Exclusive Interview With Internist and Author: Dr. Dhand M.D. |
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Written by Patricia Turnier
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Sunday, 08 September 2013 16:53 |
Dr. Suneel Dhand, M.D. is board certified in Internal Medicine. He was born in London and grew up in Windsor, England. His parents emigrated from Punjab, India in the 1960s. He studied medicine at Cardiff University, and then came to the United States to pursue residency training. Hence, he completed his internal medicine residency in Maryland, and now works in Massachusetts.
Dr. Dhand developed an interest in preventive medicine, health and well-being, which inspired him to write about the topic. High Percentage Wellness Steps: Natural, Proven, Everyday Steps to Improve Your Health & Well-being was his first book, with profits going to a number of health-related causes, involving humanitarian relief, medical research, and other special projects for those suffering from terrible illnesses. Some of these include the Red Cross, Make a Wish Foundation, and organizations devoted to cancer, cardiovascular, and neurological research.
Dr. Dhand’s first book covers many subjects including the importance of eating a healthy diet, to other diverse health-related aspects of life . For instance, he exposes the consequences (including the economic impact) of lack of sleep, stress, etc. He also wrote about the pros of daily regular sit-down meals with the family daily. In addition, the book gives great advice to encourage people who are not really into physical activities. About mental health, according to his observations, Dr. Dhand thinks that Western culture deals with stress in a more solitary and individual way, strongly relying on medications like anti-depressants. In the East, there is more focus on family support systems to help anyone work their way through difficult times in life. Reading Dr. Dhand’s first book was like attending a lecture by a physician, it was very informative. It was also interesting to discover the views of a physician who had an Eastern background and a holistic approach which was embraced in the past by thinkers such as Socrates. In fact, the World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being”, and not merely as the absence of disease or infirmity.
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One on One With The Star of The Butler: The Oscar Winning Actor Forest Whitaker |
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Written by Kam Williams
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Friday, 23 August 2013 17:30 |
Forest Whitaker was born in Texas. His father, Forest Whitaker, Jr., worked as an insurance salesman and was the son of novelist Forest Whitaker, Sr. His mother, Laura Francis (née Smith), was a special education teacher who went to college and earned two Masters degrees while raising her children. Forest Whitaker enrolled in the Music Conservatory at the University of Southern California to study opera as a tenor. He was accepted into the University's Drama Conservatory and graduated from USC in 1982. In addition, he earned a scholarship to the Berkeley, California branch of the Drama Studio London. Whitaker is also getting a degree in The Core of Conflict: Studies in Peace and Reconciliation at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
Forest Whitaker is a distinguished artist and humanist. He is the founder of PeaceEarth Foundation, co-founder and chair of the International Institute for Peace, and the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation. A versatile talent, Forest is one of Hollywood’s most accomplished performers, receiving such prestigious honors as a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in The Last King of Scotland, as well as a Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for Bird.
Over the past decade, he has dedicated most of his time to extensive humanitarian work, feeling compelled by his social awareness to seek ways of using the film medium as a means of raising peoples’ consciousness. To that end, he produced the award-winning documentary Kassim the Dream, which tells the touching story of a Ugandan child soldier turned world champion boxer; Rising from Ashes, which profiles Rwandan genocide survivors’ attempt to qualify for the Olympics riding wooden bicycles; Serving Life, which focuses on hospice care for prisoners at Louisiana’s Angola Prison; and the Peabody Award-winning "Brick City", which offers an unvarnished peek at inner-city life in Newark, New Jersey.
Whitaker was the 2007 recipient of the Cinema for Peace Award, and he currently sits on the board of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. In addition, he serves as a Senior Research Scholar at Rutgers University, and as a Visiting Professor at Ringling College of Art and Design, too. Again, in 2007, Whitaker got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, he earned an Honorary Degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and he was given a chieftaincy title in Nigeria.
Besides the aforementioned films, Forest’s impressive resume’ includes The Great Debaters, The Crying Game, Panic Room, Platoon, Ghost Dog, Mr. Holland’s Opus and Good Morning Vietnam. Here, he talks about his latest outing as the title character in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, a decades-spanning sage chronicling the life and career of an African-American who served eight presidents in the White House.
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Exclusive Interview with the Emmy Winning Anchor/Reporter: Sherrie Johnson |
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Written by Patricia Turnier
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Tuesday, 02 July 2013 19:53 |
Ms. Johnson was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her father's military career took her around the world at an early age, exposing her to multiple cultures and experiences. Ms. Sherrie Johnson is an Emmy Award winning Reporter/Anchor based in Baltimore, Maryland with over 19 years of experience. She obtained her BA in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1994. She also has a minor in German.
