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Officer Stanford
Dr. Kwesi Bennu is a guest speaker in Imani Dawson’s poetry class, a former inmate who was wrongfully incarcerated for six years for allegedly robbing a grocery store as a teenager. Dressed in a dashiki and chained medallion, he commands the room with his presence. He speaks to the boys about the importance of brotherhood, emphasizing that when one person falls, they all fall—and when one succeeds, they all rise. He insists it is their job to help one another be better and leads them through exercises that force them to confront their pain, forgive themselves, and understand their place in a system designed to oppress them. He also teaches them the deeper implications of the Thirteenth Amendment and how slavery has evolved into the present-day through mass incarceration. To Amal, Dr. Bennu is both a mirror and a mentor. He represents what Amal could become—not just as an artist, but as a force for truth. Amal paints him into his mural at the end of the novel, an attempt to honor and immortalize the impact he’s had.
Dr. Bennu Quotes in Punching the Air
The Punching the Air quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Bennu or refer to Dr. Bennu. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Pages 232-286 Quotes
But you gotta understand
when one of you fall
everybody falls
or takes the fall
You know what I’m saying?
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Dr. Bennu Character Timeline in Punching the Air
The timeline below shows where the character Dr. Bennu appears in Punching the Air. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 232-286
...seen before walks in, wearing a dashiki and a shiny medallion. Imani introduces him as Dr. Kwesi Bennu . Dr. Bennu also spent years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He...
(full context)
African American II. Imani and Dr. Bennu teach the boys about the Thirteenth Amendment, reaffirming what Amal has already known: in prison,...
(full context)
Butterflies. Dr. Bennu asks the boys to write down one mistake from their lives on a slip of...
(full context)
Pages 287-342
DNA II. Dr. Bennu leads the boys through an exercise, instructing them to stand in a circle and link...
(full context)
Conversations with God IX. Dr. Bennu and Imani don’t come to the facility every day. On the days they’re not there,...
(full context)
...Buford, Amal asks what happened to Kadon, but Cheryl-Ann avoids the question. Amal says that Dr. Bennu actually taught him something in this place—he taught Amal how to think differently, whereas Cheryl-Ann...
(full context)
Brotherhood VI. Imani leads the class through the same exercise Dr. Bennu once taught them, but this time, instead of writing down a mistake, she asks them...
(full context)
Pages 343-386
...project. As he preps the wall alone, before the others arrive, Amal draws everyone—himself, Imani, Dr. Bennu , the Four Corners—with wings. His favorite painting is Guernica, and he considers this mural...
(full context)
