Saturday Mornings with Joy Keys

Show will start at 11:45am ET. Special Guest: Samuel F. Reynolds is a practicing astrologer in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. He has trained with some of the most notable minds in the astrological world, like Alan Oken, Robert Zoller, and Christopher Warnock, all of whom have helped him obtain his Level III certificate from NCGR in 2004. He writes for numerous online and print publications, including aol.com and tarot.com. He’s also been a speaker at national astrology conferences, like Moses Siregar’s Blast conference, the International Society for Astrological Research’s National Conference and the State of the Art astrology conference in Buffalo, NY in the fall 2009. Samuel provides astrological counseling for Robert Currey's Astro*Live*Link, a British-based dial-in service dedicated to astrological counseling for people throughout the English speaking world, and on weekends, he has hosted the “Zodiac Lounge”, a NYC-based spiritual bazaar, where he brings together various healers and seers to serve in economically challenged communities. Additionally, he is a co-founder of the Astrology Career Institute (www.astrologycareerinstitute.com), which provides students with the resources and marketing tools to become practicing astrologers themselves. Samuel has a MA from Temple University.  http://www.return2thesource.net/home.html  

Ursula Rucker is a Philadelphia born poet, mother, activist and recording artist. She has been performing, recording and releasing works for over 17 years. She is dedicated to art as/for social change…and committed to freedom fighting, truth-telling and peace making through her chosen art form. To date, Ursula has released five solo albums (Supa Sista, Silver or Lead, ma’at mama, Ruckus Soundsysdom, She Said)…as well as collaborated on over 50 songs, in a wide array of musical genres, with producers/artists from around the world (such as King Britt, Bahamadia, The Roots, 4 Hero, Jazzanova, Louis Vega, Incognito).  Ursula was awarded both the Leeway Foundation’s Art for Change & Transformation Awards. She is the feature of a documentary short called POET. And currently, she has just completed her first book, Drown the Devil…a collaborative project of poems and photos dedicated to New Orleans with Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist, Clarence Williams. Ursula Rucker POET documentary trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch%3fv=xkl4HnjtaJM Ursula Rucker 'She Said' Video at TEDxTalks: http://bit.ly/sSUBU8 TWITTER: @urucker MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/ursularucker

SPECIAL GUEST:Eleone Dance Company Director Shaw Williams. Eleone Dance Theatre, a Philadelphia-based professional dance company, ushers in the new millennium with new resurrected cutting edge works that challenges traditional boundaries. The company embodies exceptional artistry and a profound sense of spirituality that evokes an aura of healing in the audiences whose souls they touch. The purpose of Eleone Connection is to provide a nurturing and professional environment for talented youth and young adult dancers who have an interest in having a professional career in dance. http://www.eleonedance.org Eleobe dance company http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnKtCAP0nME&feature=youtube_gdata_player --------------------- SPECIAL GUEST: Nehemiah Davis is a 24 year old Entrepreneur from west Philadelphia, who has decided to make his mission helping others. Nehemiah has started a T-shirt line www.NeoDaviso.com and more importantly a nonprofit www.NehemiahDavisFoundation.org The Nonprofit was created in 2008 by Nehemiah and his mother. Since the start they have fed 50 Homeless men & women every Monday at 18th Vine. The Organization also has several event s throughout the year which includes, Christmas Celebrations, Ski trips for the Youth, Book Bag Giveaways, Dinners for seniors, & several other events. www.nehemiahdavisfoundation.org Video about Foundation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7L3wAjrS2U

Yvonne Latty is a professor and the Director of the Reporting New York/Nation programs at NYU’s Carter Journalism Institut and the director of their Urban Journalism Workshop for high school students. Latty is the author of “In Conflict: Iraq War Veterans Speak Out on Duty, Loss and the Fight to Stay Alive” and “We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans from World War II to the War in Iraq.”

Meshell 's records, nine to date, have offered lyrical ruminations on race, love, sex, betrayal, God, and power, and she has simultaneously embraced and challenged listeners with her refusal to be pigeon-holed musically or personally.She has been nominated for 10 Grammys. Meshell was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine. Her new album, Weather, cloaks itself in the colours of autumn, full of in-between shades and hues and with a certain mildness to it. The singer has let her feelings carry her along. Meshell has never been scared of sharing her most intimate thoughts in explicit or colourful terms that always come from the heart. As ever, she is true to herself. But Weather’s folk sensibility and pregnant acoustic melodies make this a supremely accessible album. She is accompanied by Chris Bruce (guitar), Deantoni Parks (drums), Keefus Ciancia (keyboards), Gabe Noel (cello) and guests Jay Bellerose (drums) and Benji Hughes (backing vocals).  www.meshell.com