Since 2003, she has served as the Morning Reporter and fill-in Anchor at WMAR-TV ABC2News in Baltimore, Maryland. Moreover, Sherrie Johnson also covers the Education beat for ABC2News with her "Making a Difference" reports. As a Reporter/Anchor, Johnson has worked in five television markets (including local and national TV affiliates), hosted shows and served as Mistress of Ceremony for multiple events. More precisely, Sherrie Johnson started her television career in Washington, North Carolina, and has worked at stations in Asheville, North Carolina, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. Hence, her experience took her from her home state of North Carolina, where she began her career in little Washington, and brought her to Asheville before going to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. She did freelancing work in Washington, D.C. at WTTG Fox 5 and Fox News Channel. Then, she continued in Baltimore. She has been featured in Ebony and Heart & Soul magazines. Her contribution was sanctioned with an Emmy Award in 2004 for Best Feature for Lauren’s Story.
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Exclusive Interview With One of the Best American Songstresses: Gloria Loring |
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Written by Patricia Turnier
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Wednesday, 26 June 2013 20:55 |
Ms. Loring was born in New York City on December 10, the International Human Rights Day and, more specifically, two years before the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Gloria Loring comes from a musical family. Her father, Gerald Louis Goff, was a trumpet player and her mother, Dorothy Ann (née Tobin) a band singer who, after giving birth to Gloria Loring, stayed home. During her early years, the songstress sang in church and school productions.
Ms. Loring wears many hats; she is a lyricist, a chanteuse, an actress, an authoress and an entrepreneur. In 1977, she recorded a song called “Brooklyn” with producer Mike Post. The single was released under the name Cody Jameson and became a country hit. Loring is the recording artist of the number 1 hit single with Carl Anderson “Friends and Lovers” when she portrayed the role of Liz Chandler, a chanteuse on Days of Our Lives. Her performance of the single generated the largest mail response of any song in the NBC daytime history. She was the co-composer–with her then husband Alan Thicke (from one of the most popular 80s’ sitcoms, Growing Pains) and Al Burton, of the theme songs for Diff’rent Strokes and The Facts of Life, which were among the most popular sitcoms of the 70-80s. Loring also co-wrote “What’ve You Got to Lose” with Eric Kaz, which was taped by the group, Pablo Cruise, for the feature film Inside Moves. She hosted the TV series From the Heart while joining the Pointer Sisters in a Showtime TV Special and was instrumental in creating the good vibrations of the “Beach Boys 25th Anniversary Special”. Over the years, Gloria has shared the stage with Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and many other elite performers. Her recordings have featured great talents like George Duke, Bobby Caldwell, Jeffrey Osborne, Deniece Williams, Howard Hewitt, Bill Champlin (of Chicago) and The Nylons.
Beforehand, when Gloria Loring was a senior, she became a Homecoming Princess and was voted Most Talented. Loring started her music career at age 14, singing with a folk group known as "Those Four". Gloria started singing professionally at fifteen in local coffee houses in Miami and, from the time she was 18, she learned the craft of live performance, playing in small supper clubs around the U.S. She released her first LP in 1968 entitled "Gloria Loring, Today" on MGM Records. At the age of 18, she signed a one-year contract with The Merv Griffin Show.
Ms. Loring is also a key note speaker for corporations and non-profit organizations, the authoress of six books that benefited people with diabetes, two of which (the Days of Our Lives cookbooks vol. 1 and 2) brought $1 million to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)1, for which she served as a spokesperson. This initiative made her a trailblazer among the actors of this soap opera. Her involvement with this organization began thirty years ago. Raising this money coincided with a mysterious event that is recounted in her book Coincidence is God’s Way of Remaining Anonymous.
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Exclusive Interview With the Executive Directress of Angel Faces: Elizabeth Sanchez |
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Written by Patricia Turnier
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Thursday, 06 June 2013 20:36 |
Elizabeth Sanchez became an alumnus of California State University (where she later served as an Adjunct Professor) in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. As a reporter, Sanchez has covered multiple stories on: politics, government, consumer issues, entertainment, and so on. She was the host of the national PBS TV show A Place of Our Own. She worked as a Dallas-based National Correspondent for CBS NewsPath1. After, she was an investigative reporter and anchor in San Diego, California. More specifically, as mentioned Elizabeth Sanchez was a correspondent for CBS NEWSPATH which she joined in October 2002. Prior to that, Sanchez served as a weekend anchor and journalist for KPHO-TV Phoenix (2000-02), where she covered the Arizona wildfires, among many other issues. Sanchez was the weekend morning anchor and reporter at WSOC-TV Charlotte from 1996-2000. She was an anchor and investigative reporter for Channel 10 in San Diego from 2005-08. In addition, she worked as an anchor and journalist for KYMA-TV Yuma, Ariz. (1993-94) and as a reporter for KYOU-TV Santa Ana, Calif. (1992-93).
