Saturday Mornings With Joy Keys

    AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH Special Guest: Kim Kaiser is a proud Mom of a son on the Spectrum. She is an Autism Advocate, Artist and Certified Peer Support Specialist and Parent Advisor with Families Together in New York State and a Parent Trainer, panelist and collaborator with The Color of Autism Foundation. Kim has 35 years experience working with Families and grassroots initiatives in the areas of parent education, mental health, developmental disabilities and recovery. Kim supports and fights for Family and youth driven initiatives, self-advocacy and empowerment within undeserved communities. Special Guest:. Dr. Lamar Hardwick. After graduating high school in El Paso, Texas, Lamar enrolled and attended Concordia University Wisconsin where he would meet his wife and eventually graduate with a BA in criminal justice. Lamar would go on to graduate with a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree from Liberty University. Over the years Lamar has served as a you

KENT GARRETT was born in the Fort Greene Projects in Brooklyn, New York. He excelled in the New York City Public Schools and went on to Harvard College in 1959. He was one of the producers of the ground-breaking public TV program Black Journal and went on to a long career with CBS and NBC News. In 1997, he left the rat race and became an organic dairy farmer in upstate New York. THE LAST NEGROES AT HARVARD In the fall of 1959, Harvard recruited an unprecedented eighteen “Negro” boys as an early form of affirmative action. Four years later they would graduate as African Americans. Some fifty years later, one of these trailblazing Harvard grads, Kent Garrett, would begin to reconnect with his classmates and explore their vastly different backgrounds, lives, and what their time at Harvard meant.  Garrett and his partner Jeanne Ellsworth recount how these eighteen youths broke new ground, with ramifications that extended far past the iconic Yard. By the time they were seniors, they would have demonstrated agai

April is National Stress Awareneas Month Stress is up. Most Americans are suffering from moderate toh 44 percent reporting that their stress levels have increased over the past five years. Children are hurting. Stress is also taking a toll on kids. Almost a third of children reported that in the last month they had experienced a physical health symptom often associated with stress, such as headaches, stomach aches or trouble falling or staying asleep Self-care isn’t a priority. Only 40 percent of Americans rate their health as very good or excellent. *********************************** Bill Holmes is a writer, poet, author, therapist, and filmmaker. He is the author of the full-length poetry book Straight From My Heart, the spoken word CD The Air I Breathe, and the ESSENCE bestselling fiction novel One Love. Bill earned his M.S. in mental health counseling from Walden University. He is currently working on his memoir In the End that chronicles his journey of being diagnosed with and managing major depr

Leslie Irby is a trailblazer, innovator, speaker and avid traveler. Irby hails from East Point, GA. As a 2012 graduate of Fort Valley State University, Leslie was at the starting point of life when she was involved in a car accident in 2013 where multiple fatalities occurred.  Becoming paralyzed, Leslie decided life was worth living, she gave new meaning to “The Phoenix Rises”. Deciding to continue her education, In 2017, Leslie received her Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. She has worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for state vocational rehabilitation agencies. During  a flight to France, Leslie had the epiphany to finish a Dream started more than 12 years ago: to become a pilot. Thanks to a program called Able Flight, after 7 long weeks of flying day and night at Purdue University, on June 28, 2019, Leslie accomplished her goal and became a licensed sport pilot. She is now historically known as the First African American Female with a disability to receive a pilot license

CHIKA UNIGWE, PhD Chika Unigwe, PhD, is the author of four novels, including the acclaimed On Black Sisters' Street (Jonathan Cape, 2009), and winner of the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature (2012). In 2014 she was included in the Hay Festival Africa39 list of most promising African writers under the age of 40. In 2016, Unigwe was appointed as the Bonderman Professor for Creative Writing at Brown University in Rhode Island, and was a judge of the Man Booker International Prize in 2017.   BETTER NEVER THAN LATE BOOK A timely collection of interconnected stories about the experiences of Nigerian migrants making their way in Europe, centred around Prosperous and her husband Agu, and the various visitors who gather at their apartment in Belgium. These ten tales explore their struggles and triumphs, from unhappy marriages (of convenience or otherwise), and the pain of homesickness and loneliness, to dealing with religious fervour and exorcism. Award-winning author Chika Unigwe provides a very human slant o

