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>>> Good evening.
I'm Jose Cardenas.
The loss of long-time Arizona
lawmaker, lawyer, and community
leader Ben Miranda.
We'll hear from people who knew
him.
>>> And an organization
transforming the lives of
disadvantaged and abandoned
children with homes,
educational and health care
programs is making a positive
impact in the Caribbean and
Latin America.
All of this coming up ahead on
"Horizonte."
Funding for "Horizonte" is made
possible by contributions by
the friends of eight, members
of your Arizona PBS station.
>>> Attorney, former Arizona
state lawmaker, and long time
Latino community leader Ben
Miranda passed away last week.
Miranda served in the Arizona
house from 2003-2010.
He served in the U.S. army in
Vietnam, earning a bronze star.
Miranda also contributed
hundreds of hours in support
of Cesar Chavez of the united
farm workers in the 1970s and
1980s.
He was married to state
representative Catherine
Miranda.
Miranda is survived by two
daughters, as well as his wife.
With me to talk about Ben
Miranda is Cesar Chavez, a
friend of the family.
Also here is Maricopa county
supervisor Mary rose Wilcox.
>> Thank you for joining us on
"Horizonte."
A very sad occasion.
>> Thank you for inviting us.
>> Mary rose, you knew Ben a
long time.
And, in fact, your husband,
Earl, grew up with him.
>> He did.
>> Talk a little about that.
And then I want to talk about
Ben's service.
>> Bennie and Earl were both
from the hood, as they called
it.
They grew up with large
families, very poor area, and
struggling all of the time.
Bennie was a person, like my
husband, who said we're going
to make it.
Went to school.
Went into the service.
Got the means to get his
education and worked real hard.
You always remember Bennie from
the neighborhood.
When Bennie came back from the
service, when I met him, I was
very young.
We were starting to work with
the Cesar Chavez movement.
Bennie was very loyal, I think
he went to Vietnam, Jose,
because when you grew up and
you grew up with a large
family, you grew up with
loyalty, duty to country.
>> We have a couple of pictures
of a young looking Ben Miranda
that we will put up on the
screen.
The since of loyalty, you think
was the reason why he was so
committed and why he served in
Vietnam.
We have a picture of him here.
He received a bronze star.
We have another picture of him
getting his bronze star, from
Barry goldwater, I say that
with no disrespect for senator
goldwater --
>> Goldwater helped start the
post -- a post important to
Bennie and the neighborhood.
I don't think it is odd.
The post really reveres
goldwater.
Bennie was tough.
He went to Vietnam.
I -- he got a bronze star.
He was very brave.
That is what he did his whole
life.
He worked very hard, very
loyal, and gave back to the
community as he gave to his
country.
>> And that commitment to the
military manifested itself for
the rest of his life.
Very active with veterans.
>> For his whole life.
The American legion post which
is in the heart of the
community and goldwater helped
to establish that.
Came back from World War II,
and could not join any other
post because of race and
because of, you know,
discrimination.
Barry goldwater leased them
land that they built their own
post.
Bennie was a member of that
when he came back from Vietnam.
I, you know, we're all
intimately involved with the
post.
In fact, recently, Bennie was
at the veterans parade on
veterans day and was at the
post celebrating with
everybody, the pride of the
Hispanic community and
veterans.
He and Earl had many talks.
Bennie was on the Maricopa
county school board, his last
post, and he was looking to do
veteran services at the post
with the school board
permission to include the --
Phoenix university was working
with he and Earl and their
dream was to have a veterans
service center there with
possibly veteran housing in the
grant park area.
Hopefully we can keep that
dream alive.
But Bennie was devoted.
>> I understand, one of many
services, remembrances that is
coming up, is something that
the post is planning.
>> The post is going to host a
luncheon after the funeral for
the family.
I think if you had it any place
else, it wouldn't be
appropriate.
Bennie was part and parcel the
post.
He was loyal to it.
They're loyal to him.
A lot of members benefited from
legal advice he would give
them, help he would give them.
Children probably benefited
from the scholarship programs
that he did.
Bennie was a big man with a big
heart.
I never know of an occasion
when somebody asked Bennie to
help that he didn't help.
He had annual Christmas parties
at his law office.
It wasn't just to have fun.
He would make you donate so
that there could be
scholarships for the kids.
>> You had a personal
familiarity with that in terms
of how you met Ben and tell us
about that.
>> Definitely.
I met Ben about 10 years ago, I
was actually a singer, the last
song I performed -- as soon as
I got off that stage, Ben has
his hand out.
He said that is my favorite
song because that was my dad's
favorite song.
My parents -- immigrated to the
United States to work here.
