»r* * * * ♦. V* •> ► > . * rrr D ecember 01, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver M ¿CENTERTAINMENT Dr. Lauren Kessler & Dr. Homer Yasui Lecture & Booksigning At OHS L a s te d For 5 0 0 SI ore Than A P r e tty O n November 30, 1993, Montel W illiams celebrated a major mile stone in his television history: He celebrated his 500th televi sion show as a nationally syndicated talk shovy host. D istributed by Viacom Enter prises in New York City, the Montel W illiams Show is broadcast in 133 major U.S. television markets cover ing 87% o f the U.S. television mar kets covering 86% of the U.S. and continues to gain in audience appeal and rating strength. He is the first African-American male to achieve such national acclaim and cross-over acceptance as a television talk show personality. A brainy and brawny Black male figure, W illiam s is more than a tele vision talk show host: He represents a classical Ameri can success story with an African- American twist, complete with barri ers and obstacles buffeted with a stead fast determination to leave neighbor hoods where it was not uncommon for classmates either to be killed, hooked on dope o r to languish in jail. W illiam s grew up in the Cherry Hill section o f Baltimore, one o f the Montel Williams largest Black ghettos of the era. Al though he was not from a middle- class home, he was fortunate to have been born to loving parents who dreamed of a better life for their chil dren. “We lived three blocks from the dum p,” the 36-year talk show host said. “My parents were poor, but they worked very hard to give us the ap pearance o f a lower-middle class lifestyle.” His parents still live in B a ltim o re w h e re h is dad is Baltim ore’s Fire Chief. And he says that they were also very strict and demanded nothing but the best for him and everyone in the family. The realization o f that dream meant that he and his siblings had to work hard and get and education. And that meant that they had to take advantage o f every opportunity and break that came their way. For W illiams, the ticket to suc cess was a full scholarship to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. And success for a young Black man at that school meant that he had to be twice as good as his white classmates. His success at the U.S. Naval Academy was not extraordinary, not unless one considers that his enroll ment at the school was delayed when he followed his guidance counselors’ advice: They advised the 1974 senior class president o f a predominately white school, Andover High School in Linthicum , MD, to pursue a vo- tech career. He did, and after service a sa U .S. M arine, a short stint in boot camp, and the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, Rhode Island, he was finally admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1980 with a B.S. in engineering and stud ied international security affairs and Mandarin Chinese. He would later master Russian at the Defense Lan guage Institute in Monterey, Califor nia. “I was shooting to be an Admi ral,” he still admits. After fulfilling his military obli gations, Williams enjoyed early suc cess as a motivational speaker. His career as a motivational speaker be gan when he was asked to lecture high school children about being respon sible for their own lives. His reputation for his ability to warmly communicate with others while being tough but never intimi dating soon spread. The turning point in his motiva tional speaking career came when he was asked to guest-host a public af fairs television program for 4,000 in Jacksonville, Florida. When he won the Best o f Gannett Award for that show, the requests for speaking en gagements rolled in. From there, his success as a television talk show host was ensured. T hat sam e h o n e st, n o -n o n sense w arm sty le o f com m u n ica tion th at w as re sp o n sib le fo r W il lia m s’ success as a m o tivational sp e a k e r to m ore than 2 m illion high school y o u n g sters is re sp o n sible for his in c re a sin g success as a telev isio n talk -sh o w host. He is not afraid to tack le d iffic u lt su b je c ts such as rap e, ch ild m o le sta tio n , drug a b u se , and serial k ill ers. N or do es he re tre a t from any to pics th a t d e sc rib e v ario u s hu man d y sfu n c tio n s. H is only goal in c raftin g each show is to open up c o m m u n ic a tio n b e tw e e n people so th a t there w ill not be so m any p ro b le m s and m isu n d e r stan d in g s in the w orld. He does not in spire to be the a v erag e talk show h o s t- h e w ants to help solve p e o p le ’s p ro b lem s in stead o f in fla m in g m is u n d e rs ta n d