Justin Driver is Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He teaches and writes in the area of constitutional law and is the author of The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind. The book was selected as a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year, an Editors’ Choice of the New York Times Book Review, and received an honorable mention, Silver Gavel Award, American Bar Association, 2019.  The Washington Postcalled The Schoolhouse Gate “masterful,” and the New York Times called it “indispensable.” Driver is a graduate of Brown, Oxford (where he was a Marshall Scholar), Duke (where he received certification to teach public school), and Harvard Law School (where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review). After graduating from Harvard, Driver clerked for Judge Merrick B. Garland, Justice Stephen Breyer, and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

As a talented actor on the rise, J. Alex Brinson continues to build his body of work by bringing dynamic characters to life within his acting career. Currently, Brinson can be seen as Bailiff Luke Watkins in CBS’s drama ALL RISE alongside Simone Missick, Wilson Bethel, Jessica Camacho. The drama follows the dedicated, chaotic, hopeful, and sometimes absurd lives of judges, prosecutors, and public defenders as they work with bailiffs, clerks and cops to get justice for the people of Los Angeles amidst a flawed legal system. Previously, Brinson starred as Jeff Conniker in Netflix Sci-fi series, TRAVELERS along side Nesta Cooper, Eric McCormack and Mackenzie Porter. Initially his role was only meant to be a 3-episode Guest Star, however, Brinson’s immersion into his role as a domestically violent police officer convinced the show’s producers that they wanted him for all 3 seasons. Brinson’s early passion to perform landed him a place in the Drama Division at the prestigious Juilliard School where he went up a

Special guest: Singer Sia Tolno. Sia Tolno was born1975 in Gueckedou in Guinea, Geopolitical this ravaged area had eleven years of civil war, from 1991 to 2002, because of the"blood diamonds", which were taken by warlords.  Sia Tolno has long wanted to "seize the Afrobeat, an expression of anger music, which is at the height of what I mean."  For her previous two albums, Eh Sanga and My Life (RFI Award 2011), she worked with Guinean guitarist Kante Manfila (a former Ambassadors Salif Keita) first, then Mamadou Camara, guitarist veteran of orchestra Kaloum Star. Sia Tolno advocate for women. "They have a place in Africa today," she said, using the example of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Prize, which governs Liberia since 2006. "For us, family, husband, children, a belief, it is important. You have to respect it to better denounce the scourge of female circumcision. So I say without aggression, "it must cut anything." Or I talk to women so they no longer tolerate humiliating marriage, but respecting t

Lil Rel Howery stars as Jerrod's ever-hustling brother, Bobby Carmichael, in the NBC comedy "The Carmichael Show." Hailing from Chicago, Howery has been seen on his own Comedy Central special, "Last Comic Standing," "Russell Simmons Presents Stand-Up at the El Rey," "Martin Lawrence Presents 1st Amendment Stand Up" and "Diddy's Bad Boys of Comedy." He has also made appearances on "The Arsenio Hall Show," "Shaq's All Star Comedy Jam" and "Chelsea Lately." In 2009, Lil Rel began his first business, The Lil Rel Company. Initially launched as the holding company for his stand-up comedy material, The Lil Rel Company now houses the entire Lil Rel brand. His new CD, "I Know You Hear Me, But Are You Listening," is available on iTunes. Last year, Howery appeared on BET's "Comic View," Fox's animated series "Lucas Bros Moving Co," Comedy Central's "Comedy Underground with Dave Attell" and the recently renewed TruTV sketch show "Friends of the People," for which he also writes and executive produces.