We were migrant working --
migrant farming family, and
that was very dear to my heart
because coming from Mexico,
immigrating at a very young
age, living in the projects as
well, and having this impactful
story that was very close in
connection to mine, I
automatically befriended Ben
for that reason.
And then afterwards, just
hearing his legacy, hearing
his -- his work, and his ethic
of helping others without
expecting anything in return.
That's really what Ben was all
about.
Like Mary said.
He was a big man with a big
heart.
He never turned anybody down.
>> Let's talk about some of the
work that he did.
Specifically with your -- Cesar
Chavez -- he comes back from
Vietnam, ASU undergrad, law
school, graduates with a deans
award, becomes a prominent,
successful lawyer but uses the
skills not only for his own
personal injury practice, but
for the benefit of the
community and specifically in
support of Cesar Chavez.
>> Definitely, he became very
close when he met Cesar Chavez
and bill -- they became very
close.
Ben in a recent interview
pretty much said anything that
happened here in Arizona pretty
much never happens without bill
being with Cesar Chavez and
them viewing his two mentors.
>> We have a picture of the
three of them together.
You only see Ben and bill kind
of on the sides.
We will put that picture up
right now.
>> Oh, that's great.
>> And as I understand it,
whenever Chavez was here, Ben
was with him.
>> Definitely.
I believe Cesar Chavez to Ben
was what Ben was to me.
Being able to firsthand witness
the change that an individual
can make because of his or her
beliefs.
And Ben became Cesar's
attorney, and, you know, just
being impacted by what a man's
humble thought would then make
a huge difference on a national
level.
Very, very impactful.
>> You were very involved in
all --
>> I was very involved and Ben
and bill -- first of all,
foremost for the working man.
And Ben helped a lot.
In fact, when -- going through
the trials in Yuma, Ben was
there and organized a lot of us
to support.
When -- Ben was the one who
arranged the plane to transport
his body home.
He, and I think you put him
very well.
That was his mentor.
Bill was very close to Ben and
one of his mentors and when
Chavez came in, Bennie just
gave unconditionally.
I remember many times he would
come, he would host him.
We would have Marches.
And Bennie would be there
organizing it for him.
But he just gave -- I'm sure he
never got -- he was very, very
good to bill and Chavez and I
think Chavez appreciated that.
I remember when Chavez died we
all went up to 40 acres for the
funeral.
Ben helped to organize buses to
take people -- so that they
could go.
I'm sure he finances some of
it, raised some money, and we
took about five bus loads up.
>> Now, at a certain point, Ben
decided that he wanted to be in
the legislature.
>> Yes.
>> Why?
We have a couple of pictures of
him in the campaigns that we
will put on the screen.
>> Bennie always felt strongly
for the community.
>> This is another picture of
him and another one coming up.
You know, he is a successful
lawyer.
He could have done very well
without -- he already paid his
dues, so to speak, to the
community --
>> I think he wanted to make
changes that were systemic
changes.
Because he was a lawyer, he
knew you could do that through
state statutes and state laws.
I think he always felt that
children got the short end of
the stick.
He wanted to make sure that
education issues were followed
in the legislature.
There was a position open in
the Roosevelt school board, and
Bennie came to me because the
county appointed and said I
would really like to do that.
Roosevelt school board, and
then ran for the Phoenix union
school board.
My sister-in-law is on the
school board and served with
him.
I called her today to ask her
what can I say about Bennie?
One of her quotes, Bennie
always called to rattle off
complaints with sincere
concern.
That's Bennie.
He always called.
He was always mad or angry
about something.
And he would tell you, this
isn't right.
You know it is not right, Mary
rose.
I know, Bennie, I know.
He would tell you what we
should do.
He would ask for your feedback
and you would give it to him.
I think he wanted to be
involved, whether at the state,
local, at the school board,
that was his mantra, I want to
be involved.
>> I read some of the blog
comments that have come out
since he passed.
One of the people who served
with him in the legislature,
described him as difficult to
work with but difficult for the
right reasons.
>> That's it.
He could scare some people.
He would start yelling.
And I knew why he was yelling.
And I never got scared, but
Bennie was pretty forceful.
But then he always did the
right thing.
And one of the things about
Bennie, and we talked about it
earlier, is that if Bennie felt
he had gone too far, he would
always apologize and say you
know I didn't mean it and give
you a hug.
But it is very a big concern
for me.
So Bennie was very, very
forceful.
There was also a real good side
for the community.
He was very involved with
boxing.
When Michael -- the silver
medal winner for the Olympics,
Bennie got involved with he and
his brother and helped them
negotiate Michael's career with
a big boxing aficionado and
helped a lot of young athletes,
young students coming up.
