Dr. Ben in Harlem Hospital

[nattyreb]

Dr. Yosef A. Ben Jochannan
c/o Harlem Hospital Center
506 Lenox Avenue, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10037-1894
(212) 939-5187
telephone calls and visiting hours from 2pm -- 8pm.

Call him, Speak with him, Visit him

Visit unlock the key at: unlock the key - FREEDOM OR DEATH

[freedom4me]

I read somewhere on this forum, about a year ago, that Dr. Ben was in the hospital and that he was released. has he been hospitalized again? It's sad to me that he's not doing well. I was watching a lecture of him the other day. thanks for the update
peace

[Walk Wit Me]

I'm wishing him a speedy recovery, but if that's not possible then I wish him a peaceful and painless exit.

We've all learned a lot from his knowledge and wisdom.

PEACE

[freedom4me]

greetings all

I received this email I suppose because I'm on somebody's list and I wanted to share it. you'll see at the end the author is runoko rashidi.

peace

12 December 2008

Greetings Family,

I just got off the phone with Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan- -the great African historian. You know that he has been in Harlem Hospital. Anyway, I have been reluctant to call him. The few times that I have been in the hospital the last thing that I wanted to do was talk on the telephone. But everybody is different and he seemed eager to talk. Indeed, he sounded stronger than I expected and seems anxious to go home. He got even more excited when I told him that I had recently returned from Papua New Guinea. Doc Ben was the first and one of the few African scholars to visit PNG and in a series of books entitled We All Look Alike! he told the world about it.

Doc Ben's primary thrust has been illuminating the African origins of Nile Valley civilizations and major western religions. He is a true pioneer in many ways and we owe him a tremendous amount. Along with J.A. Rogers, Carter G. Woodson, and perhaps John Henrik Clarke I think that Doc Ben has done more than any other historian during the last century to make African history popular to African-Americans.

Anyway, Doc Ben is hanging in there and hopes to be going home soon. I told him that on my next trip to New York I would come to visit him. God willing, he will enjoy his ninetieth earth day on the 31st of this month.

Just wanted to share!

In love of Africa,

Runoko Rashidi

[Walk Wit Me]

Originally Posted by freedom4me

greetings all

I received this email I suppose because I'm on somebody's list and I wanted to share it. you'll see at the end the author is runoko rashidi.

peace

90...wow

god bless and props to rashidi

[shakim1969]

I hope a Dr. Ben a speedy recovery.

[nattyreb]

i'm so glad you did, Sista, i saw this also and was astounded because the last time i saw him on TV he looked very poorly with Dr. Jeffries holding tightly onto him and wiping his chin while he struggled to speak. This is quite a breakthrough versus that image i had of him, remarkable! Thank you again!

Originally Posted by freedom4me

greetings all

I received this email I suppose because I'm on somebody's list and I wanted to share it. you'll see at the end the author is runoko rashidi.

peace

[freedom4me]

i'm so glad you did, Sista, i saw this also and was astounded because the last time i saw him on TV he looked very poorly with Dr. Jeffries holding tightly onto him and wiping his chin while he struggled to speak. This is quite a breakthrough versus that image i had of him, remarkable!

you're welcome nattyreb. when I saw a post maybe a year ago that Dr. Ben had been hospitalized I just assumed he stopped lecturing. I didn't know that he still had speaking engagements and I'm sure I would have been very upset if I had seen him in the condition you described. even if it was a dvd lecture.

peace

[Fenix]

Sending love and positive vibes to our strong scholar.

[BlkSpartacus]

Wish him the best in this situation. Dr Ben is truly a living legend

[freedom4me]

greetings all

I got this email the other day and wanted to share it. it's from runoko rashidi.

peace

31 December 2008

Greetings Family,

How goes it? Today is the birthday of Dr. Ben. That is what we call Yosef Alfredo Antonio ben-Jochannan. He was born on 31 December in either 1917 or 1918. I have been given both dates and I am inclined to the latter. That would make him ninety today.