Noo Saro-Wiwa was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and raised in England. She attended King's College London and Columbia University in New York. Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria (Granta, 2012) is her first book. It was selected as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in 2012, and was named The Sunday Times Travel Book of the Year, 2012. Shortlisted for the Author’s Club Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award in 2013, Looking for Transwonderland was also nominated by The Financial Times as one of the best travel books of 2012. The Guardian newspaper included it among its 10 Best Contemporary Books on Africa in 2012. It has been translated into French and Italian. She has contributed book reviews, travel, opinion and analysis articles for The Guardian newspaper, The Independent, The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement and Prospect magazine, among others.   Noo has also written travel guides for Lonely Planet and Rough Guides. Website: http://www.noosarowiwa.com/

Chioma Okereke was born in Benin City, Nigeria. She started her writing career as a poet and performed throughout Europe and the United States before turning her hand to fiction. Her work has been shortlisted in the Undiscovered Authors Competition 2006,run by Bookforce UK, and in the Daily Telegraph's 'Write a Novel in a Year' Competition in 2007. Bitter Leaf is a richly textured and intricate novel set in Mannobe, a world that is African in nature but never geographically placed. At the heart of the novel is the village itself and its colourful cast of inhabitants: Babylon, a gifted musician who falls under the spell of the beautiful Jericho who has recently returned from the city; Mabel and M'elle Codon, twin sisters whose lives have taken very different paths, Magdalena, daughter of Mabel, who nurses an unrequited love for Babylon and Allegory, the wise old man who adheres to tradition.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autism are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors. http://www.africanamerautism.com/ Special Guest: Angela Norris -Hawkins, Angela, along with her mother, are co- founders of the African American Autism Center, one of a handful of African American focused community based organization helping families with children along the autism spectrum and Elevated Thinking for Success, which is the philanthropic arm for the AAAC, supporting various community initiatives and activities through monetary and voluntary efforts. Special Guest: The Color of Autism Foundation was founded to fill a void of providing aid to children and their families coping with autism. About the founder: Camille Proctora mother of an autistic son founded the organization after her son was diagnosed.  After witnessing a gre

Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a novelist, essayist, journalist and humorist. She was born in Enugu, Nigeria. As a teenager, she secretly dreamed of becoming a CIA or KGB agent. She studied Psychology at the University of Ibadan.  Her first income was from winning a writing competition at the age of 13. In her first year at university, she was a member of the Idia Hall Chess Team, and also a member of the university's (classical music) choir.    I Do Not Come to You by Chance:A deeply moving debut novel set amid the perilous world of Nigerian email scams, I Do Not Come to You by Chance tells the story of one young man and the family who loves him. Being the opera of the family, Kingsley Ibe is entitled to certain privileges--a piece of meat in his egusisoup, a party to celebrate his graduation from university. As first son, he has responsibilities, too. But times are bad in Nigeria, and life is hard. Unable to find work, Kingsley cannot take on the duty of training his younger siblings, nor can he provide his par

Songstress LIRA, whose music career spans 13 years and includes 6 Studio albums, 3 live DVD’s, an autobiography and a movie; has established herself as the foremost female artist in South Africa and a formidable presence on the global music scene. When asked to elaborate on the significance of the title; “I grew up in a world where I faced so many limitations. I realised defining freedom for myself and subsequently living it was what I needed to do. In exploring this, the concept of “Born Free” became clearer. I want people to realise how powerful they are and that they can own their freedom. This album has become more than a body of musical work, it seeks to inspire and create change – physically and most importantly, mentally “says LIRA. Born Free masterfully blends a new sound with the smooth urban direction synonymous with the LIRA brand. “This is my best record yet, adds LIRA, and listeners should expect to hear the definitive growth and boldness which that brings.” Born Free marks a new direction for

Yolanda Wisher is the 2016-2017 Poet Laureate of the City of Philadelphia. Wisher is the author of Monk Eats an Afro and the co-editor of Peace is a Haiku Song.  Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Fence, Chain, MELUS, and GOOD Magazine and the anthologies Gathering Ground and The Ringing Ear.  Wisher is a 2016 Hedgebrook Writer-in-Residence, 2015 Pew Fellow, Center for Performance and Civic Practice Catalyst Initiative grantee (2015), Leeway Art & Change Award recipient (2008), and the inaugural Montgomery County Pennsylvania Poet Laureate (1999).  She holds an M.A in English/Creative Writing-Poetry from Temple University and a B.A. in English/Black Studies from Lafayette College. Wisher founded and directed the Germantown Poetry Festival (2006-2010) and served as Director of Art Education for the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program (2010-2015).  She currently works as Chief Rhapsodist of Wherewithal for the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture. 

