Black Horizons; 2508; For Your Health

Hello, this is Black Horizons. I'm Elaine Effort from KQV Radio, sitting in for Chris Moore, who's on vacation. From music lovers everywhere, the Hill House Association offers a variety in jazz and classical performances. Later on in the show, we'll tell you more about the Pittsburgh Symphony's Return to the Hill. You may have heard on last week's show that Black Horizons is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year in honor of this special occasion, WQED, is planning a special event that you can participate in and even help create. We'll tell you how to do that later on in the show. We'll also get the Inside Scoop on a new film about Tina Turner. What's love got to do with it featuring Angela Bassett and Larry Fishburn. But first, before we go on to the entertainment, let's talk about and direct our attention to a very important issue that affects our community, health care. The tremendous rise in health care costs makes many people leery of seeing a doctor. As a result, many men, women, and children do not get the proper care they need. Today I'm happy to report good news

about a special project called Run for Your Health. It's free, it's convenient, and here to tell us more about it is Bonita Burden, director of the socially and economically disadvantaged division of the American Cancer Society. Joining Bonita is Curtis Heflin, assistant director of operations at the Housing Authority and Run for Your Health Volunteer. Thank you both for being here. Bonita, what is this all about? What's going to happen at the Pitt Stadium Run for Your Health? It sounds like more than just a run. What really is, what we decided to do was to get together many of the health organizations in the Pittsburgh area, such as the American Cancer Society, all timers outreach, Pittsburgh age task force, the Gateway Medical Group, which is the group of African American physicians, and the University of Pittsburgh. And we kind of got together and decided that we would try to promote healthy habits. So what we did was to create a run. The run is a half a mile run. We also have a drill team competition, as well as a gospel

saying. Our mode is to get people in there and then give them health screenings and information on obtaining healthy habits. So the gospel and the run, all of this is to feature fun things that people might be interested in, and then once you get them there, what's in store for them, what kinds of screenings and information about healthy lifestyles. We're looking at pressure screenings, diabetes screenings, eye and ear, and we're looking for even sickle cell screening at this point. I guess one of the objectives is to bring people together to show them even running and singing and belonging to a drill team is healthy, productive, friendly competition. One thing you might go down the street, you see a bunch of kids just hanging out in the street. We're trying to say these are some productive things that you can do rather than just hang on that corner. There is a drill team in your area. There is a gospel group in your area. There is a track group in your area, you know, riding some role

models for these kids as well. Now why is something like this necessary? Is there evidence that people don't get regular checkups or test and screenings that are available? Well, even if you look at cancer alone, what you'll find is that, although the incidence of cancer is about the same with our Caucasian counterparts, African Americans are dying at an increasing stately pace than their Caucasian counterparts. That's because we do not get in for early detection and diagnosis. We wait till the pain comes and by the time pain comes, you have a problem when you can do it before the pain comes. You know, some people say, well, I feel good, so I don't need a screening and I don't need to check up. And that's the time to have a screening or a checkup before. Curtis, how difficult was this to pull it together and make this happen? It sounds like a lot of ingredients, a lot of different agencies and people. How difficult was this to pull it together? Well, it has been difficult trying to get all the people together

at one particular time and talking with chair halls and Bill Harmon over at the University of Pittsburgh. We decided that if we get all these different groups together at one particular time, we could do a number, do some things such as networking, different groups learning about other groups and just in harmony, just coming together. Do these different groups know what the other group is doing? Are we pretty well connected in this city that's rather known for its community -based agencies, its world -class health facilities? Do we all know what we're doing, what another is doing? I don't think so. This is why when this first started, Charles said, what can we do to bring the people together? And this is the concept that we're going to use to try to bring the people together. Are you going to do the run? Yeah, I can run. You say it with a slide. Did you have to get in shape for this? Well, I walk a lot throughout Holland Park

and North Park and in my job, I do a lot of walking. Now, in your job, you work with the City Housing Authority, so how did you get involved with this? What's the connection? Well, at the Housing Authority, well, you're looking at maybe 30 ,000 people that belong in the public housing. There's a lot of people there that need health care. We sometimes get in touch with the University of Pittsburgh to bring in screenings. But all in all, what we've done in the past and what we need to continue to do in the future is to keep bringing people together. We've been talking about coming together, coming together. This is a way that we can come together. How many people would you like to see turn out? I'd like to see five or six thousand people. Realistically, how many do you? Realistically, maybe 1 ,000. And that would be a decent turnout, would you say, Benita?