in g and hatred . The stakes were high in the com petitive day time talk arena, but he wants to be King o f that hill Not a bad dream for the former child of a Balti more ghetto. Send For Free Holiday Tree Care Tips Celebrate The Holidays With Healthy Foods This Christm as, black Ameri cans can eat healthy and stay true to their African-American heritage. “People tend to overindulge in food and drink during the holidays, increasing their risk for high bold pressure,” said Dr. Addison Taylor, a professor o f medicine and chief o f the hypertension section at Baylor Col lege o f Medicine in Houston. But many families who celebrate the African holiday, Kwanzaa, opt for fresh, naturally seasoned foods derived from many African cultures. Kwanzaa is a seven-day ritual to cel ebrate the year’s first harvest and reinforce family values. Eating a Kwanzaa meal consist ing o f low-fat, high-fiber foods like brown rice, fruit, vegetables and fish prepared without salt is a good way to avoid high bold pressure and other problem s in the long run. A high-salt diet is a major risk factor for high blood pressure, or hypertension,. Studies have shown that many blacks suffer from salt- sensitive hypertension as a result of eating traditional “soul foods” such as sweet potato pie, greens with salt pork, cornbread dressing and ham. If Kwanzaa is not for you, Taylor suggests preparing traditional holi day foods that are “heart-friendly.” “Fried foods, fatty eats and dairy products like butter can aggravate high blood pressure,” said Taylor, who is also an investigator at Baylor’s DeBakey Heart Center. “Lower your salt intake and use margarine, lemon and herbs instead of oil and butter.” According to the American Heart Association, one out o f every three African-Americans suffer from hy- pertension-a “silent killer” because it usually appears without symptoms. The disease strikes black men the hardest, affecting term earlier in life than their white counterparts. Taylor said that hypertension is seven time worse in patients with diabetes and often leads to a heart attack, kidney failure or stroke if left untreated. Diabetics and people who are overweight are especially vulnerable to complications associated with the disease,” he said. “If you are obese, you should add regular exercises to our health plan to reduce your cholesterol level and keep your weight down.” F o r heart-healthy holiday cel eb ratio n , T aylor recom m ends the following: • Drink alcoholic beverages in mod eration-one or two a day at the most. At parties, designate a driver. • If you haven’t been checking your blood pressure monitoring. • Consult a physician if your blood pressure exceeds 120 over 80. a low-fat diet, regular exercise and antihypertensive drugs may be pre scribed. • If you are on medication, take it regularly. Pack an ample supply if you are going out of town for the holidays. 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To receive a copy, please send a self-addressed, stamped business size envelope to: Consumer Education National Christmas Tree Association 611 East W ells Street Milwaukee, W1 53202-3891 “Spacious Dreams”, the fifth lec ture in the series on Issei Pioneers of Oregon will be presented by Dr. Lauren Kessler and Dr. Homer Yasui. The lecture will be based on Dr. Kessler’s new book about a family of Issei Pio neers in Hood River, of whom Dr. Yasui is descended. Dr. Lauren Kessler is a Professor of Journalism at University of Oregon and author of the book Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese American Family. She will be available for booksigning after the lecture. Dr. Homer Yasui is the youngest son of Masuo Yasui, on whom Dr. Kessler’s book is based. The Yasui family pioneered the Hood River area. He will give a walk-through o f the exhibit after the lecture. The lecture is offered in conjunc tion with the exhibit In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pio neers of Oregon running through Janu ary 16, 1994 The lecture will take place on T hursday, D ecem ber 9, 1993 at 7:30pm in the Madison Room at the Oregon History Center. The Oregon History Center is located at 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland. Photography By Duane 2808 NE Martin Luther King Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211 Duane Lewis, President Call: 503/284-8268, orPager 833-8838 I M P CANADIAN MIST a M A M U tN P O R T E D CANADIAN MIST. Imported and bottled by Brown-Forman Beverage Co.. Canadian Whisky, A Blend, 40% Ale by Volume, Louisville. KY Tues.-Thus. 10:00 AM -6:00 PM Fri. & Sat. 10:00 AM -7:00 PM 3217 N. 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