Bennie was always there.
>> Your time at the legislature
working for the representatives
that you work for, didn't
overlap with Ben's time there.
But you must have had a sense
for how he was regarded there.
My sense from reading
everything is that he was
considered kind of like the
soul of the legislature, the
conscience there.
>> Definitely.
You saw Ben walk into the house
of representatives, and he
would salute everybody.
He would say hi to the janitor,
to security, to freshmen
legislators to people that
served with him, the
assistants.
I mean, Ben was just filled
with joy.
And I think with that quote
that you just said, in which he
was difficult to work with but
for the right reasons, he
didn't base his thought on
whether it was a democratic
value or republican value.
He just did what was right,
what was right for -- for the
state of Arizona, so that was
why he was so respected in a
sense that he gave an opinion,
but an opinion that would take
our legislature a very long
way.
>> Uh-hmm.
>> And in the time that Ben
served, I mean, many, many
times when I was actually also
reading, he was very, very
controversial in a sense that
what he said people didn't want
to hear.
He always told it like it was.
People didn't want to hear it
because they knew it was the
truth.
But because they stuck to their
party, they always went -- he
always went down the middle and
said democrats, we need to do
this.
Republicans, you guys are doing
this wrong.
He was just never afraid to
speak.
>> His last big fight in the
legislature, 1070, and his
activities against that
legislation were not limited to
the legislature.
We have a picture of him and
his involvement in a massive
March of a few years ago, I
think 200,000 people.
And here is a picture of him on
the screen.
Tell us about his activities
there.
>> One of the largest movements
in the United States was
something that Ben headed and
that was because of his
passion.
He really did believe that
everybody that is in this
country should have a lawful
right to somehow be able to
stay in this country.
The working class that came to
this country because they pay
taxes, because they provide to
the economy of the United
States, should have the right
to be able to become a part of
this country.
And that's what he fought until
the end.
I saw a couple of interviews
that he did with other networks
and just the wait that he --
that he worded it.
You start to think, and it is
like, you know what?
If everybody thought like Ben
Miranda we would be in a better
place.
>> One of his other passions,
and you touched on it a little
bit, education.
He not only served on the
school boards.
His last position there, in
fact, the one he was holding
when he passed was the
community college district
Maricopa county community
college district.
We have a couple of pictures to
illustrate his commitment to
education.
Tell us more about that.
>> When Bennie was on the
Phoenix union high school
board, that is when dreamers
came into being and just their
whole life start changing.
People started realizing all of
these children here who were
brought at two, three years of
age, and Bennie did so much for
the dreamers through Phoenix
union high school.
When -- you know, legalize
dreamers, I know he paid a lot
of their fees so that they
could apply.
One little boy was saying,
Bennie, I don't have a laptop.
I can't even --
>> I don't mean to interrupt.
A picture of him reading to
school children.
>> I think that is the way he
met his wife, Katherine, she
was a kindergarten teacher and
he was reading to the class.
Bennie, Roosevelt school board,
Phoenix union school board, and
Maricopa county community
college.
When he told me he was going to
run for that, I said, good,
Bennie, you can link everything
together.
That is what it is about.
Making sure that our high
school kids, elementary, and
high school get into college.
I can't begin to tell you how
many people are going to miss
him.
Bennie had an open heart.
An open wallet.
He would fund so much and do it
very humbly, that people
wouldn't even know about it but
you now -- you will run into
people all over.
I bet people at the post will
be talking about it for years
how Bennie helped out.
Families will be affected.
Everybody is going to miss him
a lot.
But his devotion to his
community was tremendous.
He lived in the south side.
Very prideful of being a
Mexican American, very, very
prideful of it and that showed
in everything that he did.
And I think you're right,
Cesar, when he came in, he was
a presence.
He always had the jacket -- he
just always -- huge.
Hey, Bennie, how are you doing?
You knew there would be
excitement around there.
It was great.
>> He certainly will be missed.
Thank you both for joining us
to try to capture as best we
can in just a few short minutes
the life of a very important
figure in Arizona history and a
good man for our community.
Thank you so much for joining
us.
>> Thank you for having us.
>> Incoming senior class --
>> 41% Hispanic, and I'm proud
to say that six of those are
eligible to be national
Hispanic scholars.
Which is a tremendous
achievement.
In the past we have seen -- go
to Harvard, Williams college,
and MIT, for example.
Those students are heavily
recruited.
We have a lot of colleges and
universities come to our
relatively small campus to
recruit our students, one of
the reasons is because we have
a large number of
high-achieving Hispanic
students.
>> 1992 -- sue the state for
failing to properly educate her
daughter.
