Saturday Mornings with Joy Keys

Yara Shahidi began her acting career at just six weeks old, working alongside her mother in commercial and print ads, for brands such as Ralph Lauren, Gap Kids, Guess Kids and Disney, to name a few. In the summer of 2009, Yara made her big screen theatrical debut, starring opposite Eddie Murphy in Paramount Pictures “Imagine That” playing Eddie’s scene stealing, precocious daughter ‘Olivia.’ Yara next appeared in the feature film “Unthinkable” where she and her real life brother Sayeed played the children of Samuel L. Jackson’s character.  The siblings reunited again in 2012 as Tyler Perry’s children in the international hit, “Alex Cross,” for Summit/Lionsgate.  Yara has shared the screen with some of Hollywood’s finest leading ladies including Angelina Jolie in the feature film “Salt,” and most notably, opposite Jennifer Garner in the break-out role of ‘Destiny’ in the Weinstein Company’s “Butter” which premiered at TIFF 2011 and was released in theatres in 2012. On the small screen, Shahidi can currently be seen on the hit ABC series “Scandal,” playing the younger version of Kerry Washington’s character, ‘Olivia Pope.’ http://www.yarashahidi.com

Wayna (known by the real name Woyneab Miraf Wondwossen) is an Ethiopian-born American R&B singer. It has been said that Grammy-nominated, Ethiopian-born, singer/songwriter, Wayna has a voice as pure as it is passionate. Stevie Wonder says "she's incredible." Essence Magazine says she is “one to watch," and Billboard Magazine calls her "a stand out on the indie front." With two Billboard chart-topping singles from her sophomore LP, Higher Ground, and a coveted Grammy nomination in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance Category for her remake, “Lovin You (Music)" featuring Kokayi, Wayna's star is on the rise.  "The Expats" is the third and latest LP from this innovative artist and represents a new and daring departure from her previous work. The project is named after its Toronto-based backing band and production team hailing from various parts of the world -- Ethiopia to Japan, Isreal to India, Germany to Jamaica. Drawing from diverse musical influences, Wayna and the Expats create a unique blend of African and Reggae-inspired soul, fused with classic and alternative rock -- Sade and the Police meets Lauryn Hill and Radiohead. This new sound, which Wayna calls “world soul” was the result of a creative journey, jamming, writing and recording with “the Expats” in Toronto over the past 2 years.  The Expats is available on ITunes and Amazon now. Wayna on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/waynamusic

In December 2012, the City of Philadelphia seized the deed of Dupree Studios and granted acquisition to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority in accordance with the Pennsylvania Eminent Domain Code. City Hall has teamed up with private developers to transform the Mantua section, including the project and development of "The Plaza", a suburban-style supermarket encompassing four full city blocks, regretfully reducing Dupree Studios to a parking lot. Sign the petition to stop this action: http://www.change.org/petitions/jannie-blackwell-michael-nutter-return-the-deed-to-property-owners-of-3617-haverford-ave-philadelphia James Dupree is an accomplished artist, educator, and business owner.  Among the first black graduates of the University of Pennsylvania MFA program, and a recent recipient of the UPenn Black Alumni Society's Living Legend Award, he is in many ways an example of the success of Philadelphia’s art institutions in addressing the city’s underprivileged communities. jamesdupree.com  Melinda Haring is the activism manager at the Institute for Justice (IJ), a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to defending private property rights.  IJ represented Susette Kelo and her neighbors before the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London,as well as many others across the country.  Since the Kelo case, IJ has helped saved more than 16,000 properties through grassroots activism and played a role in reforming eminent domain laws in 44 states.  IJ has been working with James Dupree since late November.  

Special Guest: Samuel F. Reynolds, a Brooklyn, NY-based astrologer, has written astrology articles for online and print publications, including tarot.com, Ebony magazine and the British Black women’s magazine, Pride. Sam believes in making astrology and metaphysics accessible for everyday people with tangible ideas and practices, including his two entrepreneurial ventures: The Astrology Career Institute and The Zodiac Lounge. Sam has a master’s degree in African American Studies from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies and public relations from Syracuse University.  He has been studying astrology for 23 years. 