Actress, writer and director Keesha Sharp shines in her current role as Dale Cochran, the wife of defense attorney Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance), in FX’s “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”  She’s also well known for series regular roles as Gigi on the TBS (and Syndicated) comedy “Are We There Yet?” in which she also made her directorial debut, and as Monica Charles Brooks on the hit CW series “Girlfriends,” for which she was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.   Keesha is also recognized for her recurring television roles on The CW’s “ Significant Mother,” CBS’s “Bad Teacher,” ABC Family’s “Melissa & Joey,” UPN’s “Everybody Hates Chris,” and guest starring appearances on NBC’s “The Player,” TV Land’s “The Exes,” CBS’s “Elementary,” CBS’s “Cold Case,” and more.   She can also be seen in Tyler Perry’s hit film, Why Did I Get Married? alongside Perry and Janet Jackson, as well as the upcoming indie films Frozen Peas and Born Gui

Kali Nicole Gross is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and affiliate faculty in the History Department and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.  Her research concentrates on black women’s experiences in the United States criminal justice system between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is author of the award-winning book, Colored Amazons: Crime, Violence and Black Women in the City of Brotherly Love, 1880-1910, and the newly released, Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso: A Tale of Race, Sex, and Violence in America.   A native New Yorker with Guyanese ancestry, Dr. Gross received her B.A. from Cornell University and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. In Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso, historian Kali Nicole Gross uses detectives' notes, trial and prison records, local newspapers, and other archival documents to reconstruct this ghastly whodunit crime in a

  Special Guest: Author  Kimberla Lawson Roby chats about her new book Best Friends Forever. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER tells the story of Celine Richardson, her husband, Keith, and their 10-year-old daughter, Kassie.  But this once loving marriage and happy family unit turn devastating when, only days apart, Celine is diagnosed with breast cancer and learns that Keith is having an affair.  Worse, Keith still leaves her for the other woman.  Celine then wonders how she’ll navigate the difficult process of surgery and additional cancer treatment, but comfort and support come in the form of Celine's best friend, Lauren.  They've been attached at the hip since they were children, and it is Lauren who's there for Celine in her darkest moments.  Of course, Keith may want to come back home, forcing Celine to consider some tough decisions relating to the marriage and otherwise—and for the very first time in her life, she wants to give up.  Lauren vows to help her best friend in any way she can, but will it be too late?

Special guest: Author Tananarive Due Whether weaving family life and history into dark fiction or writing speculative Afrofuturism, American Book Award winner and Essence bestselling author Tananarive Due’s work is both riveting and enlightening. In her debut collection of short fiction, Due takes us to Gracetown, a small Florida town that has both literal and figurative ghost; into future scenarios that seem all too real; and provides empathetic portraits of those whose lives are touched by Otherness. Featuring an award-winning novella and fifteen stories—one of which has never been published before—GHOST SUMMER: STORIES, is sure to both haunt and delight. - See more at: http://www.prime-books.com/shop/print-books/ghost-summer-stories-by-tananarive-due/#sthash.5KgJbPuU.dpuf

Special guest : Astrologer Samuel F. Reynolds. Samuel F. Reynolds, a former skeptic, had a life-changing visit to an astrologer and has since spent 23 years doing charts and studying astrology. Now Samuel consults, writes, and teaches astrology full-time. He currently is the resident astrologer for New York Magazine and Pride Magazine in the UK. He serves on the boards of directors for the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) and the Astrology News Service, and he’s a co-founder of the International Society of Black Astrologers.  His home website is unlockastrology.com