WTF is he doing making this VIDEO, gratifying his ego???
And all this begs the QUESTION: WTF??? Why is Dr. Ben in some old people's home??? Doesn't he have FAMILY or FRIENDS???
Posts: 1819 | From: odesco baba | Registered: Feb 2005
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Hey i know some of you guys out there have the ways and means,lets help the elder if we can.
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
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I believe the guy is legit. I have seen a number of his videos online. I guess this is how he is walking the walk. I respect him for that, although i am unsure what use money would have in a Nursing Home. I will see if i can visit him, i didn't know he was in a home. But he looks like he is in pretty bad shape.
edit - ALSO i believe guy visiting Dr. Ben is from Detroit so he has come long ways to visit. Very respectful.
Posts: 2463 | From: New Jersey USA | Registered: Dec 2007
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This guy opens the letter and takes money out to prove he's legitimate. This guy is the only one talking; no introduction to the cast that's supposed to be supporting the doctor; no reference to anything other than the nursing home address and the appeal to money, cash, which, by the way, will be used by the Dr. as he sees fit; nothing, other than an occasional faint laughter in the background when this guy can't find his wallet. What about the monthly charge at the nursing home. Couldn't this guy at least have said the nursing home stay is supported by ''your'' donations.
In addition to the cash why not send your Visa card number too.
Posts: 2118 | From: midwest, USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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There's a bad smell about this thing. Something's not right. You would think someone like Dr. Ben would have organised a nice little self-sustaining situation somewhere out in Africa for his old age. A nice and cosy place by the river in an African village or something with everything he needs to survive around him. Our elders should never been seen in this type of condition, especially those who have laboured so much for us.
Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
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^ I feel you but I think the main thing wrong is the fact that he is in a nursing home to begin with. Did he have any children? The fact that he IS old and frail who will take care of him? Depending on the circumstances this could be the lesser of all evils that he is in a nursing home. But I dont know, I have seen that guys videos and learned to deal with his "Voice" because he was speaking the truth. If you see in the background he does in fact have postcards, letters, flowers on the wall. And if this guy was in fact from Detroit (Saw a video of him a while ago speaking to the Detroit City council or something) then obviously DR. BEN has NO ONE to take care of his affairs as I guy is coming from the Midwest to the East coast just to 'open up some of his mail. As I searched I came to a site that said his son was murdered in Harlem in 05.
Other info I have found: He is 91.
A quote from 2006 message board - "I did hear at Juneteenth Celebration, this past Monday, that he'd recently suffered a stroke and that his wife is also sick...and that no one is caring for them in Brooklyn."
From January 2009 "DR. YOSEF BEN-JOCHANNAN is reported as being in a nursing home and is not receiving good care. Leave alone the nursing home does not know his status as a historian. [/B] He and his wife have been separated into 2 separate nursing homes with no communication."
also
"after discussions with Dr. Ben's biological family, Len and Rosalind Jeffries, Gil Noble and Randy Weston, among others, has basically advised me as follows:
Dr. Ben is fine, or about as fine as a ninety-one year Black man in America can be expected to be. As you know, he is in a nursing home in the Bronx. Naturally, he is not happy to be there. But until sound arrangements can be made to have someone reliable look after him he will probably remain where he is located. I repeat, Dr. Ben is physically sound. That is the most important thing. And a Council of Elders, in conjunction with Dr. Ben's family, is trying to figure out the best next step.
So I have been asked to advise people to remain concerned but patient. And, of course, money is going to be needed in the not too distant future. There is also a desire to do something for Dr. Ben's wife Gertrude. But, for now, I repeat--the word is to remain concerned and patient at the same time."
WTF is he doing making this VIDEO, gratifying his ego???
And all this begs the QUESTION: WTF??? Why is Dr. Ben in some old people's home??? Doesn't he have FAMILY or FRIENDS???
Manerless? He is paying respect to the man that has given him the thrust for self-knowledge by way of Kemet. I agree it's a bit crude and I would like to hear some words from Dr. Ben himself.
All in all, just heed to main point of the video and lend support/pay homage if you can. Doesn't have to be money.
Posts: 100 | Registered: Jan 2009
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I think it was mannerless the way he used Dr. Ben to attack some "noble drew Ali" person he was talking about.
He could have approached the making of his video with a bit more finesse. With a little bit more thought and respect for the elder.
Posts: 1819 | From: odesco baba | Registered: Feb 2005
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You hoppers don't know what the hell you talking bout.
Obviously the man has suffered a stroke, so he can't talk too well. Nursing homes cost a lot of money, not to mention the rehabilitation stroke victims require to recover from a bad stroke is significant.