I first became familiar with his work I think in the late 1970s through his book Black Man of the Nile. He was already a legend. I first saw him speak I believe around 1980 and began to travel to Egypt with him in either 1991 or 1992. That was my first trip to Africa and I went as an assistant to Dr. Ben.

Altogether I visited Egypt four times with him, the last time being in 1997. Three of those tours I was a group leader for him and and once an assistant group leader. That meant that I was able to spend really quality time with him. On each of these tours I was able to show off by giving a lecture. These were my first lectures in Africa. So, after a kind of rocky beginning, we developed a very good relationship and some of my most treasured memories in Africa are with this almost larger than life figure.

I can't count the lectures and conferences where I saw Dr. Ben and the times that we had lunch or dinner and just hung out and palled around. I always thought that it was an honor to be in his company. He was most always a real fountain of knowledge and a great inspiration. And all of these many interactions, whether they've been on tours, at conferences, at lectures, and in private sessions in Africa and the United States, have allowed me to see the human side of the man, and that includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. I hold him in the highest regard and believe that he stands along with J.A. Rogers and Carter G. Woodson in the popularization of African history and especially Nile Valley history.

Today Dr. Ben is in a nursing home in the Bronx, New York. I hope that the situation is temporary. An esteemed Elder and long time friend of Dr. Ben is about to give me an exact report on the situation within a couple of days and then we can act on it.

If you want to know more about Dr. Ben you can just put his name in an Internet search engine and a lot of things will come up. Better yet, buy one of his books. He has quite a few, the best of which are published by Paul Coates at Black Classic Press based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Ben has been a real treasure to me and to a lot of us; I mean a real legend, and I wish him many, many more earth days. Below is a recollection of one my of trips to Egypt with him and a brief note that he gave me after reviewing an essay that I dedicated to him. All of it brings back a lot of memories.

In love of Africa,

Runoko Rashidi Okello
http://www.cwo. com/~lucumi/ runoko.html
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= =======

THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY

T R A V E L N O T E S

IN EGYPT WITH YOSEF A.A. BEN-JOCHANNAN
ICON OF AFRICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

By RUNOKO RASHIDI

"This is but a mere feeble effort in saying: Without you, African/Black mother, there would have been no us--African/ Black fathers, sons and daughters. Do we need to say any more African/Black mothers, our own true goddesses! Let us praise you to the highest, telling the world about your righteousness. Let us tell the entire universe about your sacredness African/Black woman.

--Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan

Every African should try to visit Egypt at least once during their lifetime. It is a pilgrimage to our sacred motherland-- the cradle of civilization- -and one is never the same after wards. Although there are now numerous study tours to Egypt, undoubtedly the most celebrated are those of Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan. Dr. Ben's tours include the massive rock-hewn temples of King Ramses II and Queen Nefertari at Abu Simbel, the temple of goddess Isis at Philae Island, the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the west bank mortuary temples of Makare Hatshepsut, Ramses II and Ramses III at Luxor, the east bank worship temples of Luxor and Karnak, the temple of goddess Hathor at Dendera, the Sphinx and the massive pyramids on the Giza Plateau, the Step pyramid designed by the multi-genius Imhotep at Sakkara, and the Egyptian Museum at Cairo.

Regarding these sites, the reader should know that Usemare Ramses II (popularly known as "Ramses the Great") ruled Egypt more than six decades and emerged as one of history's most colossal builders. Nefertari, his chief queen, helped Ramses govern and was revered throughout ancient Egypt. Isis was one of Egypt's greatest deities, and along with her husband Osiris and son Horus, formed one of antiquities' great triads. The Valley of the Kings entombed the bodies of some of pharaonic Egypt's most significant rulers. Makare Hatshepsut was a great female monarch who governed effectively for twenty years. Ramses III fought off two foreign invasions of Egypt and sat on the throne for thirty-one years. Karnak temple is the world's largest religious sanctuary. Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of love, beauty and sensuality. The enormous pyramids on the Giza plateau have been called "miracles in stone," while the Step Pyramid at Sakkara has the distinction
of being the world's first large stone monument. The Cairo Museum is crammed full of the representations, physical remains, personal possessions and writings of the pharaohs, queens, officials and ordinary people the ancient Nile Valley.