The Mision of the American Diabetes Association is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. www.diabetes.org Special Guest: Theresa Sims' passion has always been healthcare and motivating individuals to become active participants in their own wellbeing.  Theresa has spent the last 20 years volunteering with various health related organizations and programs including Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Association for Black Cardiologists, the National Kidney Foundation and the American Diabetes Association.  Her passion for education and healthcare was the impetus for her to quit her job in 2009 and to pursue her passion full-time.  In October of 2010, Theresa received her BSN.  She currently is employed as a nurse on a Cardiac Care Unit and will be transitioning to a new position as a Cardiac Thoracic Intensive Care Nurse within the next few months.  Theresa also holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from University of Delaware.

  Chike Nwabukwu serves as the Artistic Director for Afropolitan Legacy Theatre (ALT), a production company that shares the cosmopolitan African experience through theater, film and social media . As a writer, performer and producer, Chike uses his talents to entertain and uplift. Currently, Chike and ALT are producing a short film he wrote called "My Mother's Tongue", which finds a teenage boy experiencing a communication barrier with his grandmother because they do not speak the same language. Chike's stageplay "The Naming Ceremony", about the importance of names and cultural identity, will also be produced by Afropolitan Legacy Theatre in 2012.  As a performer, Chike has acted Off-Broadway and recently starred in the short “Sides of the Track”, which will be making its festival run soon. In addition, Chike is currently receiving his MFA in Dramatic Writing at Goddard College and produces talent shows for youth in New York City. Ezinne Adibe is the Managing Director of Afropolitan Legacy Theatre. She is a writer, filmmaker, and marketing maven.  The NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate has written for such publications as AOL Black Voices, Jamati, & The Atlanta Post, just to name a few. In addition to her role at Afropolitan Legacy Theatre she serves as the Managing Editor for The Afropolitan Experience, an online magazine that reports about the latest happenings, developments and topics of interest in the Afropolitan world. Her interests include media, politics and anthropology. www.afropolitanlegacy.com

Tyrese Gibson is an actor, singer, and author. Tyrese started his career singing in a Coca-Cola commercial in 1994. Since then he has appeared in several TV shows (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, The Parent 'Hood, Moesha and more). Tyrese's films include Baby Boy with Actress Taraji P. Henson, Four Brothers, Fast Five with Actor Vin Diesel, Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of The Moon with Shia LaBeouf, and more. Tyrese is the author of the New York Times Best Selling Book, How to Get Out of Your Own Way. Tyrese has recorded five albums Tyrese, 2000 Watts, I Wanna Go There, Alter Ego, and now, after five years away from the music industry, Open Invitation. Open Invitation is the # 1 R& B album on iTunes. The single , STAY, has been #1 on Billboard charts for two weeks. Website: www.tyreseonline.com  Twitter @tyrese  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TyreseGibsonOnline

At thirteen, Rachel Lloyd found herself caught up in a world of pain and abuse, struggling to survive as a child with no responsible adults to support her. Vulnerable yet tough, she eventually ended up a victim of commercial sexual exploitation. It took time and incredible resilience, but  with the help of a local church community, she broke free of her pimp and her past. Three years later, Lloyd arrived in the United States to work with adult women in the sex industry and soon founded her own nonprofit—GEMS, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services—to meet the needs of other girls with her history. She also earned her GED and won full scholarships to college and a graduate program. Today Lloyd is executive director of GEMS in New York City and has turned it into one of the nation's most groundbreaking nonprofit organizations. Rachel Lloyd is the Executive Director and Founder of GEMS and the author of Girls Like Us (HarperCollins). She earned her BA in psychology from Marymount Manhattan College, and an MA in applied urban anthropology from the City College of New York. She has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Reebok Human Rights Award. Lloyd is an Ashoka Fellow and a Prime Mover Fellow, and was a leading advocate for the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, which makes New York the first state to protect, not prosecute, sexually exploited children. http://www.gems-girls.org/