Weight Broke the Wagon is a captivating and incredibly honest story chronicling the lives of three African American women in not only their quest to lose weight but they uncover the past hurt which got them there.  Gina Glenn, Natosha Lewis and Rayanne McNeill each decided it was time to lose the unwanted weight.   Natosha, aka Tosh, is a popular online talk show host of Table Talk with Tosh, Sunday night, from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., EST. www.blogtalkradio.com/tabletalkwtosh. Tosh is also a best-selling author of several books to include her newly released e-book titles:  Men Cheat Women Experiment and Only Fools Gamble Twice and Reaching the Unreachable.  She is also the author of a children’s book, entitled, The Adventures of Squally the Squirrel.  Tosh has an M.A. in Media/Communications Management.   Eugenia, aka, Gina has her Bachelors of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems and Homeland Security and is currently pursuing her MBA in Management.  Gina and Tosh are currently in the process of launching her new venture which is a shoe line designed to provide women with comfortable, yet fashionable footwear. Check out her shoe line at: www.fuegofootwear.com. Rayanne Mcneill is an entrepreneur in the Direct Sales Market with a brokerage license with 5Linx.  Check out her site at: www.5linx.net/L597924. In addition to 5Linx, she is an Independent Consultant with Traci Lynn Jewelry (Tracilynnjewelry.net/rayannemcneill).  Rayanne has a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. website: www.weightbrokethewagon.com

Malinda Williams is starring in and the executive producer of an UP Original Movie  Marry Me For Christmas (#MarryMeForChristmas), a romantic home-for-the-holidays drama.  Marry Me For Christmas will premiere exclusively on UP on Saturday, December 14 at 7 p.m. EST, with encores at 9 and 11 p.m. EST.  Produced by Eric Tomosunas' Swirl Films and Malinda Williams, Roger Melvin (UP's Sugar Mommas, Love Will Keep Us Together) directs from a script by Rhonda Freeman-Baraka (UP's Saving Westbrook High, Trinity Goodheart). Smart, stylish Marci Jewel (Malinda Williams) is the owner and creative director of an up-and-coming ad agency and thrilled with her single life in New York - except during the holidays.  All of her cousins are married and having babies, Marci remains the lone holdout in the large Chandler family clan. She has put marriage and motherhood on hold for the sake of her career. Malinda was twice nominated for an NAACP image award for “outstanding actress in a drama series. Malinda starred in The Wood, High School High, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls and First Sunday. In 2011, Malinda starred in Percentage with Ving Rhames, Russ Parr’s The Undershephard and GMC’s A Cross to Bear. In 2012 Malinda appeared alongside Chris Rock, in Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in New York. Best known for her role as “Bird” on the hit television series SoulFood, This busy mom always finds time to mentor young women and work with non-profit organizations such as Black Girls Rock!, Take Wings and Chrysalis Foundations. Website: www.malindawilliams.com Video link for Marry Me for Christmas:http://bcove.me/2s9rxjo3

Nonso Anozie, the north-west London raised actor has already built up an enviable CV as a thespian, having appeared in respected projects across TV (Stolen, Occupation, Prime Suspect), film (Cass, RocknRolla, Atonement), and theatre (King Lear, Othello, Death and the King’s Horseman).  He is currently in the new NBC drama, Dracula, brought to us by the makers of Downtown Abbey. Here, viewers can catch Nonso’s brilliant turn as R.M Renfield Alan Grayson’s/Dracula’s (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) fiercely loyal confidante. Nonso can be seen on cinema screens, across the country appearing in mega-budget sci-fi thriller Ender’s Game. Based on the popular Orson Scott Card novel, Nonso stars as Sergeant Dap, co-starring alongside Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, and Sir Ben Kingsley. Nono appeared in the second season of mega hit US HBO show Game of Thrones, in 2012, where he played Qartheen merchant prince Xaro Xhoan Daxos. And as if that wasn’t enough, Nonso, who is currently busy filming a role in a live Disney-produced version of Cinderella (directed by Kenneth Branagh.

COPD, also known as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, is the third leading cause of death in the United States Special Guest: Norman H. Edelman, M.D., is the American Lung Association’s leading medical authority. Having served as the Association’s Chief Medical Officer for 25 years, he is a highly sought after expert on all matters pertaining to lung health and is a seasoned media veteran. Dr. Edelman also provides patient care as a teaching clinic supervisor and is a Professor of Preventive Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Physiology and Biophysics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. From 1996 – 2006, he served in a dual capacity as Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine at Stony Brook.  website: http://www.lung.org

Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him Richard Pryor attracted admiration and anger in equal parts. He was a comedian who many consider the greatest ever, yet his triumphant stand-up work has been largely eclipsed by his mediocre movie output. His personal life was likewise something of a contradiction, because Pryor was a man of deep intelligence and sensitivity yet was also someone who could never seem to make the pieces of his life come together to create a whole. His was a fascinating, larger-than-life personality; he was as pivotal and essential a figure. Pryor the solo artist brought to a pop-obsessed generation the news that they had a past with deep roots that spoke to our shared humanity. David Henry is a screenwriter and his brother, Joe Henry is a singer/songwriter as well as a music producer. This is their first book, and they are working on a screenplay based on Pryor's life and career.

