Benjamin has two daughters and has been married twice. Her daughter, Arlen Benjamin-Gomez, from her first marriage in Cuba and daughter, Maya Mandela Benjamin-Danaher, from her 1985 marriage with activist Kevin Danaher. Her daughter Arlen is named after Sandinista revolutionary Arlen Siu, with her daughter once writing "I grew up believing that protest lines and teach-ins were normal family outings ... I was born in Cuba to an Afro-Cuban father and Jewish-American mother, and the fact that I was named for the first woman to die fighting for the Nicaraguan [Sandinista] Revolution gives you an idea of my politically oriented upbringing".