15 years later, FLORES versus
Arizona case still struggles to
find resolution in the courts.
Her daughter is in college now
at the U of A.
>> When Miriam's daughter first
entered school, she remembers
everything being just fine.
Her daughter's first language
was Spanish and the school was
offering classes that cater
to --
>> If you graph the arrival
pattern of every other major
immigrant wave of the last 150
years, a run off, a spike --
whether it is Germans, Irish,
Italians, eastern European
Jews, they all had a run up,
peak, SUBSIDENCE --
>>> NPH USA is dedicated to
improving the lives of
abandoned and orphaned children
by supporting the Nuestros
Pequenos Hermanos homes in
Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Joining me to talk about the
NPH USA is James Hoyt,
southwest regional director
for NPH USA.
Deacon Hoyt, thank you for
joining us on "Horizonte."
Pleasure to have you here, sir.
Tell us about the history of
the organization.
>> The organization started
around 60 years ago from -- it
was founded by an Arizona
native.
William WASSON, who went to
St. Mary's grade school and
high school.
Had a great desire to become a
priest.
Ended up completing his degree
at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, in
legal studies and was teaching
law at the American university
of Mexico city.
He had a strong desire to
become a priest.
One of the monks told him to
meet with a bishop,
southwestern Mexico city to
talk about his vocation.
The bishop accepted him in.
In 1953, William WASSON -- he
was assigned to a very, very
poor market parish in the
center of corner VAKA.
In 1964, someone stole the --
set up a trap hoping that the
thief would come again.
A couple of days later, the
thief came later -- dragged the
thief down to jail and called
for father WASSON to press
charges.
He found a 14-year-old boy
named Carlos behind bars.
He asked Carlos why did you
steal the money?
He said he was hungry.
He said why don't you go home
and eat?
My father is deceased, my
mother's boyfriend beats me and
I live on the streets.
Needed someone to care for him
and mentor him.
Carlos returned to the rectory.
The police would send him eight
more boys --
>> That is how it all began.
>> Right.
>> We have heard for years
about father wasson and his
activities.
Was he in Senora for awhile and
that was where --
>> He started -- after they
outgrew the rectory and went
into an abandoned brewery, and
then closer to Mexico city --
>> How did what he started
morph into NPH?
>> There was no strategic plan.
Soon after the family grew to
over 1,000 children in Mexico.
>> Not just in Mexico, all over
Latin America, central
America --
>> Expanded to --
>> And how many kids are we
talking about total?
>> We care for over 3,400
children that are residents in
our homes in addition to that,
in addition to the homeless for
orphan and abandoned and
disadvantaged children, we have
outreach programs.
Our largest ones in Haiti.
With a pediatric hospital,
surgical hospital, two adult
hospitals, 28 street schools --
>> Let's talk about what
NPH-USA does to support the
efforts.
>> We were founded by father
wasson's mom and dad, his
brother, Bernie, and first
cousin George.
In response as more and more
children in need were coming to
father wasson's home.
Financial resources were needed
to be able to support that.
And father wasson believed that
it was only through a quality
education that would help his
children break the cycle of
poverty into which they were
born.
Education was costly, and
NPH-USA started over 50 years
ago starting to meet the
financial needs --
>> Raising moneys to help with
the educational efforts.
We have a web site on the
screen.
Before that we had the phone
number.
That is where people can
contact the organization to
donate money.
>> Yes.
>> And the variety of programs.
I went on the web site.
Very interesting.
The variety of programs that
you fund is phenomenal in terms
of what you do with these kids.
>> Right.
The main thing is that the
children come with their
brothers and sisters, siblings,
to live inside of a larger
family unit.
And father wanted to keep the
families together.
In 60 years, none of the
children have been adopted out.
One of the things that is hard
to understand, you know, people
question why don't we adopt the
children out?
We care for the children --
these children cannot be
adopted out to Mexican families
nor internationally.
And so that was the main focus
area that father wasson was
helping.
>> We have had some wonderful
pictures on the screen of the
kids you are helping.
Great effort, great
organization, and hopefully
people will take it to heart
and help the organization.
Thank you for joining us.
>> Thank you very much.
>>> That's our show for
tonight.
For all of us here at
"Horizonte," I'm Jose Cardenas,
have a good evening.
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>> She said I'm breaking up
with him tonight.
>> 911 call from an off-duty
officer.
>> Was it a suicide?
>> I saw him be rough with her
in my house.
>> Or homicide.
>> Not sufficient evidence that
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>> How police handle a case
with one of their own.
>> He was never treated like a
suspect.
He was treated like a brother.
>> Tuesday night at 9:00 on
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