Page 10 Portland Observer JUNE 22, 1989
PROGRESS IN
RADIO
TREATMENT OF COVERAGE OF
CHRONIC
TYSON VS
SCALP DIS-
WILLIAMS
EASES OE
EIGHT
BLACK MEN
Don K in g Productions an
Many black men sutler from
annoymg, often p ainful and embar-
rassmg, chronic d.scascsol the scalp
and neck. Progress in the treatment
ol two oi these diseases is discussed
in the June, 1989, edition o f the J.QUr-
nounced today th a t N atio na l Black
N e tw o rk Sports u ill have the e xdu -
sivc cngHsh |anguage radio righls ,o
broadcast die wor!d heavyweight
championship bout between reign-
ing champ M ike Tyson and Carl (The
T ru th ) w illia m s
n al. Q f DefnKllvlo g. ivSur g e r y andOn-
The fig ht - M ike Tyson’s first
tu lo g y , the o tl.c .a l journal o f the since his bout w ilh Frank Bruno ..
Am erican Society fo r Derm atologic w , „ be broadcasl on F rid a y , J u ly
Surgery.
21, 1989 live fron. A tla n tic C ity ’s
Acne keloidalis is a chronic in-
T ru m p Plaza and w ill be beamed by
Hum iliation o f the hair fo llicle s in the
satellite to N BN 's 152 affiliates across
back ol the head and nape o f the neck
the country.
producing ugly plaques (hard raised
In making the announcement,
areas) and nodules (lum ps or knots).
,
.
.
promoter Don King said, “ The time
Itching or a burning sensation are i , ...
• , r
.
, ■ u
b
has arrived to r radio to reclaim the
common
In severe cases, oozing
g lo ry o f yesteryear. 1 am totally
abscesses form , and die disease can
com m itted and dedicated to being
be physically and psychologically
part o f the return o f the fascinating,
painful.
inform ative, exciting, and entertain
There is probably not one single
ing medium o f radio.
cause fo r the disease. One prime
W ho knows the unparalleled ex
suspect, however, according to der
citement, the drama, the suspense
matologic surgeon Sheldon V. Pol
that w ill reveal itse lf to the sports and
lack, M .D ., co-author o f the article
entertainment fan...listen to the ra-
on acne keloidalis, m ight be grease d io and find o u t!!!-
pomades which at least make the
N a tio n a l B lack N e tw o rk broad
acne worse. The coarse hair found in cast the Tyson vs Holm es fig ht in
black patients m ight itse lf be a con 1988 to 2.8 m illio n households and
tributing cause. Close shaving and 1.3 m illio n armed forces personnel
chafing shirt collars probably also across the globe through the Armed
aggravate the condition.
Forces radio outlets.
Dr. Pollack, associate professor
o f dermatology at N orth C arolina’ s
Duke U niversity School o f M edi
cine, and his co-authors note that
treating the condition m edically and
w ith various m inor surgical ap-
proaches has been extremely frus
trating.
Dr. P ollack’s co-authors are A r
lene J. Hcrzbcrg, M.D. and B.J. Kerns,
M .T . (both o f the Duke school) and
Scott M . Dinchart, M .D . (U niversity
o f Arkansas for M edical Sciences).
THE BLACK VOTER
MOBILIZATION PROJECT
One o f the lessons that should not be loss from the 1988 Jackson for
President campaign is the c ritic a l role that the Black vote can play in shaping
the I uture o f A trican-A m ericans in this country. Rev. Jackson often referred
to A trican-Am ericans as “ giants w ith grasshopper m entalities” . That is to
say we have a p olitical potential that we are cither unaware o f or sim ply fa il
to u tilize to our lu ll advantage. This is particularly true during party prim ary
elections, but it is also true in general elections as well.
In 1988 Jesse Jackson won more votes than any Democratic runner-up in
history. His 7 m illio n votes was more than W aller Mondalc won the
nom ination w ith in 1984(6.7 m illio n ). But despite this b rillia n t success, an
analysis o f the vote is very troubling from the pcrs|iective o f Black p olitical
participation and empowerment. Jesse Jackson received 2 m illio n w hile
votes, 1 m illio n votes from other m inorities and 4 m illio n votes from
Atrican-Am ericans. The astounding fact is, however,that there are 14
m illio n registered African-A m erican voters in the United States. Put
another way there are tw ice as many registered A frican-A m erican voters as
the total vote Jesse Jackson received in his presidential bid!
Equally amazing is the number o f African-Am ericans who remain
unregistered to vote. There are 8 m illio n unregistered African-am cricans in
the United States today. Again, p ulling it in different terms, there are more
A l rican-Am ericans unregistered to vote than the total number o f votes Jesse
Jackson received in 1988! More than 500,000 African-Am ericans are
unregistered in Georgia, more than 450,000 in states like Texas and North
Carolina. In the State o f New Y ork, “ up south,” 1 m illio n A frican-
Americans are unregistered to vote. In the crucial New Y ork Primary
M ichael Dukakis won w ith 900,000 votes to Jesse Jackson’ s 500,000 votes.
In New Y o rk State there were more unregistered African-Am ericans than
D ukakis’ total vote in capturing the election!
A ll across Am erica critica l prim ary and general elections are lost by the
margin o f low Black voter registration and / or low Black voter turn-out.