Yes, I can think of this. Because we're looking at people ages 10 to 67, so we can hit all age groups and all facets. Was these either education, information, and resources, but what's available in their community to service them? Are you specifically interested in children so that they can see the kinds of things they can join and do like the drill team that you were saying that's going to, or do you really want the entire family to come out? We want the entire family, but I know that with my own son and smoking, him coming to me saying, oh, you need to quit that. You need to quit that. It was enough to make me say, okay, you know, it's just a nagging. So we know that children sometimes change behaviors of parents rather than modeling that behavior. So if we can even do that, then I would say we've accomplished it. We can do it with one person, and we've accomplished something. And is this a day -long event, or is it just in the morning or afternoon? It starts at 10, and bring a picnic basket, and just enjoy yourself for the day, and we'll be through about four. And once again, the price is right. It's free. Okay. Thank you very

much, Bonita Burden and Christopher Heffland. Run for your health is Friday, July 10th at Pitt Stadium and begins at 10 in the morning. For more information, you can call the American Cancer Society at 2614352. Please get out and support this worthwhile event. And now, on a lighter vein, we've got Menette Seat with us for a review of what love got to do with it, starring Angela Bassett. Some of you may remember her from Boys in the Hood and the Jackson's and American Dream. She's a terrific actress, along with her co -star, veteran actor Larry Fishburn. Let's take a look. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come

on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on come on, come on, come on that I can't believe it. The joining us in this studio now is Manet seat.

Manet what'd you say? Did you like it? I really enjoyed it a lot. I went with my girlfriend Heather and she and I sat there we cried we laughed we hooded. We had the best time at this movie. It's extremely entertaining. Now, people said tell me that they were a little depressed because Tina gets beaten so much and - you cry, because it's such a miserable. I mean, there are so many bad things that happen to this woman at the hands of her husband. And the whole time you're watching it, you're thinking, can it really have been this bad? Was it all of this true? How can it have happened? And I mean, he's still alive. He would think very much if he wanted to put a stop to it. It was slandering his name. He could put a stop to it. It couldn't possibly not be true. But it's so triumphant when she finally leaves him. And she finally learns to fight back. And she finds herself through Buddhism and all these things that you were really happy when the movie ends. Well, besides, you also know this story. You already know it's a success story. You know that she did not. And it was a triumphant of the wheels.

And does that make it easier to sit through when she's getting totally beat? No, it doesn't. Because the scenes, the abuse scenes are so intense and they're so personal that if you've ever been in an abusive situation or seen an abusive situation between a man and a woman, it's just too realistic. People jump. I mean, but the third of the way, two thirds of the way through the movie, men, mostly, were standing up in the movie screaming. Hit him back. Hit him back. But it wasn't just in a big way. But it wasn't just a movie about getting beat up. She, it was the entire story of Tina Turner. Anna Mae Bulk, who grew up in a very small town. Down south, his mother left her as a small child. She was raised as a biogram mother. Then finally went north to meet her mother and her older sister. How she met eye to eye. How she started singing with his review when she was just an eye cat to begin with. The whole Tina Turner thing. Now, does this work to the movie's disadvantage that most people know the eye can Tina Turner's story? I mean, most of us know their music and we know something about them already.

So is this an accurate portrayal? Or are we, you know, we know how it is. So I don't know, does that work to the advantage or disadvantage of the movie? I think it works to the advantage of the movie in that you are so pumped up about this woman. And you know that she escaped from this life and became this huge star that you want to see what she worked through and how she became the person that she is today. It doesn't, for some reason, even though you know the outcome, it doesn't take away from the suspense you feel. And you wonder how long it's going to take for her, you know, to wake up. It doesn't really take away from the movie at all other than, like I said before, you wonder how did I let this happen? Right. Well, he says that there are a bunch of lies. He says, oh, I'm not going to respond to this. I responded before when she wrote the book. And I told you then that this is a lie, and it's a lie then and it's a lie now. I read a new interview with him in a time magazine today where he said, well, I hit her, you know, I'd say something to her and she'd get this really sad look on her face and I can't stand for people to look sad. So I hit her, which

