Ben-Jochannan claimed that he was born in Ethiopia to a Puerto Rican Jewish mother and an Ethiopian Jewish father [REF].
A New York Times article published after Ben-Jochannan's death discussed the lifelong inconsistencies in his reported academic record: Documents from Cornell University show Mr. Ben-Jochannan holding a doctorate from Cambridge University in England while, conversely, catalogs from Malcolm-King College list him as holding two master's degrees from Cambridge University.