Legendary Performer Debbie Allen on Her Mission to Prevent Blindness: ‘This is Personal for Me’ (Exclusive)
Diagnosed as pre-diabetic, Allen says she’s inspired by her 100-year-old mother to take care of her own eye health
Debbie Allen knows how devastating it can be to lose your eyesight.
“Diabetes has ravaged my family: my father, my grandfather, my aunts and uncles,” says the legendary multi-hyphenate performer (she’s a dancer, actor, choreographer, director and producer). “I have three cousins whose vision is impaired — one is legally blind and he had to learn braille as a grown man.”
Diagnosed with pre-diabetes several years ago, “I was made aware of all the different health complications that could arise, but nobody was talking about my eyesight,” says Allen, 73. “And it’s not just diabetes. There’s a huge community of us who are 60-plus and at risk for retinal diseases.”
That’s why Allen has teamed up with the non-profit Prevent Blindness and pharmaceutical company Regeneron for the Gr8 Eye Movement campaign. “We want people on the 8th of every month to make that a time to prioritize your eye health,” Allen says. Diabetes and advanced age are two risk factors for retinal disease, but poor circulation due to high blood pressure or high cholesterol can also put you at risk. “These are diseases in the back of the eye that you don’t always see. There’s no warning,” Allen says.
Allen, a 2020 Kennedy Center Honoree and five-time Emmy winner (two for her work on Fame), says her mom, poet Vivian Ayers Allen, is her inspiration for taking good care of her own eyes and health.
“My mom is a hundred years old,” says Allen, who along with her sister, Phylicia Rashad recently celebrated the milestone birthday with their mother. “She is healthy and alert, but I take her to the eye doctor at least three times a year. And every time I take her, I get myself checked as well because I know that that’s in my DNA.”
Health has always been a priority in their family, says Allen. “We take really good care of mom and for her it’s about health. That why she’s doing so well,” Allen says. “My mom is truly my greatest inspiration, my best critic, and my great love. And she has developed me, my sister, Phylicia, my brother Tex, who’s a jazz musician, and my younger brother Hugh, who’s president of a bank. She’s raised us in the world to be able to see ourselves in the universe as far as we can go.”
And Allen, who continues to dance and teach, says she has no intention of slowing down herself. “I am 73 years old. And most people don’t believe it because I walk around like a 50-year-old, jumping and skipping and hopping,” she says.
While she is careful with her diet (“I try to not eat a lot of sugar or carbs.”), what really fuels her is being a “servant to the community,” she says. “Celebrity ought to mean doing what you can for your community, not just getting a good seat in a restaurant.”
In addition to dance scholarships for needy kids, Allen’s non-profit Debbie Allen Dance Academy also hosts classes for cancer patients and victims of domestic violence. “If you do good, good comes back to you,” she says. “While I’m still living and breathing, I will use myself for what can be helpful to the world.”
