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New Dimensions in African History: The London Lectures of Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan and Dr. John Henrik Clarke
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- GenresHistoryNonfictionAfrica
Hardcover
First published April 1, 1991
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About the author
Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan
23 books192 followersAlso known as Dr. Ben, Yosef Alfredo Antonio Ben-Jochannan claimed to have been born on December 21, 1918 to a Beta Israel lawyer named Kriston Ben-Jochannan and a Puerto Rican Jewish midwife mother of Yemenite ancestry named Julia Matta-Cruz in Gondor, Ethiopia.
His formal education is elusive, and he was likely an autodidact, but he claimed it to have begun in Puerto Rico and continued in the Virgin Islands and in Brazil. Ben-Jochannan claimed to have earned a BS degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, but the registrar has no record of his attendance. He claimed to have received doctoral degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Moorish History from the University of Havana and the University of Barcelona in Spain, but Barcelona says that he never received a degree from them. He claimed to have earned advanced degrees from Cambridge University in England, but Cambridge says that he never received a degree from them and furthermore, Cambridge University said it had no record of Ben-Jochannan ever attending any classes there. His claim to have received an MS degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Havana in Cuba is uncontested, and he held honorary doctoral degrees from Sojourner-Douglass College, Marymount College, and Medgar Evers College.
Dr. Ben-Jochannon taught at City College in New York City and from 1973 to 1987, he was an adjunct professor at Cornell University. He wrote and published 49 books and papers, mainly about how in his mind the Ancient Egyptians and Israelites were black Africans. Two of his better-known works: “Black Man of the Nile” and “Africa Mother of Major Western Religions."
He was eulogized by controversial black supremacist religious leader Louis Farrakhan, "as the last of a great list of scholars of ancient black civilizations and black history.
His formal education is elusive, and he was likely an autodidact, but he claimed it to have begun in Puerto Rico and continued in the Virgin Islands and in Brazil. Ben-Jochannan claimed to have earned a BS degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, but the registrar has no record of his attendance. He claimed to have received doctoral degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Moorish History from the University of Havana and the University of Barcelona in Spain, but Barcelona says that he never received a degree from them. He claimed to have earned advanced degrees from Cambridge University in England, but Cambridge says that he never received a degree from them and furthermore, Cambridge University said it had no record of Ben-Jochannan ever attending any classes there. His claim to have received an MS degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Havana in Cuba is uncontested, and he held honorary doctoral degrees from Sojourner-Douglass College, Marymount College, and Medgar Evers College.
Dr. Ben-Jochannon taught at City College in New York City and from 1973 to 1987, he was an adjunct professor at Cornell University. He wrote and published 49 books and papers, mainly about how in his mind the Ancient Egyptians and Israelites were black Africans. Two of his better-known works: “Black Man of the Nile” and “Africa Mother of Major Western Religions."
He was eulogized by controversial black supremacist religious leader Louis Farrakhan, "as the last of a great list of scholars of ancient black civilizations and black history.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 20, 2021
I Love Ourstory! R.I.P. DR. BEN-JOCHANNAN & DR. CLARKE
December 28, 2018
I am on a journey of self discovery and to do so I have to know my past and history. To know my past and history I have to rediscover Africa through the lenses of an African. There can be no better lenses to rediscover Africa than through the eyes of Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan and Dr. John Henrik. These two are experts on African history.
Europeans did not only colonise us as a people but they colonised information and erased us from history too. As Dr John Henrik Clarke writes, history is a tool that can be used for oppression or liberation. Thus in my opinion it is a duty of every African to know his/her past. Only then can he/she take his/her seat on the world stage, not as a beggar, or person seeking sympathy or charity but as a proud African who knows that his/her ancestors contributed immensely to world civilisation.
The book is composed of lectures given by these two esteemed scholars in London. The book touches on:
1. the scramble of Africa which began more than 2000 years ago
2. African contributions to science and technology
3. the Nile river valley civilisations
4. Pan Africanism.
Its a great read, and I absolutely loved the book. More importantly the book provides a comprehensive reading guide for the study and teaching of African world history.
Europeans did not only colonise us as a people but they colonised information and erased us from history too. As Dr John Henrik Clarke writes, history is a tool that can be used for oppression or liberation. Thus in my opinion it is a duty of every African to know his/her past. Only then can he/she take his/her seat on the world stage, not as a beggar, or person seeking sympathy or charity but as a proud African who knows that his/her ancestors contributed immensely to world civilisation.
The book is composed of lectures given by these two esteemed scholars in London. The book touches on:
1. the scramble of Africa which began more than 2000 years ago
2. African contributions to science and technology
3. the Nile river valley civilisations
4. Pan Africanism.
Its a great read, and I absolutely loved the book. More importantly the book provides a comprehensive reading guide for the study and teaching of African world history.
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February 11, 2021I need to know about this book in our history and I love history
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2023
There's no question that this raw and unflinching look at African history and civilization is a necessary part of the gaping, missing discussions that we need to have as a people, but this book feels more disjointed and vague than focused and concrete. If anything, the benefit of each essay, each Q&A, each potential series of academic discussion topics is that they provide a window into other literature that likely offers that focused and concrete assessment of what transpired for hundreds and thousands of years below the Mediterranean. Similar to the long arc of Asian history that gets equally vanquished in favor of a singular, Euro-centric view of "how we got here," there's a ton of room for willing parties to read, discuss, and grow forward, if we're also willing to begin with an acceptance that each of our own commonly understood narratives of human civilization may not be the most complete, accurate, or honest, including this one, because each one presumes something about the whole of the other.
August 20, 2014
Can't put it down. The study guide, at the end of the book, is the best!
April 9, 2017
A formative, foundational view of history with an African-centered lens. A must read for seekers of the truth.
September 4, 2024
I remember reading this in 2021 after I had read Cheick Anta Diops books. The works in this book are backed up.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews