Photograph by Kaptured by Katara, Sebring, Fla.
Bobbie Bean began building his American Dream at an early age. But like many Americans, he has watched it crumble over the years as the United States has fallen into “disrepair” from lax regulation, lack of accountability, and endemic corruption. Disillusioned by the fact that food stamps and pink slips have become the norm, Mr. Bean decided to step forward as a candidate for the US Senate because he believes he has the ability and drive to help restore the Dream for future generations. He is a staunch advocate for government built on individual rights as outlined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. He also believes that the average, working American is not fairly represented in Washington, D. C. – some 44 percent of our congressional representatives are millionaires, according to a recent study done by the Center for Responsive Politics.
At the age of six, young Bobbie moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., from Oakland, Calif. His grandfather was a Frenchman who immigrated to America in about 1890 and became a coal miner, US Marshall, and trucker; his grandmother was German. Bobbie’s father and mother were printers. His mother was Native American, and Bobbie grew up down the road from the Hollywood Headquarters of the Seminole Tribe, where he learned from the elders about the importance of caring for the earth for future generations.
He received a marginal education from the Florida public schools, which failed to appropriately address his reading and writing challenges – a subject he frequently discusses in his efforts to revamp public education. He is particularly concerned about Florida’s performance – the state ranked 47th in graduation rates, according to a June Education Week report. Consequently, he has been proactive on many fronts to improve public schools. Because of his difficulty with reading and writing, he bypassed college and attended a vocational school, where he ended up teaching other students about the printing trade. Many years later with the help of a tutor, he taught himself to read and write.
Bobbie started weightlifting in 1968 and at age 17, won the state record for benchpressing in high school. He then won the 1985 Florida State Championships (over-all winner for the Governor’s Cup). In 1998, he won first place in the AAU Drug-free Powerlifting Championships at Disney’s Wide World of Sports arena, and was ranked among the Top-40, Drug-free lifters in the world.
He married Marilyn Hiricik in 1985, who moved to Florida from Bronx, N.Y., when she was a child, and attended both public and private schools in Florida followed by Davie Community College in Ft. Lauderdale. The Beans moved to Sebring, Fla., in 1995 to build a house and raise their four boys on a 20-acre parcel of land. Their home was built with their own hands, having mined the stone for their floors from a local quarry. Bobbie opened a printing business that serviced the community and became a melon farmer. They raised cattle and homeschooled their children for a period of time.
Their Dream began to crumble on Sept. 3, 2002, when their eldest child was beaten three times over a nearly three-hour period on the bus and school district property. He was flight-lifted to a hospital due to a severe sucker punch to the head. The perpetrator, who was known as a bully within the community, was temporarily removed from school and eventually promoted to head of the wrestling team. Meanwhile, it took several years for their son to recover from the assault; he was unable to return to the public school system.
When Mr. Bean raised questions about the bullying incident to school district officials, law enforcement, and state agencies, efforts were made to intimidate him into silence, he says (see the Bobbie Bean Story on this site). The experience launched him into the political arena, where he joined a coalition of concerned parents and legislators to lobby for safer schools. Mr. Bean has worked to educate the public on bullying and safe schools for 5 years, and he was strongly involved in efforts to get the Jeffrey Johnson Stand Up for All Students Act passed, which was enacted by the Florida legislature in 2008 to provide safe school guidelines for every district in the state.