Friday, December 30, 2011

Happy Birthday Dr. Ben ! 12/31/2011

30 December 2011

Greetings Family,

On Saturday December 31, 2011 Dr. Yosef A.A. ben-Jochannan will celebrate his 94th birthday.  There is small party planned for him. We wish to thank those of you who have responded to our requests for support and made contributions to his well-being.  Dr. Ben is grateful, and both Janie and I are personally grateful.  Thank you.   

We know that many people care about Dr. Ben and want to do what they can.  Some of you have stated that Dr. Ben needs a Paypal account.  Other have expressed their desire to send or bring food and supplies.  Many people have asked for Dr. Ben's location and contact numbers so that they can interact with him directly.  Allow us to respond. 

There is no official Dr. Ben Support Group that we are aware of.  There is no staff.  We have lives of our own.  Janie and I are just trying to make Dr. Ben as comfortable as possible and see to as many of his needs as we can while respecting the wishes of his family and guardian.  And foremost among his family's requests is that we be low key and allow him to rest as much as possible.  So we have not given out his physical address and phone number and will not do so.  There is no Paypal account.  Janie has floated the idea to Dr. Ben's attorney but gotten no response. As for the delivery of food and supplies, perhaps that will be viable once he leaves the nursing home. 

Family, most, if not all of the contributions that have been sent to Dr. Ben have been accompanied by cards, notes and letters expressing gratitude to Dr. Ben for the work that he has done and the impact that he has had.  We encourage you to continue to send them.  If you can't contribute financially, please send a note anyway.  Janie will share those already received at the party on Saturday.

Checks should be made payable to: Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan.  Mail checks and cards and notes to: Dr. Ben, c/o Medina, P.O. Box 290, Bronx, NY 10467-0290.

Finally, I have been asked to edit a Special Issue of the Journal of Pan-African Studies on Dr. Ben's life and works.  Very soon I will issue a general call for papers.

Thank you sisters and brothers.  Thank you for your interest, your patience, your generosity and your love.  Thank you for your efforts to honor and support this great man.

If you have further questions Runoko can be reached at 323 920-6055 or via the Internet at Runoko@yahoo.com or Runoko@hotmail.com

In love of Africa and Africans,

Runoko Rashidi and Janie Medina

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