Dr. Ben's tours, like the man himself, stand out quite singularly. Born December 31, 1918 in Gondar, Ethiopia, Dr. Yosef Alfredo Antonio ben-Jochannan ("Dr. Ben," as he is affectionately known) has devoted the better part of his life to the illumination of the indigenous origins of African civilizations. By profession, he is a trained lawyer, engineer, historian and Egyptologist. Ben-Jochannan went to Egypt for the first time in 1939, and moved to Harlem, New York in 1945. Dr. Ben knew Malcolm X personally, and was a student and colleague of George G.M. James. He was exceptionally close to the late Dr. John Henrik Clarke. Since 1957, he has coordinated regular study tours and pilgrimages to the Nile Valley, directly exposing thousands of African people to the still visible splendors of ancient Egypt. Formerly adjunct professor at Cornell University's Africana Studies Department, Dr. ben-Jochannan has also been a professor-at- large at Al Azar
University in Cairo.

While now advanced in years, Dr. Ben continues to wield tremendous influence on African studies. He is indeed one of the most unrelenting twentieth century advocates of the African origins of Nile Valley civilizations and the African origins of Western religions. By his own account, he has prepared seventy-five manuscripts for publication, and was working on another during his 1997 tour. He is the author of more than twenty books, including African Origins of the Major Western Religions in 1970, Africa: Mother of Western Civilization in 1971, Black Man of the Nile and His Family in 1972, A Chronology of the Bible: A Challenge to the Standard Version in 1973, The African Called Rameses ("The Great") II, and the African Origin of Western Civilization in 1990. Several of his works have gone through a number of reprints and different editions, and although controversial, all of them are well-documented. As pointed out by Dr. Leonard Jeffries:

"Ben-Jochannan' s extensive publications contain voluminous reference materials and sources to stimulate students and scholars to pursue more systematic and scientific research. He also includes very revealing photos, illustrations and charts that help the ordinary layman grasp the significance of the work."

Dr. ben-Jochannan remains uncompromising in his views, a lively public speaker and a prolific writer, and has probably done more to popularize African history than any living scholar. Dr. Ben has brought history to life for the masses of African people. This is perhaps his greatest legacy and gift.

============ ========= ========= ========= =========

[nattyreb]

Still thirsting for knowledge after 91 years!!


Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2009 2:11 PM
Subject: Dr. Ben/ from A Johnson

Happy Imani Day and may we find community from this day and onward. May we remember our elders who opened our mind's eye to the truths that were withheld.

Agnes Johnson aajsyr@yahoo.com

fyi please do pass on:
Dr. Ben is in Room 301 at
BAY PARK CENTER FOR NURSING AND REHABILITATION, LLC.
AKA Hebrew Nursing Home
801 CO-OP CITY BLVD. BRONX, NY 10475
718 239 6444

His birthday was yesterday and he is 91 years young.
He needs visits, He requests his books
He requests conversation
He requests to go to 125 Street in Harlem

visiting hours are from 11am to 8pm
Take 5 train to last stop (Dyer and Light)
Take a cab or walk a long block under the train trestle to Boston Road.
Cross the street to bus stop in front of mini mall.
Take the BX 30. Bus will take you to Drieser Loop and the hospital is across the street on the left

[freedom4me]

greetings all

I received this e-mail and I wanted to pass it along. Runoko Rashidi is the author of this leter.

peace
Freedom 4 me

3 February 2009

Greetings Family,

How are you? Things are okay on this end. I just spent five full days in and around New York City. I gave lectures in Harlem, Newark, Brooklyn, and White Plains. All of them went well. I also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Schomburg Library. I took some excellent photos that I hope to share with you over the months to come. And, on Sunday afternoon, I went to the borough of the Bronx, New York and visited Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan.

The status of Dr. Ben has been a source of great controversy over the past few months and, for many, a source of tremendous anguish. Previously, I had talked to him over the telephone. I also had multiple conversations with a number of concerned people about Dr. Ben. This was combined with long discussions with distinguished Elder and long time Harlem resident Queen Mother Kefa Nepthys and our brother, historian and Egyptologist, Ashra Kwesi. I also got a long phone message from brother Jarvis Butler. All of these folks have been very close to Dr. Ben for a lot of years. They are not new to the scene and I respect their viewpoints. I hope to soon have detailed talks with Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Professor Tony Browder. And, to cap it off, last night I had a long conversation with Dr. Ben's oldest daughter and primary caregiver--sister Ruth Ben-Jochannan. We have all promised to carefully monitor the situation and to keep each other
well-informed. In other words, I wanted to do my homework and edit my research before putting out information that no matter how well
intended might only serve to make matters worse.

As you know, Dr. Ben is in a nursing home in the Bronx, New York. He has been there for about a month now. He is much smaller than I am used to seeing him but I did not see any signs of physical abuse and neglect. While I was with him he seemed lucid and alert. He receives many visitors. Indeed, he receives so many visitors that I can see how it might be disruptive to the care provided to the other patients.

In spite of some the reports that I have seen he has plenty of clothes or, at least, all of the clothes that he could possibly need in a nursing home! Upon his request I actually looked in the drawers and closets in his room to examine his apparel and to see things for myself. He seemed quite clean and, while I was there, he was served a hot lunch that even made me hungry. He seemed to have a healthy appetite and had a small basket of fruit on a nearby table. Someone called me the next morning and told me that he had brought Dr. Ben even more food, including some of Dr. Ben's favorites. Let's just hope that they did not bring him any pork!

Make no mistake about it, Dr. Ben does not want to be in a nursing home. Who would? And I was told several times by his daughter that the family is doing everything possible to get him better situated and as soon as possible. The family hopes to have him out of the nursing home within a few weeks and right after the height of New York's bitter winter. I also want to note, and this is perhaps a bit personal, that the family is operating with very limited resources. They are not rich people.

And so I am asking everyone to take all of this into consideration as we report on the status of this great man. I repeat, Dr. Ben does not want to be in the nursing home. He makes this quite clear. And we don't want him in the nursing home. We should be clear on this also. But sometimes what we want and what we need and what we can afford does not equate.

Dr. Ben's family is under great pressure. They are receiving threats to their physical well-being and are even afraid now of walking on the street for fear of coming under assault from irresponsible and misinformed people. Is this what we want? I don't think so. For his family, Dr. Ben is not only a treasured icon but a father and a grandfather. Rather than castigate the family we must support them. I am asking that we not make a bad situation worse.

As we have seen with our own parents, getting old can be tough. At this point Dr. Ben cannot take care of himself and is in need of constant attention. I am simply asking that we continue to show our love and affection for Dr. Ben, but, that we also show our love and respect for the family and put ourselves in their place--a place that is becoming increasingly uneasy.

So that is my report for today. I will issue others, and I know that you will also, in due time and as further information becomes available.

In love of all things African,

Runoko Rashidi Okello

.

[Empress Yetzion]

Originally Posted by freedom4me

greetings all

I received this e-mail and I wanted to pass it along. Runoko Rashidi is the author of this leter.

peace
Freedom 4 me

Thank you sis, i'm glad to hear he is doing well so far...if his situation changes please let us know as we will be sending as much assistance as we can ...the current economy is very difficult and adequate care is not cheap. I send light and strength to the family for Indurance

One Love

[freedom4me]

Thank you sis, i'm glad to hear he is doing well so far...if his situation changes please let us know

whenever information comes my way I'll post it, Empress

peace