Kingston teen and Lawrence educator win 2026 Human & Civil Rights Awards
A Kingston teen who founded an organization that funds education and community projects in Ethiopia and a greater Lawrence educator and community organizer who is active on many fronts in the fight for equitable access to public education are the 2026 recipients of the Human and Civil Rights Awards given annually by the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
Bendeshe Bonner received the Kathleen Roberts Creative Leadership Award and Marianela Rivera accepted the Louise Gaskins Lifetime Civil Rights Award in a July 27 ceremony at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Former U.S. Representative Jamaal Bowman, a longtime public education advocate, was the keynote speaker at the event, organized by MTA members belonging to the union’s Human Relations Committee.
The awards are named after two longtime MTA leaders who championed the fair and just treatment of all, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.
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