made perfect sense to me. So, but Angela Bassett is amazing. She doesn't really look physically like Tina Turner, but she has gotten her body so chiseled and the dance moves in the facial expressions and the clothes that she wore. She just transcends all the physical differences between the two of them. What about the singing? Does she sing the, but that sounded like Tina. The vocals are actually Tina Turner and she did a lot of the old songs that they had originally recorded together in the 60s. She redid them for the movie. And it's amazing. And Laurence Fishburn, Larry Fishburn, is just, he's great. You hate him. He's such a fine actor. I can't say enough about it. Oh my God, you can't stand him. And he's one of my absolute favorites of all time and you really can't stand him when the movie's over. Now, is he abusing drugs in the movies? Yes, he is. It's like the whole, it's, it is the rock and roll biopic. I mean, drug abuse, flashy cars, flashy clothes, too much money, too fast. Big house in California. Yeah, the whole thing. The whole nine yards. Now, if you, how do you rate this? Usually rate, if it's worth the ticket

or the popcorn, if it's worth full admission price, which I think is $6 .75 now. It's a really good movie, but this is great. For me, I found it to be really great summer entertainment. It was just, it was inspiring. It made me want to go see Tina Turner, who's going to be here at Star Lake next week. It made me, they just jumped up and down and yelled and cried and had a great time at this movie. So I would go to the full $6 .75 on this one. Oh, wow, okay. Well, you know, Tina said she doesn't want to see it. No, she's in the same article. She said, you know, I already, I got beat up. I don't need to see somebody else playing me get beat up. Yeah, and so the acting is good, the music. The music is great. Yeah, what about how loud it is? I heard about that. That they blast your, you know. I haven't really ever since, and I'm completely holding those dinosaurs responsible for this. Ever since Jurassic Park, everything is loud. I mean, they're loud at earthquake, but everybody settled down for a little bit. But since Jurassic Park came out, everything is so loud. Maybe they didn't get it down. You know, there was cranked up for that. They fall out of that chair. There's nothing

new here. But these are good things. I was telling Leigh J before it's like, I can take my mom to every movie now and she can talk and nobody can hear it. Because that loud, well, maybe that's why they're doing it because you know, there's a theater coming. Yeah, there are always people in the audience who talk through the movie and you want to turn around with them. Yeah, there's lots of like long, long, like the scene we just saw, lots of musicals that lasted a long, long time. So I think you'd enjoy it very much. Yes, but this is a very much an adult movie. This isn't family. No, no, no. This is not definitely not a children's movie. What is it rated? I think it's rated PG -13. There's not a lot of nudity in it, but there is violence and everybody knows that violence is more acceptable than sexuality. But how could they give a PG -13? If you're a crime, you're in the brutality of it. I don't know. It's the... I'm holding you response. It's a big question. It's always been, why is it all right for children to see violence, but it's not all right for them to see sex. I mean, at least one

is an idea of two people like enjoying each other's company, the other one you're hitting him and they had with a brick. I don't get it. You tell me. All right. We'll figure that out. Bigger questions that I can answer on this program. But for now, go see what love got to do with it. Definitely. Thank you, Vanessa. Before we go on, I'd like to take this time to remind you that this year, Black Horizon celebrates its 25th anniversary. Now, that's a unique milestone among public television programs. In fact, Black Horizons is the longest running program of its kind on public television. WQED is very proud of that fact. So proud that they are planning a big birthday party and would like you to participate in the fun. Here's a word from Chris on what to do and when. Hello, I'm Chris Moore. This year, Black Horizon celebrates its 25th year. 1968 was a year of change here in Pittsburgh on April 4th, Dr. King was assassinated and here in the city riot soon followed. Later that month, Black Horizons began. It seems like a long time ago, but most of you

remember 1968 all to vividly. We're asking you to help recall memories of 68 now along with the eight of your video cameras. Just gather up some old photos and tape them and send them along with you on camera recounting your favorite memory of 68. Each week during our silver anniversary, we'll air one of your memories of 1968. It'll make you eligible for special prizes that we'll be offering and later this year, you'll be invited to our big 25th anniversary celebration bash. So come on, get out those video cameras and those old photographs and send along your favorite memory of 68. Two memories of 68 and care of Black Horizons, 4802 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15213. All you have to do to ever is to remember when and recreate your favorite memory of 68. Did you see those funny pictures of Chris Moore? Don't forget to get out those video cameras and some of your

favorite photos and send us our memories of 1968. Whether it's the riots you remember, your high school prom or graduation, send it in and you could see your video air right here on Black Horizons. Our next guest are certainly not here to talk about 1968 but more importantly, something very current that's happening in our city. It's the Pittsburgh Symphony's Outreach Concert Series. Here to tell us more is the Tamarious Cooper Coordinator of the Arts Program at the Hill House Association and Kirk Muspratt, resident conductor of staff conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony since 1991. Thank you both for being here. Tamarious, this is a return visit. Yes. How could you convince the symphony to come back? Well, I'll tell you, we had a successful first concert in March. We were 500 strong. Everyone loved it. This is by popular demand, believe me. Now, what does the symphony perform? What kinds of things? Actually, it's a variety of music. We

have classical, some funny pieces. Some pieces I think people will recognize and just acoustically, the hall sounds wonderful. Now, just judging by your voice. I know you're a coordinator, but do you participate in it as well? I'm a musician. Last time around I did perform, this time around I'm coordinating and still going strong in that respect. I'm looking forward to the cellist, Michael Lippman, who is going to be the guest artist this time around. Well, why aren't you performing? I just like the sound of the voice. I have to tell you. I have to tell you because of my job with the symphony. I received no, I received a contract with Wheeling Symphony. So I'll be busy this weekend, but I'll be back for the concert July 9th. Okay. And Kirk, tell us something about the cellist that's going to participate. Michael Lippman is in our cello section of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He's a wonderful musician, very fine cellist, and we've featured different people in the orchestra as we go around the city. And we hadn't

had a cellist play at that. Michael, we've been waiting for a chance to let Pittsburgh hear Michael. So he's going to play part of one of the most popular cello concertos in the world, I think, the Hyde and cello concerto. And it's a nice contrast to you be Blake that we'll be doing, Gershwin Lovewalk then, Victor Herbert, a little bit of Rossini, which is very fun music. And there's some secret pieces I don't want to tell you about because those are kind of my things that I plan to entertain, especially the children, because we have grandma's coming with moms, with little guys. And it's a chance for us to be one -on -one after the concert, during the concert, there's a lot of interaction with the people in the, usually I do some kind of audience participation kind of piece. So it's a chance for us to be very hands -on with people, with beautiful music. Now, this performance is free. How can you pull this off and pull all this together and say to the public, it's free, just come on down. We're very lucky to have two very general

responses. One is the came light, which we all use and prosper from. And the other is Wheaton Worldwide Moving, who helps us very much in moving the enormous amount of equipment that this symphony has. You can't, until you've seen a double bass case, you really, or a harp case, you can't imagine how much trouble and expense that is. So we have some very general responses. And people who have seen success already, they were our sponsors in the last series of outreach concerts and felt that it was valuable for the people in Pittsburgh and we're very grateful to them. What has been the audience reaction to this outreach approach of the Pittsburgh Symphony to move it around, to get it out of downtown Pittsburgh and take it into the communities? Oh, I think terrific. Don't you think I have to tell you in all honesty. I attended several of the programs and Hill House in particular. People cried. Literally, they were so moved by the music. We had children there sitting transfixed, eye -shining. And there was one young girl who actually conducted the whole program. We're trying to find that young girl right now.

She might have the potential. It was incredible. It was an incredible experience. And when I say they're backed by popular demand, I don't know anyone who was at that performance who was just not mesmerized. So this little girl felt free enough to stand up and to go ask what she thinks she's at. But it's a very relaxed atmosphere. The symphony, Pittsburgh's world acclaimed symphony is right there in front of you performing, dialoguing with the audience. You can't ask for more. Is that the point to let people know that the symphony is something they too can enjoy? And especially the variety of the music. Absolutely, sure. The orchestra used to do this a lot, historically, in this city. And then just for many reasons. And also because we had the privilege of getting a Hines Hall about 20, one years ago. It's a beautiful space. It's a good acoustic. And so for many reasons, we kind of focused our attention back downtown. And for a long time, and we've been wanting to go back

