Page AlO-The Chronicle, Thursday, February 2, IS
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By YOLONDA GAYLES
Syndicated Columnist
Dear Yolonda: Have you seen the figures for the
infant mortality rate in the black community? They
are absolutely incredible. According to the U.S.
Department of Health, Education and Welfare, thedeath
rate for black infants is nearly double that of
white infants. Why?
I have an even greater interest in solving this pro- *
blem than some. My niece's beautiful baby daughter
died after being in this world for only six hours. That
was over six months ago" but my niece hasn't gotten
over her babv's-death yet. 1 think it's essetmaMvatwe
do something about the situation, but what?
Marie J.
* Dear Marie: I have seen (he infant mortality rates,
which currently are estimated at 23 deaths per every
1,000 births for blacks, and 12 deaths per every 1,000
> white infants.
Parenting experts say that a great percentage of the
infants who account for those heavy statistics are the
offspring of teen-age mothers. And teens have a
history of neglecting to see a doctor in the early"
stages of their pregnancies, a time when medical consultatiotv
is crucial. I'm not suggesting that this is
\ what occured in your niece's case, but at least narrowing
matters down gives us a base from which to
attack the wider problem. v
Still, there's something that we each, individually,
can do about this problem. For those of jjs who find
ourselves in the company of young, expectant
mothers, we have to do no more than to open a
friendly dialogue with them. Ask whether or not
Flirting: Most men d
, Flirting - a simple and necessary prerequisite to a
relationship^ between a man and woman who are
strangers to one another.
And although women are adept at it and are often
dropping signals, most men are ignorant of the esentials
of this ancient art, according to an article entitled
"The Eyes Have It" in a recent issue of Gallery
Magazine.
"The most surprising thing I found," says Cynthia
Kline, one of the many experts on flirting interviewed
by writer Charles Downey for the article, which appeared
in the February issue of the magazine, "was
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Broadway Is My Beat
Billy Dee Williai
By JOEY SASSO
Syndicated Columnist
Observation in covering the night beat:
Having newspaper columnists and press agents
describe you as one of the sexiest men in the world
docs a great deal for your ego - especially if you're
so shy you address your wife as "ma'am."
Billy Dec Williams was in a dtdding mood when he
made the above observation during a Las Vegas interview
because writers have been hailing him for
years now as the black Clark Gable.
**\ didn't believe all the guff 1 was reading about
myself," Billy Dee says, "until I made 'Lady Sings
the Blues' and all the PR stuff went out. I just laughed
about it and so did my friends. They knew me better.
Then, when I would touch a woman's hand and
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>84
VEEKEND
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they've vistied their physician. My experience is that
most young people welcome having a mature, concerned
person to talk with.
What?l try to say in this column is that we can't
wait for the right program to come up with solutions,
particularly when we're speaking of something that
affects the health and welfare of our children.
Boyfriend Backs Off
Dear Yolonda: I've been dating a guy for six months,
but there's one problem. He has a girlfriend who
lives in another state. When she comes to town, I
^ don'Mee hirrvfor a while.
When we first met, we agreed on a noncommittal
friendship. But then we began to spend most of our
free time together, and 1 guess my feelings have
changed. They have gotten pretty strong for him.
He must not feel the same, because he wants us to
start dating other people. Now, that's whaLwewere
supposed to be doing frorrvthe start.
1 don't like the idea. I know I brought this all upon
?Tnyself, but I'd like to know what I should do. I'm
afraid of getting hurt. What do you think?
* B.R.
Dear B.R.: He's backing off the relationship for
one of two reasons: Either he's becomine too invnlv
ed, or he sees that you're becoming too involved.
So, what to do? You can either accept a diminished
role, and hope that he'll change, or you can try to
find someone who values your feelings.
Got a problem or a gripe?Ask Yo/onda Gavtes, P.O.
-Box 19112, Chicago, III, 60619.
7
lon't know how
not that men don't know how to flirt. 1 expected
that. The shocker is, most men don't know whgn a
woman is flirting with them."
Downey, a freelance writer from Southern California,
has written for Money, McCa/l's, and Mechanics .
Illustrated. '
Among his tips: "The basic idea in flirting is for a
man to reflect confidence and basic animal
strength"; "By all means, try not to appear
desperate; the man-in-need image is a definite turnoff",
and "Compliments are a good portion of the
art of flirting, but make sure the compliment is heartfelt
and you're not trying too hard for effect."
