To the memory of a Good Man, our Brother Ben Randle (March 4, 1941 - March 29, 2000)
To the memory of a Good
Man, our Brother Ben Randle (March 4, 1941
- March 29, 2000)
Special to USAfrica The Newspaper
USAfricaonline.com
The
Black Business Journal
The message came into my e-mail box on April 3, 2000, from Nicque Montgomery. The subject section announced with an certain, eerie formality: "Memorial services for Ben Randle."
Another death? I exclaimed. For whom has the bell tolled, this time? For whom has our community been cut just little shorter? More urgent for me was the fact that the name on the obituary was all too familiar. Ben Randle. Immediately, I sent a request to the e-mail list to which Nicque had directed the announcement. I asked: "Is it the same Ben Randle, community affairs liaison/public service spirited Brother?" I added in my request to the Brothers and Sisters on the same e-mail list (primarily communications/journalism/broadcasting/pr specialists) that "the Ben Randle whom I knew was truly an outstanding pillar and bridge for African-Americans and continental Africans here in Houston. He stood almost 6.2 ft in height, ebony Black and very handsome pan-Africanist. As a chronicler of news and events regarding all persons of African descent here in the U.S., I can state that Ben Randle lived as a frontline soldier for our shared heritage interests. He had a noble, even if imperfect, quest and attitude about life and our community."
With continuing incredulity and wishful doubt that he was not the one whose death has just been announced, with an unyielding optimism and palpable hope for a good man called Ben Randle, I still wanted to know if it's really true. Really, and frankly, I just wished that it was another "Ben Randle." Just any other "Ben Randle." No; not the Ben Randle I knew who served all, spoke his truths with love and fraternal affection to all. I held such feelings, such fervent hopes. Hopes. Just hopes. The details read Benjamin Franklin Randle (March 4, 1941 - March 29, 2000).
One electronic communication to me came into my box to punctuate my mortal wishes, my better wishes for the Ben Randle we all knew. That e-mail came in less than 10 minutes after my request for more specific information was sent on the list. It came from one of the hard-nosed, prolific and resilient reporters in Texas. It came, not in cap an lower letters, but all lower letters. It read thus: "hi chido. greetings ... robert stanton here ...i was just asking the same question of a colleague who had received the email from windsor village. i'll let you know as soon as i hear something definitive. by the way, i am very impressed with your publications. keep up the good work my brutha ...peace, robert "
Increasingly, with every other e-mail which came, my hopes that it could be a different Ben Randle seemed like a candle in Sahelian wind.
The definitive word was sent into my box by 3:16 a.m. of Wednesday April 5, 2000. It stated, painfully and precisely: "Unfortunately it is the same guy.... I'm coordinating his memorial tomorrow evening, well actually this evening at Windsor Village UMC... He died of heart attack while attending a funeral in San Antonio. He was buried there, yesterday. Nicque Montgomery. Emage & Co. Public Relations
Early Wednesday morning, 9.51 a.m. one of the African-American community's finest public relations practitioners who labored actively for the election of Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown, the affable Linda K. Brown of Advantage Communications responded to my initial inquiry by adding "Yes, this is the same Ben Randle.... better known as 'Gentle Ben.' We all are in shock because of the loss. We won't be the same without him." Radio business exec Bobrie Jefferson sent another to me, capturing in a short, remarkable tribute that "Heaven's gain is our loss. It's Ben."
Such reflects the goodness of the man. Such informed our collective wishes for his longevity. The man radiated very positive energy and outlook on issues and events. His personality and dignified carriage recalled for me, every time I saw him, the likeness and semblance of my older relatives who are back home in Igbo land of east central Nigeria. In the U.S., his conciliatory and measured tone always reminded me of my maternal uncle, Prof. Chigbo Ofong.
My initial feeling of doubt about his passage and better wishes for the Ben Randle was not borne out any ill will against any other "Ben Randle." May God forgive my earnest but sincere wishes. Yet, I do not regret keeping such a place in my heart and mind for a man who will measure up to any community's model of selfless service and networking activist.
Fundamentally, therefore, my 'say it ain't so' hopefulness was a final wish for an excellent Brother and selfless soul who never forgot his African roots, and made me feel much cared for and blessed amongst my African American brethren and sisters. He did same for all of us. Neither rain nor sunshine stood between Ben Randle's belief and efforts to make the African-American community a much better place. He was never too proud to offer service at any level to benefit all. I never saw him too angry to build bridges and make a difference. He was a rare kind. He died serving and remains worthy of emulation. He personified self-reliance in our community. He was the antithesis of those contortionists and distortion artists who would rather stereotype the Black Male than do some really serious profile of such regular men of uncommon moral stature and community service. He did not fit the sensationalist reporter's "typical image" of the Black men. He was, in my eyes, heart and mind, a good man.
May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace, Brother Ben!
Nwangwu,
recipient of the Journalism Excellence Award, HABJ 1997, is the
Founder & Publisher of USAfricaonline.com
(first African-owned U.S.-based professional newspaper to be
published on the internet), The Black Business Journal, BBJonline.com
and NigeriaCentral.com.
He covered U.S. president Bill Clinton's visit to parts of Africa,
March-April 2, 1998, and currently serves on Houston Mayor Lee
Brown's international (Africa) business advisory board, and Houston
chapter of the NAACP.
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