You can't preform this rehabilitation at home without much more money then Dr. Ben seems to have at his disposal. A good professional nursing home is the best place for him. Unfortunately, too many nursing homes are greedy businesses that charge an arm and a leg while giving terrible service. Some of them are even physically abusive to these helpless elderly patients. But, there are good homes also.
It probably takes all of Dr. Ben's health insurance and Medicare to pay only part of the bill. Multiply that with his wife's nursing home bills, and a family who worked all their lives with a middle class income can be financially devastated in 6 months.
I'm waiting to see which of you whining about the quality of this brother's efforts is going to step up, travel to New York and do your own more polished version of the call for help.
Stop whining and break off a piece and send it to Dr. Ben, else STFU and stay quiet.
Posts: 3595 | From: Moved To Mars. Waiting with shotgun | Registered: Dec 2006
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Meninarmer the issue to me is the guy's presentation, not Dr. Ben in the nursing home. I don't have any problem whatsoever donating a few dollars but not through this guy's unprofessional presentation. Okay, professional means more resources and money which isn't available. But surely this guy could have come up with something so that more people can see the 'validity' of the appeal to money. Did he go to the newspaper and ask for help in seeing to it that more people can see the appeal for the Dr.; did he aggressively seek political people even on a local community scale to set in motion something other than a guy appearing on video with the Dr.?
And until I can see evidence to satisfy me, something I can recognize, other than what I saw on the screen, I won't donate one cent. Now if you think I'm setting the bar too high then I don't know what to tell you because from what I've seen the bar is too low, however legitimate in appearance it may be to some. I'll simply keep my $50 dollars in my pocket. And now that I've mentioned $50 dollars that's my word.
Posts: 2118 | From: midwest, USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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^ Regardless of the quality of presentation, the guy gave his time & effort and succeeded in advancing the following information;
1) Dr. Ben is sick 2) Dr. Ben is in need 3) Dr. Ben is in a nursing & Rehab center 4) There is one (1) possible way in giving funds in support of his financial need.
That he is no quality film producer and not the most articulate guy around is apparent. As they say, it is not always the content of the gift, but the effort that counts. IMHO, he did successfully convey the above 4 points.
Viewers have the option of
1) Giving thru his contact info. 2) Motivated to researching & discovering other possible routes of providing support 3) Developing other more polished support presentations 4) Do nothing 5) Do nothing, criticize & whine
Posts: 3595 | From: Moved To Mars. Waiting with shotgun | Registered: Dec 2006
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I'm not asking that he be a quality film producer in the sense you seem to be saying; I'm sure that takes resources; it doesn't matter that he isn't polished, I listen to content. What does matter is he should see to it to give his viewers more consideration than he is doing on the video.
I stopped my reply above.
I just now called the number he had on the screen and his voice says something to the effect about if you are inquiring about an order; then he has an answering service. I called two more times and finally got an answer. The man on the phone sounds like the man on the video link. I talked to him a few seconds and told him my concerns about sending cash money. He says the money will go to Dr. Ben at the nursing home. I asked him if he personally sees to it that Dr. Ben gets the money. He said he couldn't do that because he lives in Detroit; he says he did his part for Dr. Ben and voiced his irritation with those who pay lip service (just as he did on the video). I had to point out to him that people who may contribute more than a couple of dollars will have concerns about where the money actually goes even though he says it will definitely go to the gentleman. I'm thinking his passion for this undertaking clouded his understanding in terms of someone questioning him about cash money and how this may affect whether they give or not. After I pressed him more he finally admitted to some people having misgivings. (In his seeming honesty about this endeavor he overlooked the negative potential this could generate.) At this point he said why don't you give the money to Dr. Ben himself. I told him I live many hundreds of miles away in another state.
I thanked him for listening to my concerns and he said thanks my brother.
Posts: 2118 | From: midwest, USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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astenb. posted 06 March, 2009 02:44 PM: But, for now, I repeat--the word is to remain concerned and patient at the same time.Posts: 4165 | From: jamaica | Registered: May 2008
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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 afterwards.
The most celebrated African to take us to Egypt has been Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan. I started traveling to Egypt with Dr. Ben almost twenty years ago and I always felt that I was learning at the feet of the master.
Dr. Ben's tours included 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.
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 and was a student and colleague of George G.M. James. He was exceptionally close to the late Dr. John Henrik Clarke.
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.
Dr. ben-Jochannan remains uncompromising in his views 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.
Posts: 3595 | From: Moved To Mars. Waiting with shotgun | Registered: Dec 2006
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