Sort and rinse the beans, place them in a pot with ``enough water and soak them overnight. Drain off water and rinse, add enough new water to cover by two inches and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, until beans are tender (about 1 hour), adding more water if necessary. Drain beans, saving 3 cups of the liquid. Return beans to pot with 1-1/2 cups of the liquid.
Roast the red bell pepper under the broiler until the skin is charred, then throw it into a paper bag and close the bag. Set it aside to cool.
Heat oven to 325 degrees, put cumin seed and oregano in a small baking pan or casserole and roast until fragrant, shaking pan occasionally (about 10 minutes).
Heat oil in skillet. Saute onions, green pepper and garlic for 3 minutes, then add cumin, oregano, paprika, cayenne and salt. Cook about 10 minutes more, then add tomatoes and jalapenos and bring to a boil for a couple of minutes. Stir all this in with the beans.
Get the red bell pepper out of the bag, peel the skin off, remove seeds etc. (After peeling, if any parts look like they got badly burned, cut them away.) Chop and add to beans.
Simmer everything for a while, thinning with the rest of the saved bean liquid as desired.