out into the community. And now we have the weeks available and the services available, the time available to do it. And we want to. Also, there are many people for, again, a variety of reasons who can't always just get down to a Hines Hall on a certain day or for many different reasons. So that's a rather spread out community from Butler to Zili and Opal to wherever. And so, when we go, we have, yes. For instance, we are going to Butler this time. We're going to Monroeville. We're going to Lawrenceville. We're going several different places like that. And so for people who can't just get in their car and go to Hines Hall in an hour's notice, we're there. And you can have punch and cookies with us after. And, you know, meet the saxophone player, the trombonist, or the double bass player, the timpani player, those kind of things. You know, I think there's going to be a world premiere. Yeah, so there's a world premiere of a piece by a young Pittsburgh musician named Michael Moritz. I'm sure you know his name. He writes music, a great deal for the ballet. The mighty Casey, that was a great success last year. And we're going to do a world premiere of a very beautiful four -minute

piece that he wrote for two of his friends at their wedding. And it's a very beautiful romantic little piece called Memento. So that's nice for him, but also for the audience. And is there a limited space or how many people can it be? Actually, 500 strong. 500 strong. So there's no reason for us to miss, no. As a matter of fact, the crowd was so intense last time around. We actually had to turn people away. This time around, call in, get your ticket early. All right. Thank you very much. The Marriott School Pleasure and Kirkman. Thank you, Lynn. Don't forget Pittsburgh Symphony Friday, July 9th at the Hill House Association at Kaufman Auditorium. For free tickets, call 3 -9 -2 -4433 or 3 -9 -2 -4475. Some say the best things in life are free. This is a free event the entire family can enjoy. Well, that's all for now. Thank you for joining us. And don't forget to tune in next week when Menette's seat will be your host. And don't forget to take advantage of all the special things we've talked about, particularly the free healthcare screening of Pitt.

And of course, the free concert series at the Hill House. And last but not least, don't forget to mail in your memories of 1968. Have a great week. Oh,

leave me. Now, what does the symphony perform? What kinds of things? Actually, it's a variety of music. We have a classical of some funny pieces. Some pieces, I think, people will recognize. And just acoustically, the hall sounds wonderful. Now, just judging by your voice. I know you're a coordinator, but do you participate in it as well? I'm a musician. Last time around, I did perform. This time around, I'm coordinating and still going strong in that respect. I'm looking forward to the cellist Michael Lippmann was going to be the guest artist this time around. Well, why aren't you performing? I just like the sound of the voice. I have to tell you. I know. I have to tell you because of my job with the symphony. I received no. I received a contract with Wheeling Symphony. So I'll be busy this weekend, but I'll be back for the concert July 9th. OK. And Kirk,

tell us something about the cellist that's going to participate. Michael Lippmann is in our cello section of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He's a wonderful musician. Very fine cellist. And we feature different people in the orchestra as we go around the city. And we hadn't had a cellist play at that. And Michael, we've been waiting for a chance to let Pittsburgh hear Michael. So he's going to play part of one of the most popular cello concertos in the world. I think the Hyde and cello concerto. And it's a nice contrast to UB Blake that we'll be doing. Gershwin Love Walkdown, Victor Herbert, a little bit of Rossini, which is very fun music. And there's some secret pieces I don't want to tell you about because those are kind of my things that I plan to entertain, especially the children. Because we have grandma's coming with moms, with little guys. And it's a chance for us to be one -on -one after the concert, during the concert. There's a lot of interaction with the people in the, usually

I do some kind of audience participation kind of piece. So it's a chance for us to be very hands -on with people, with beautiful music. Now, this performance is free. How can you pull this off and pull all this together and say to the public it's free, just come on down? We're very lucky to have two very generous sponsors. One is Duquesne Light, which we all use and prosper from. And the other is Wheaton Worldwide, moving, who helps us very much in moving the enormous amount of equipment that this symphony has. You can't, until you've seen a double bass case, you really, or a harp case, you can't imagine how much trouble and expense that is. So we have some very generous sponsors. And people who have seen success already, they were our sponsors in the last series of outreach concerts and felt that it was valuable for the people in Pittsburgh and we're very grateful to them. What has been the audience reaction to this outreach approach of the Pittsburgh Symphony to move it around, to get it out of downtown Pittsburgh and take it into the communities? Oh, I think terrific.