Sanchez's experience also comprises radio reporting. She served as a producer and journalist for KFI-AM Los Angeles (1990-93), where she covered the L.A. riots. Moreover, she reported for KPCC-FM Pasadena, Calif. (1991-92). Hence, Sanchez has more than 20 years of experience as a radio and television news reporter. Sanchez has won several journalism awards. In this regard, she has received several Associated Press prizes, including Best of the West Environmental in 2001, Best Serious Feature in 1993 and Best Newscast in 1992. She has also won a Golden Mike Award for Best Newscast during a morning broadcast in 1991. Furthermore, she is the recipient of Emmys for outstanding investigative reporting.
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE FORMER SENATOR OF ILLINOIS: ADLAI E. STEVENSON III |
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Written by Patricia Turnier LL.M
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Thursday, 02 May 2013 21:02 |
Vice President Governor Senator Adlai E. Stevenson I Adlai E. Stevenson II Adlai E. Stevenson III
Perchance no American family has been actively involved in public office and politics for as long as the Adlai Stenvensons’ dynasty, starting with Jesse W. Fell (1808-1887) in the 1830s, including Vice President Adlai I (1835-1914)1, Governor Adlai II (1900-1965) and U.S. Senator Adlai III. Notably, Fell was Abraham Lincoln’s sponsor. Without Fell, the course of U.S. history would have been altered and Lincoln may never have been president.
Aforementioned, Adlai Ewing Stevenson III, born in 1930, was the Senator of Illinois from 1970 until 1981. Measured by a host of demographic factors, such as race, income, education, immigration and rural-urban composition, Illinois is America’s most representative state, according to the Census Bureau. Illinois had its difficulties with elected officials, but we cannot forget that it is also the home of Abraham Lincoln and Mr. President Barack Obama. In between those two Illinois Presidents, prominent public servants from the state have included five generations of the Stevenson family.
Stevenson III is a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War; he became a captain in 1961. Later he served as a law clerk for the Illinois Supreme Court. He was admitted to the bar in 1957 and started his practice in Chicago. Stevenson III was a partner in the large law firm of Mayer, Brown and a member of the Illinois House of Representatives between 1965 and 1967, a State Treasurer from 1967 until 1970 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1976, Chicago’s Mayor Daley wanted Stevenson III to run for President. In this regard, Stevenson III became one of six finalists for the vice presidential nomination at the 1976 Democratic Convention in New York.
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One on One With The Star of 42: Chad Boseman |
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Written by Kam Williams
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Wednesday, 01 May 2013 18:22 |
Hailing from Anderson, South Carolina, Chadwick Boseman is an accomplished actor, scriptwriter and playwright who, until now, was probably best known for portraying the character Nate on the critically-acclaimed dramatic TV series Lincoln Heights. Prior to entering show business, Chad Boseman earned degrees at Howard University and the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford.
Here, he talks about playing Jackie Robinson opposite Harrison Ford and Nicole Beharie in 42, a biopic about the late Hall of Famer’s historic breaking of Major League Baseball’s color barrier back in 1947.
Kam Williams: Hi Chad [Boseman], thanks for the interview.
Chad Boseman: Nice to talk to you, Kam [Williams].
KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier [of www.megadiversities.com] says: I appreciate the opportunity to ask you a question, especially because everything changed for Jackie Robinson in my hometown of Montreal. What did it mean to you to portray Jackie Robinson and how did you prepare for the role?
CB: It’s just a great honor to play him. In order to portray him, I basically paid attention to three different aspects of the role. First, the physical aspect of baseball, and his five-day-a-week workout regimen starting with Spring Training in the middle of January all the way to May. Secondly, I studied Hall of Fame footage of Jackie so that I could emulate his batting stance, how he took leads, how he ran bases, the arm slide he used in certain situations, and his fielding style.