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s Dionne Warwick.
ms: Being a sex s;
she would fall to the floor, I suspected something was
up."
Billy Dee said he didn't mind the spotlight as a sex
symbol at all until women started bringing their
babies to him to touch.
"That got a bit heavy," he says with a smile. "I
figured next they would be asking me to part the Red
Sea or something."
Billy Dee regrets that all the sex symbol publicity
hampers his career. "They tell me now that in all my
pictures I have to get the girl or else," he shrugs.
"Suppose I don't want the girl; what happens
then?"...
Singer Michael Jackson is planning a book of his
poetry, photographs and paintings, and the
^publishers can't wait. They figure that anyone who
can put an incredible six singles in the Top 10, as he
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Prince Of The Soaps
London-born Darnell Williams, 29, who plays Jess
Children/' disagrees with his fans' consensus abo
is a lot sexier than Darnell."
Musical Notes
She gave him bn
Luther Vandross, whose new Epic Records LP
"Body Talk" is climbing the charts with a bullet,
recently confessed the role Roberta Flack once
played in getting him to record on his own.
At the time, Vandross was a background singer
and vocal arranger working with people like David
Bowie, Bette Midler, and Quincy Jones.
"I was out on four with Roberta," Luther explains,
"ju<t grooving along singing in the
background. She took me aside one day and said,
'Look, it's about time you get hooked up with a
record company and make your own album.' Then
sne toia me now sne waygoing to introduce me to a
bunch of lawyers and managers."
But Roberta knew advice would not be enough to
get Luther out of his comfortable background slot.
So she took her position as motivator one step further.
Says Luther, "She fired me!"
Painful Exercise
Midnight Star's Bo Watson recently discovered
that physical exercise isn't always good for your
*
ymbol has its liabili
did this year, should be able to do the same with the
bestseller lists. The competition for the publishing
rights is bubbling merrily.
Doubleday even dispatched Jacqueline Onassis to
Los Angeles to convince Jackson what a wonderful
idea it would be to sign up with that house. Meanwhile,
Pinnacle Books is busting its corporate back to
get "Michael," its new paperback biography of
Jackson, into the stores by mid-February. The book
tells a lot but fails to mention Jackson's 1982 nose
job...
Fartha Kit! is in Dallas for a rather improbable
production of "Snow White." The show is a
musical, with Kitt as the wicked queen and Barbie
Benton as Snow White. The kicker is that the seven
dwarves are all more than six feet tall. Kitt says she
was well cast: "This wicked queen is really wicked,
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>e Hubbard on the popular soap opera "All My
ut his sex appeal. Darneil says, "I think Jesse
eak by firing him
health.
Watson was practicing his karate backstage at one *
of the concerts on Midnight Star's current tour for '
their platinum LP, "No Parking on the Dance
Floor." He tried a crescent kick on a metal railing,
felt a strange pain shoot through his lower legs, and
discovered that he couldn't walk.
Watson hobbled out onstage for the the show
("Fortunately, 1 could still dance," he says), then
headed for the doctor, who diagnosed a chipped
bone in the heel.
Objected the Midnight Star martial arts expert,
"It's the POLE that's supposed to break, not the
foot." ..
The Breaks
Break Dancing is going to be epidemic all over
your neighborhood movie screens soon. Both Sidney
Poitier and his long-time friend, Harry Belafonte,
are making films about the new dance or whatever it
is, although neither will appear in the films they are ;
making.
ities, too
highly wicked in a very humorous way - just an extension
of Eartha Kitt's sense of humor." Her disco,
record, "Where Is My Man," is selling well in.
Europe but has not sold widely in the United States... :
Well, I told the Temptations never to play
Kalamazoo, but they did and as soon as they hit
town, one of them, Richard Street, found out his ex-'
wife had obtained a bench warrant on him for non
support. Street, 41, and his bodyguard tried to take it '
on the lam after the group's second performance in
Kalamazoo but the cops pinched the two and they
had to spend a night in the slammer. Richard's out on
the street now, free on a $100 bond...
Film historians are calling it one of the major
photo finds of the century. OUI magazine proudly
calls it "Mommie Barest." In an exclusive pictorial,.
Please see page A11
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