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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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RESTAURANT
The National Christmas Tree Association estimates that over 35 million
families will enjoy a real Christmas tree this holiday season.
A few simple care tips will enhance the enjoyment of your Christmas tree
and keep it fresh and fragrant throughout the holiday season.
The National Christmas Tree Association provides free holiday safety
information pamphlets. 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
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