Men We Reaped: In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life—to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth—and it took her breath away. Special Guest: Jesmyn Ward grew up in DeLisle, Mississippi. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan. A Stegner Fellow at Stanford, from 2008-2010, she has been named the 2010-11 Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. Her debut novel, Where the Line Bleeds, was an Essence Magazine Book Club selection and a Black Caucus of the ALA Honor Award recipient. Ward's second novel, Salvage the Bones, won the 2011 National Book Award.

Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). An estimated, 1.5 million Americans have lupus. Special Guest: Annette Myarick is the Chief Executive Officer for the Lupus Foundation of America’s (LFA) Philadelphia Tri-State Chapter. Prior to joining the LFA in 1991, she was with the Arthritis Foundation’s Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter for 14 years, most recently as the Vice President for Public Health Strategies. Annette has a Bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education from Temple University.   Special Guest: Lupus advocate. Leyla Moreno, Manager of Community Relations at Health Partners. Leyla is a native of Panama. Leyla was recognized in 2008 and 2009 by Impacto Latin Newspaper and the Philadelphia Multicultural Congress as one of the ten Most Influential Latino Leaders under 40. She graduated (cum laude) with a degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies from Temple University. Leyla is a board member of the Lupus Foundation

Special Guest:Jeannine L. Lisitski, Executive Director of Women Against Abuse, has worked for more than 21 years in the public benefit sector, focusing on issues of poverty, violence and homelessness. Ms. Lisitski holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology and is a Ph.D Candidate (ABD), in Social Work and Social Research with a focus on homelessness.  Women Against Abuse, a 501(c)3 nonprofit agency, provides comprehensive services for victims of domestic violence in Philadelphia. Our services include emergency safe haven, transitional housing, legal services, behavioral healthcare, hotline counseling, community education and advocacy.  www.womenagainstabuse.org,

Oonya Kempadoo’s moving third novel, All Decent Animals, looks at the personal and aesthetic choices of a multifaceted cast of characters on the Caribbean island of Trinidad—a country still developing economically but rich culturally, aiming at “world-class” status amid its poor island cousins. It is a novel about relationships, examined through the distinct rhythms of the city of Port of Spain. Loyalties, love, conflicting cultures, and creativity come into play as Ata, a young woman working in carnival design but curious about writing, and her European boyfriend, Pierre, negotiate the care of their friend Fraser, a closeted gay man dying from AIDS. The contradictory Trinidadian setting becomes a parallel character to Fraser’s Cambridge-derived artistic sensibility and an antagonist to Ata’s creative journey. Oonya Kempadoo was born in England to Guyanese parents. She has lived in Europe and on various islands in the Caribbean. Her first novel, Buxton Spice, was published in 1998 to great acclaim. Her second novel, Tide Running, won the prestigious Casa de las Americas Literary Prize for best English or Creole novel. Kempadoo lives in St. George’s, Grenada.

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (August 2013) is a stirring, powerful collection of essays that explore the effects of racism, violence, and class, among other things, on American culture and society. Kiese Laymon’s writing is deeply personal yet unsentimental. He tells personal family stories that reveal the myriad influences that have shaped his life, from his formidable grandmother and rascally uncle to the hip-hop stars of the 1980s and 1990s who became role models for an entire generation of young black men across the country. Kiese Laymon was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. He graduated from Oberlin College and earned an MFA from Indiana University. Laymon is a contributing editor at Gawker.com and has written for numerous publications, including Esquire and ESPN.com. He is an associate professor of English and Africana Studies at Vassar College. Agate Bolden published his debut novel, Long Division, came out in June 2013.    

Edwidge Danticat is the author of numerous books, including Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work, Brother, I’m Dying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a National Book Award finalist; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; and The Dew Breaker, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Story Prize.   Claire of the Sea Light is her latest book. Claire Limyè Lanmè--Claire of the Sea Light--is an enchanting child born into love and tragedy in a seaside town in Haiti. Claire's mother died in childbirth, and on each of her birthdays Claire is taken by her father, Nozias, to visit her mother's grave. Nozias wonders if he should give away his young daughter to a local shopkeeper who lost a child of her own, so he can give her a better life.