I hough voting and electoral politics are not the o nly means by which we as
A frican-A m ericans can advance and protect our interests, this arena is
certainly a crucial area fo r Black empowerment. Electoral politics deter- |
i mines what policies prevail which in turn determines who gets what, and
how much in terms ot the allocation o f tax dollars resources and opporttini
i tics.
A I rican-Am ericans cannot afford to ignore, neglect or undcrutilize our
potential power in the electoral p olitical arena.
Every African-A m erican com m unity in this nation should have a non
partisan VO TER M O B IL IZ A T IO N PROJECT. We should strive for
general agreement among our diverse organizations and forces that there is
a great deal o f respect and leverage to be gained from m axim um voter
registration and m axim um tum -oul. I f for example we as A fric a n -A m e ri
cans could get 90% o f our people registered voters on a consistent basis, the
powers that w ould be forced to take notice. This 90/90 African-A m erican
voter participation form ula is a goal that we should adopt and work with
strenuous e ffo rt to achieve.
The VO TER M O B IL IZ A T IO N PROJECT, like the United Front, should
be a coalition effort, indeed such a project could be sponsored by the United
Front, since it is a non-partisan program. The critica l factor is that
comm unities should raise the monies necessary to fund voter m obilization
projects on a permanent basis. The goals o f the V.M .P. arc quite sim ple, but
essential; voter registration; voter education; and gut out the vote.
In terms o f VO TER R E G IS TR A TIO N a strong emphasis needs to be
placed on m ob ilizing massive support for national, stale and county/
m unicipal legislation which would make voter registration much easier. A
maze o f unnecessary barriers now exist which tend to discourage large
number o f people from registering. Post card or m a il-in registration,
registration at m otor vehicle bureaus, and A U T O M A T IC registration at all
agencies which serve the public - schools, libraries, welfare offices, food
stamps, offices, public housing, health care centers etc - should receive
p rio rity attention. Door to door canvassing anti legistralion should also
continue u ntil we have achieved our registration goal.
As it relates to voter turn-out, the V.M.P. should deploy canvassers to
conduct pre-election literature drops. On election day there should be a l ull
non-partisan election day get out the vote set-up complete w ilh a phone
bank, canvassers, sound trucks and transportation to provide rides to Hie
polls. Church congregations, on a voluntary basis, should take responsibil
ity fo r getting every registered voter w ithin their congregation to the polls
and w ork to turn-out the vote in precincl(s) im m ediately adjacent to their
church. A ll o f this should be undertaken w ilh funds raised on a self-support
basis by the com m unity for the Voter M obilization Project.
The 90/90 form ula for Black voter participation and empowerment can
work. Its tim e that we as African-Am ericans become deadly serious about
the power o f the ballot in the electoral political arena. Wc M U S T
O R G A N IZ E Voter M obilization Projects all across this land.
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For people who like to smoke
“ Conservative treatment has not
w orked,” says Dr. Pollack. “ W hat
ever causes the disease, we now know
that reaching surgically past the deep
est level o f the fo llicle s to remove
them and the surrounding abnormal
tissue is necessary to cure the prob
lem. This can be done w ith the car
bon dioxide laser, electrosurgery or
traditional surgical methods” .
The authors do not believe gen
eral anesthesia is norm ally necessary
to perform the surgery and recom
mend that M other Nature be allowed
to heal the wound naturally, taking 6
- 8 weeks, w ithout skin grafts.
Successful treatment w ith the
carbon dioxide laser o f another chronic
scalp disorder characterized by in
flamed hair fo llicles is reported by a
team o f dermatologic surgeons at the
U niversity o f C alifo rn ia School o f
M edicine, Davis, C alifornia. The
condition (p e rifo llicu litisca p itis ab-
scedens et suffodiens) is seen almost
exclusively in black males.
In advanced stages, the disease is
characterized by large painful, ooz
ing lumps at the top and back o f the
head.
Co-author David Laub M .D., says,
“ The condition is infamous for its
resistance to therapy w ith lim ited
success being achieved w ith conser
vative local treatment alternatives.
As a new approach, we employed the
carbon dioxide laser.
Dr. Laub’s co-authors also include
Brian Berman, M .D ., Ph.D., and L.
Frank Glass, M .D ., a ll o f the Depart
ment o f Dermatology, U niversity o f
California School o f Medicine, Davis
C alifornia.
The team operated on a 36-ycar-
old black man suffering from several
painful knots and sausage-shaped
ridges on the top o f his head. They
chose to remove the most trouble
some knot.
There was no loss o f blood and
little postoperative pain. The wound
was allowed to heal naturally, and
hair grew back in 6 weeks. No recur
rence o f the lump was found 6 months
later.
“ The early results arc very prom
ising ,” says Dr. Laub. “ W c arc not
<4.
r?1
ir
< i
suggesting at this point that wc have
cured this patient, but the carbon d i
oxide laser worked very w e ll in this
case. Further work needs to be done
w ith the laser alone and in conjunc
tion w ith other forms o f therapy.”
T o obtain fact sheets on various
conditions o f the skin calling for
surgery and the names o f derm atol
ogic suigcons in their area, people
may call ASDS toll-free at l -800-
441 -27 37 ,9am - 5pm, Central Tim e,
M onday - Friday.
■>.<5 pbikp'Moros Inc 1069
BENSON & HEDGES
SURGEON GENERAL’ S W A R N IN G : C ig a re tte
S m o k e C o n t a in s C a r b o n M o n o x id e .
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