. i trust all goes well. don’t you dare move to n.y. before i get back! call you when i get back.

love, denise

Prof. Denise Carty-Bennia

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What was it like for B.Michael, a Black Queer man, to attend law school in Boston in the early 1980s?

Here is a taste of at least what he experienced in the classroom with brilliant professors like Northeastern’s Denise Carty-Bennia, who taught Constitutional Law, a staple class for everyone in their “1L”, or first year of law school.

The excerpt, recorded some time during the 1981-82 academic year, captures roughly 1.25 hours of lecture (with a gap of five seconds at the 37:40 mark) when someone flipped the cassette tape to the B side. Was it B.Michael himself, or did someone make the recording for B.Michael because he was absent?

And if you were in the classroom that day with Carty-Bennia, please contact us here. Bonus points if you recall the date of the lecture!

This unlabeled tape was found in B.Michael’s archives. Many thanks to Lisa Evans-Chapman, B.Michael’s good friend and fellow 1L, for confirming Carty-Bennia’s voice and the material.