ENSLEY, ALABAMA Bryan Williams has heard the F worddirected at him most of his 22 years.
It's usually the first word of a combo slur: fat boy, fat butt,fat ass, fatso, fatty. He has heard more far worse but you get the point.
At 462 pounds and standing at "five-foot fiveish" Williamshas heard all the slurs and the so-called "jokes." He said he could say thejokes stopped being funny a long time ago but the truth is they were neverfunny. Yet, he still hears them, especially from children and he asks why?
"They must hear thatfrom someone. Maybe their parents," said Williams. "Why does a four-year-oldthink it's funny to laugh at an obese person? Children are not born mean sothey get it or hear it from someone."
Williams grew up in west Birmingham. He graduated with anadvanced diploma from Wenonah High School where he played football. I asked himwhat position he played. He shot me a look. "Guess, Mr. Dean. With this framewhat position do you think I played?" he said smiling. I laughed too. "O-line.Right," I said. "Yes sir," he said."
Right now Williams is a Computer Engineering/Science Majorat UAB. When not in class he runs flower deliveries for his grandparents, Emmaand Robert Gray who own a flower shop on Avenue E.
Williams said he knows all the health consequences that comewith obesity hypertension, diabetes, heart problems, among others. He saidmost of those have been well documented.
Not as well documented are the social effects of obesity.Williams is out to change that. He hopes to produce a documentary about thesocial effects of obesity.
"I want to find out are we as a society, becoming sizeprejudice? Is size the new racism?" said Williams. "Why is bullying a 'fat' kidfunny? Is there a different social setting for different sized people? I wantto find out what happens in the workplace because I have experienced sizediscrimination before but I want to know others experiences and confront thosewho may still discriminate on a regular basis. It is so much I want to do withthis documentary."
Williams hopes to raise 0,000 and with it attract a largeproduction company with credible projects on their resume.
And Williams has another goal too: To finally lose theweight. He has made a start. His current 462 pounds is 55 pounds down from the517 pounds Williams had been carrying.
"I know I need to make the change and the Lord willing thistime I will," said Williams.
Williams said he knows only too well what some people thinkof him by just looking at him.
"People can be mean. For some reason if you look like mepeople feel free to tell you you're lazy or stupid. In school you can watchsome of them move away from me, not wanting to sit by the 'fat' kid. Some thinkyou stink. I take showers and wear cologne and care about what I wear. I don'tstink."
Williams at 22 has never been on an airplane. Has never gonefor a swim. Has never been on a roller-coaster. Recently his grandmotheroffered to buy him airplane tickets so he could fly to see his sister inCalifornia. The offer was for "tickets" because Williams would take up threeseats.
He turned the offer down.
"Bryan is so sweet. He told me he really appreciated theoffer but that he would wait to lose his weight and then I could maybe buy himone ticket," said Emma Gray. "We're all praying for him."
Williams said he doesn't want anybody to feel sorry for him.
"I just like to eat, eat too much and that has to stop andit is stopping," said Williams. "But even if I lose my weight, there will stillbe many obese people out there facing a kind of social prejudice that justisn't right and I want to make the documentary so people can better understandwho we are...people just like most of them, not freaks, not stupid, not lazy.Just people, bigger people but people."
Chuck Dean is through the stories told by its people -- sometimes about themselves, sometimes about their neighbors, sometimes about the places they call home.
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