Del Hayes Press

For All The Wrong Reasons

For All The Wrong Reasons

For All The Wrong Reasons is the moving story of the life of a Latino man struggling to make it in a white man's world. With humor and candor, Dan Benavidez takes the reader on a journey rich in Mexican culture and fraught with discrimination and hardship, to become a mover and shaker in a predominately white man's world.

This is a book for everyone! I was so moved not only by Dan's life story but by his equally inspiring candidness and exceptional insights about racism. That, coupled with his great humor and the easy flow of his writing style, had me read it in one sitting wishing it would never end. I will now use the book in my work with youth in prisons, many that have undergone some of the same experiences and who will be inspired to see how someone overcame those odds

We can only imagine how it felt to be faced with the racial prejudice experienced by author Dan Benevidez all his life, but his writing in For All The Wrong Reasons tells it in plain English with a fresh and inspiring style. Readers can sit back and admire Dan’s courage and writing ability for putting his thoughts, and feelings in writing. The book is richly flavored by fabulous examples of brotherly love despite continuing maltreatment by those with inferior motives. Benevidez’s "Ghandi moments" really impressed me as similar to the struggle by Jackie Robinson breaking into major league baseball.

Readers must set aside any stereotype of the Latino man. In honest, frank and revealing stories Dan Benevidez creates a new model for men as he displays his vulnerabilities for criticism. There are page after page of weaknesses, strengths, and just plain "Here I am" paragraphs asking for it. It is strength to admit weaknesses and to strive to be a better man. The author is there in spades.

I read this book because I was looking for a story about police brutality from the Latino perspective, and Dan Benavidez led a peaceful protest after a police shooting of two unarmed Latino men in 1980 in Longmont, CO. I got way more than I bargained for. I learned about prejudice in my own community that I didn't know about. I also learned about courage and honesty and love. This is a quick but very compelling read, tough but well worth it. Highly recommended for anyone working with Latino youth or wanting to know about a real, human story of racial prejudice in America beyond the stories in the news. Be prepared, though, to examine your own life. This book does not hold its punches. I hope the author writes another book about his mother's life. What an amazing woman.