Rita Dove served as Poet Laureate of the United States and Consultant to the Library of Congress from 1993 to 1995. She has received numerous literary and academic honors, among them the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and, more recently, in  2006 she received the coveted Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service (together with Anderson Cooper, John Glenn, Mike Nicholsa and Queen Noor of Jordan, in 2007 she became a Chubb Fellow at Yale University, in 2008 she was honored with the Library of Virginia's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2009 she received the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal and the Premio Capri (the international prize of the Italian "island of poetry"). She has published the poetry collections The Yellow House on the Corner (1980), Museum (1983), Thomas and Beulah (1986), Grace Notes (1989), Selected Poems (1993), Mother Love (1995), On the Bus with Rosa Parks (1999), American Smooth (2004), a book of short stories, Fifth Sunday (1985), the novel Through the Ivory Gate (1992), essays under the title The Poet's World (1995), and the play The Darker Face of the Earth, which had its world premiere in 1996 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and was subsequently produced at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Royal National Theatre in London, and other theatres. Her latest poetry collection, Sonata Mulattica, was published by W.W. Norton & Company in the spring of 2009. In addition Dove is the editor of the new Penguin Anthology of 20 Century American Poetry (2011). Rita Dove is Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

SPECIAL GUEST: Derrick Darby, Ph.D., graduated from Colgate University with a B.A. in Philosophy and received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. He has taught at the University of Virginia, Northwestern University, Texas A&M University and is now teaching at the University of Kansas in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Law. Dr. Darby’s work has connected philosophy with issues and concerns that impact black America. RIGHTS, RACE, AND RECOGNITION—his most recent book—draws on the legacy of race and the denigration of black humanity to argue that all rights are products of social recognition. He is also the coeditor with Tommie Shelby of HIP HOP AND PHILOSOPHY: RHYME 2 REASON, which draws on hip hop to introduce students to philosophical problems. WEBSITE:http://www.DerrickLDarby.com/

November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month Special Guest: Carol Steinberg, EVP of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. Their mission is ”to provide optimal care and services to individuals confronting dementia, and to their caregivers and families—through member organizations dedicated to improving quality of life.” Website: www.alzfdn.org 

Special Guest: Award-winning novelist Martha Southgate (who, in the words of Julia Glass, “can write fast and hot, then lush and tender, then just plain truthful and burning with heart”) tells the moving story of a family tested to the limits by an unending cycle of addiction over the course of two generations. In her new novel, The Taste of Salt, Southgate perfectly captures the struggles of living with alcoholic family members. Martha Southgate is the author of two acclaimed novels, The Fall of Rome and Third Girl from the Left and other works that have been widely anthologized. She has worked for numerous publications, including Essence, Premiere, the New York Daily News, and the New York Times. A graduate of Smith College, she has an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard, and has taught at Brooklyn College and The New School. www.marthasouthgate.com

Known for his unique blend of progressive hip-hop, soul, blues, jazz and rock, Kuf Knotz is one of Philly’s fastest emerging alternative artists. No musical territory goes unexplored when it comes to Kuf, and it is this attitude that has led him to perform with top acts like Common, Old DB, New York Dolls, Steel Pulse, Amos Lee & The Roots to name a few. Kuf even battered down historical barriers by becoming the first ever hip hop act to open up for the legendary“Boss” — Mr. Bruce Springsteenhimself — at the internationally covered rally for then Presidential candidate, Barack Obama on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Kuf’s career highlights did not end there. Going on to record “Unstoppable” the official song of World Series Champions, The Phillies, in 2008 with fellow notorious local artists, G. Love and Chuck Treece. In addition to being the front man in collaborative projects such as Burn Down All-Stars and The Hustle, Kuf recently set the tone for his solo career with his debut album Boombox Logic, a cohesive 14-track LP. The album, released under Drexel University’s Mad Dragon Records, features an impressive list of guest artists such as Sharon Little, G. Love, Doodlebug and more.  Boombox Logic exploded throughout the sound waves this past October earning great reviews and spots in 2010 top album categories.  Kuf also volunteers his time for WXPN’s Musicians On Call program, bringing live music to the bedsides of patients through weekly programs at six area hospitals. Find Kuf Knotz online at www.kufknotz.com & www.facebook.com/kufknotzmusic

Nelson Georgeis one of the first writers to document hip hop culture and is the author of several award-winning books on the subject, including Hip Hop America and The Death of Rhythm & Blues; he also coauthored (with Simmons) Russell Simmons’s autobiography Life and Def. He directed Queen Latifah in the HBO film Life Support, and is an executive producer of VH1’s long-running Hip Hop Honors broadcast. Website: www.nelsondgeorge.net. His latest book, The Plot Against Hip Hop, is a noir novel set in the world of hip hop culture. The stabbing murder of esteemed music critic Dwayne Robinson in a Soho office building is dismissed by the NYPD as a gang initiation. But his old friend, bodyguard/ security expert D Hunter, suspects there’s much more to his death. An old cassette tape, the theft of a manuscript Robinson was working on, and some veiled threats suggest there are larger forces at work.