Last Updated on July 19, 2023 by BVN
Esther Gatica
Ancient African scholar, historian, author, philosopher, humanitarian, doctor, veteran, professor and philanthropist, Dr. Joseph A. Bailey, II, passed away on April 7, 2023.
On Saturday, July 22, 2023, family and friends of Dr. Bailey are hosting a celebration of life, at the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California, located at 3933 Mission Inn Blvd., Riverside, CA., 92501. The event will take place from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
Dr. Bailey lived a long and substantive life. Born in Arkansas, Dr. Bailey moved to Minnesota at a young age where his empathetic nature blossomed. From Minnesota he eventually relocated to North Carolina before moving on and eventually settling and becoming a valued member of the Inland Empire community.
Dr. Bailey’s perceptive nature made him sensitive to his surroundings and interactions, all of which helped shape the fundamental truth he championed through all of his life’s work—-that being Black is being brilliant.
Over the years he attended several institutions including Morehouse College, Meharry Medical School and John Hopkins University.
Throughout his education, military service, medical training and orthopedic surgical practice he faced several personal attacks from racist Euro-Americans. These experiences made it clear to him, that his practice would be for African Americans in need of health education and effective treatments that not only healed but uplifted everyone including his patients, community members and later, his students.
Dr. Bailey became chief of the Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital shortly after its initial opening in 1972.
During his 40 year medical career, Dr. Bailey published more than 30 articles in renowned medical journals and authored three medical textbooks: Disproportionate Short Stature, Diagnosis and Management; The Concise Dictionary of Medical-Legal Terms (the first of its kind); and A Handbook for Workers‘ Compensation Physicians.
His other research and writings focused on today’s Black Americans, descendents of African American slaves, and on the brilliance of Ancient Africans (particularly between 2100 BC and 5500 BC).
Dr. Bailey published solutions for several of the 34 racism related categories which burden the minds of all struggling Black Americans. These solutions are grounded in the Sankofa concept, which is described as returning to the Ancient African values of truth, goodness, harmony, wisdom, beauty, and wholism.
For years, Dr. Bailey contributed to the Black Voice News. He wrote a column for over a decade often highlighting African history and culture as well as different African traditions. His work is still archived and accessible on the Black Voice News website. Follow this link to access his columns.
Black Voice News Publisher Emeritus Cheryl Brown says, “Dr. Joseph Bailey was introduced to Black Voice News by his father, Joseph Bailey, who was a prolific writer. Dr. Bailey was his father’s namesake. When we first met, I knew he was different. Since we already had a physician Dr. Ernest Levister writing a medical column, we agreed he would write about his passion helping Black males. On that subject he was unapologetic. His writing was on another level, and he learned that he wasn’t speaking to other doctors. But as he wrote every week, he gained a good following from around the country. People were continually calling or writing about something he said.”
Brown continued, “One day the late Realtor, Michael Teer, called me to meet for lunch with he and Dr. Bailey. I went and Dr. Bailey announced he wanted to entrust us with a 5,000 sq ft building, I was blown away. It was an answer to my prayers. It was his desire to honor his father by donating it to us.”
According to Brown, Dr. Bailey would drop by the building periodically to see how they were doing. “When we named it the Bailey Building and had a nice exhibit of the local Black Press inside, he was pleased. He was with our paper for many years and will be sorely missed.”
His legacy is vast, he invented several orthopedic devices and surgical operation procedures. In addition to his many other accomplishments, he was also a member of the clinical faculty at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine/UCLA Division of Biomedical Science.
Dr. Bailey retired early to devote his efforts full time to helping struggling Black youth. He set up reading programs and career fairs, assisted independent local self-help programs, and partnered with established foundations with a similar mission eventually creating his own, Joseph A. Bailey II, MD Foundation.
He was prolific philanthropist and his contributions to the San Bernardino community continue to make a difference. Dr. Bailey worked tirelessly on behalf of his people and his community even when it was not easy or popular. His longtime companion, Sharon Carrozza, described him as “The most courageous man I ever knew.”