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Exclusive Interview With The Talented Authoress of Rwandan Origin: Consolee Nishimwe |
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Written by Patricia Turnier
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Wednesday, 17 April 2013 16:23 |
Consolee Nishimwe was born in Western Province, Rwanda. Her name Consolee means comfort or consolation. She is 33, the age of Christ and was born on September 11th, a date which will always be remembered by Americans. Nishimwe was at home in Rubengera, Kibuye, with her parents and four siblings when the ethnic cleansing started on April 6, 1994 and ended three months later. After many years, a 2002 Rwandan government census indicated that the body count from the genocide totaled more than 1 million people. Tutsis accounted for 94 percent of those killed.
During the genocide, Nishimwe and her family were forced to leave their home and go into hiding, desperately trying to avoid capture and certain death. Unfortunately, she lost her father Andre, and three young brothers, 18-month-old Bon-Fils (this first name means Good Son), Philbert, 9 and Pascal, 7. They were brutally murdered along with many other close relatives, including her grandparents.
Ms. Consolee Nishimwe is a survivor of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda and lived through the horrors of that ethnic cleansing at age fourteen. She suffered incredible physical and emotional torture for three months. This was later compounded by unspeakable psychological trauma when she contracted HIV after being raped during the genocide and robbed of her innocence. In the end, Nishimwe miraculously survived with her mother and younger sister. During her period in hiding, Nishimwe’s faith was regularly tested. Over time, she succeeded in discarding the burden of vengeful thoughts for those who were persecuting her, by placing her ultimate destiny in God's hands. Nishimwe is an emblem of stoicism, endurance and fortitude. Her miraculous and inspiring story of survival is a true testament of hope and spirituality triumphing over evil and tragedy. It provides lessons and words of wisdom to readers from all walks of life. Hence, her book Tested to the Limit can be of great value to people who have lived through afflictions, as well as to or to those who need strength to overcome their own struggles.
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A Tête-à-Tête With The Emmy Winning Actress: Lisa Kudrow |
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Written by Kam Williams
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Tuesday, 09 April 2013 17:56 |
Lisa Marie Diane Kudrow was born in Encino, California on July 30, 1963 to Nedra, a travel agent, and Lee, a physician specializing in headaches. Lisa Kudrow came belatedly to acting, having focused more on athletics and academics both in high school and in college. She attended Vassar where she earned a BS in Psychobiology while playing tennis on the school’s varsity team.
After graduating from college, she returned to the West Coast where she contemplated following in her father’s footsteps. In fact, she was working as a medical researcher when her brother’s best friend, the actor Jon Lovitz, suggested she consider showbiz and encouraged her to audition for the legendary improv comedy troupe “The Groundlings.”
The brainy beauty was accepted into the ensemble and proceeded to hone her skills until she started landing bit roles on TV shows like Cheers, Newhart and Coach. Her big break came in 1992 when she was hired to portray Ursula Buffay, a recurring character on Mad about You.
A couple of years later, she parlayed that success into the role she will probably forever be associated with, namely, that of Phoebe Buffay, on Friends. During that landmark series’ ten-year run, Lisa would win an Emmy and more nominations than any of her talented co-stars. Still, all three Friends’ female cast members would make history by signing contracts paying them a record million dollars each per episode. Aforementioned, Mrs. Kudrow won Emmy Awards for Friends but also for The Opposite of Sex, The Comeback and Web Therapy.
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One on One With The Oscar Nominee Best Actor: Harrison Ford The 42 Interview |
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Written by Kam Williams
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Monday, 08 April 2013 17:27 |
Born in Chicago on July 13, 1942, Harrison Ford has Irish, German and Jewish roots. He was a late bloomer who only developed an interest in acting during his senior year of college. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked as carpenter for almost a decade while struggling trying to launch his showbiz career.
He was finally discovered in 1973 while installing cabinets in the home of George Lucas. The director cast him in American Graffiti, which in turn, led to his landing the iconic character Hans Solo in Star Wars, and the rest, as they say, is cinematic history.
Ford went on to play the title role in the Indiana Jones franchise, and to make memorable outings in such hit movies as The Fugitive, Witness, Air Force One, What Lies Beneath, Presumed Innocent, Blade Runner, Frantic, Apocalypse Now and Clear and Present Danger, to name a few. Here, the Oscar-nominated thespian (for Witness) talks about his latest outing opposite Chad Boseman as Brooklyn Dodgers’ general manager Branch Rickey in 42, a biopic about Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in baseball.
Kam Williams: Hi Mr. Ford, thanks so much for the interview. I’m very honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.
Harrison Ford: That’s kind of you to say, Kam [Williams].
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