Black science fiction writer in 1950s New York whom Benjamin Sisko experiences in visions, and who dreams up the story of Deep Space Nine.
Benny Russell is a science fiction writer working for a magazine in 1950s New York City, a figure Benjamin Sisko experiences in a series of visions. Benny's colleagues and neighbours closely resemble the people of Deep Space Nine, and he is played, like Sisko, by Avery Brooks, who also directed the episode that introduced him.
In Far Beyond the Stars, Benny writes a story about a black captain commanding a space station far in the future. His editor refuses to publish it because of its black hero, and when the story is finally prepared for print, the publisher pulps the entire issue. After he is beaten by police and suffers a breakdown, he insists that the dream he created is real.
In Shadows and Symbols, Sisko again sees himself as Benny, now confined in a psychiatric hospital, where a doctor tries to persuade him to give up the story of Benjamin Sisko for good. Benny refuses and keeps writing.