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Dr. Ben’s Colleagues Reflect on His Legacy

Published

10 years ago

April 9, 2015

Oakland Post

Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan (Courtesy Photo)

Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News

“When an old person dies, a library burns” … so goes the African proverb. March 19, Harlem’s wa’ret was incinerated. As the disheartening news spread that legendary African historian Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan, aka Dr. Ben, had joined the ancestors early that Thursday morning, a few comrades reminisced on his glorious life and immeasurable influences.

At his father’s urging, he began studying Kemet’s (Egypt’s) past as a young man, and after many years of tenacious research, he uncovered artifacts and manuscripts revealing that Black people established Kemet thousands of years before the creation of Judaism.

“Dr. Ben’s major contribution was to take Kemet/Egypt away from the [Caucasian] intellectuals and handing it back to the Black world … backing it up with 44 books to prove what he meant,” confided colleague, professor James Small, who has worked alongside Jochannan since 1967. “He did that pretty much single-handedly. [Europeans] had completely whitewashed Black people out of the Egyptian/Kemetic civilization.”

Aleim Supreme Allah was Jochannan’s student at Harlem Preparatory Academy in 1968 through 1969, and along with Dumar and Umallah, was one of the several Five Percenters who attended his classes. “I took what I learned from him, even to UMass, and was able to speak and teach [it to others] while at our school,” he reflected. “Some young brothers became Black history professors with jewels we had gotten from Doc.”

Abiodun Oyewole, founding member of the legendary Last Poets, recalled meeting the African scholar warrior in 1969, also at Harlem Prep, during his once-a-week workshops when Oyewole was a teenaged creative writing instructor: “His voice was big and he had some information about some stuff many of us just had no idea about. I had never heard anybody speak so strongly and clearly about how great African people were and how much we contributed to the world.”

Oyewole added, “The information was like a big 1,000-watt lightbulb that illuminated your mind. He helped set the record straight about who we really were. He knew the gifts that we brought to the world. He was more interested in bringing back the regalness, royalness, grandeurs of us.”

Much mention was also made of Jochannan’s annual fact-finding tours to Kemet, which he conducted for decades, and many have said altered their lives forever.

“Dr. Ben has been going steady to Egypt … Tamary, or Tawi … and taking people there, giving them the truth about it being an African country and the people there are Africans, too,” noted street scholar Brother Sekou. “He took a bunch of people, who did not know anything about themselves, on that great and mighty walk to get the understanding of who they are and what they did, so that they can feel good [about themselves].”

He added,“Just about every [tour to Kemet] is by someone he taught. They came behind him. He’s the one who put Egypt back in Africa, in our time. He made it easy for people to say, ‘Yes, they are African!’ He’s lived a full life teaching us to know ourselves, our culture and what made us great once before, so we can become great once again.”

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

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5 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 3, 2025

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May 30, 2025

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Black Feminist Movement Mobilizes in Response to National Threats

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — More than 500 Black feminists will convene in New Orleans from June 5 through 7 for what organizers are calling the largest Black feminist gathering in the United States.

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1 week ago

May 30, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

More than 500 Black feminists will convene in New Orleans from June 5 through 7 for what organizers are calling the largest Black feminist gathering in the United States. The event, led by the organization Black Feminist Future, is headlined by activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis. Paris Hatcher, executive director of Black Feminist Future, joined Black Press USA’s Let It Be Known to outline the mission and urgency behind the gathering, titled “Get Free.” “This is not just a conference to dress up and have a good time,” Hatcher said. “We’re building power to address the conditions that are putting our lives at risk—whether that’s policing, reproductive injustice, or economic inequality.” Hatcher pointed to issues such as rising evictions among Black families, the rollback of bodily autonomy laws, and the high cost of living as key drivers of the event’s agenda. “Our communities are facing premature death,” she said.

Workshops and plenaries will focus on direct action, policy advocacy, and practical organizing skills. Attendees will participate in training sessions that include how to resist evictions, organize around immigration enforcement, and disrupt systemic policies contributing to poverty and incarceration. “This is about fighting back,” Hatcher said. “We’re not conceding anything.” Hatcher addressed the persistent misconceptions about Black feminism, including the idea that it is a movement against men or families. “Black feminism is not a rejection of men,” she said. “It’s a rejection of patriarchy. Black men must be part of this struggle because patriarchy harms them too.” She also responded to claims that organizing around Black women’s issues weakens broader coalitions. “We don’t live single-issue lives,” Hatcher said. “Our blueprint is one that lifts all Black people.”

The conference will not be streamed virtually, but recaps and updates will be posted daily on Black Feminist Future’s YouTube channel and Instagram account. The event includes performances by Tank and the Bangas and honors longtime activists including Billy Avery, Erica Huggins, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. When asked how Black feminism helps families, Hatcher said the real threat to family stability is systemic oppression. “If we want to talk about strong Black families, we have to talk about mass incarceration, the income gap, and the systems that tear our families apart,” Hatcher said. “Black feminism gives us the tools to build and sustain healthy families—not just survive but thrive.”