Saturday Mornings with Joy Keys

  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? KimberlaLawson Roby is the author of the bestselling works The Ultimate Betrayal, A Christmas Prayer, The Prodigal Son, A House Divided, The Perfect Marriage, The Reverend’s Wife, Secret Obsession, Love, Honor, and Betray, Be Careful What You Pray For, A Deep Dark Secret, The Best of Everything, Sin No More, One in a Million, Love and Lies, Changing Faces, The Best-Kept Secret, Too Much of a Good Thing, A Taste of Reality, It’s a Thin Line, Casting the First Stone, Here and Now and Behind Closed Doors. She lives with her husband in Illinois. www.kimroby.com 

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  

Special Guest:  Amana Melomé: Born in Germany, raised around the world, Amana Melome' is a Euro-Caribbean-American singer-songwriter.Both Amana’s mother and grandmother were professional singers and her father hailing from the Caribbean island of Aruba is still an active musician in the European scene. Amana recorded her debut album INDIGO RED as well as her sophmoric LP PHOENIX RISING with producer Saverio ‘Sage’ Principini in LA. After a US release with indie label Savana Records and a distribution deal thru the Whole Foods Markets her album was licensed in Europe with IRMA records. While promoting her CD in Italy she landed a lead role, playing herself, on the most popular sitcom on national TV: Un Medico In Famiglia.  Amana's new EP 'Lock and Key' brings exciting new collaborations with the production duo Itai Shapira and Adam Berg of the Decoders, also recorded in Los Angeles. Her music is a blend of styles ranging from Soul to World with a strong Reggae influence. http://www.melomemusic.com

November is Diabetes Awareness Mionth. 29 million Americans have Diabetes.(CDC) The mission of the American Diabetes Association is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. - http://www.diabetes.org Special Guest: Theresa Sims-Cardiothoracic Registered Nurse. BSN from Drexel University. She is a volunteer with the American Diabetes Association. 

Whether you are single, divorced or widowed -- Dr. Shane Perrault, PhD., has learned first hand that "It is never too late to live happily ever after." As founder of AfricanAmericanMarriageCounseling.com, he has provided relationship and marital counseling to hundreds of couples since 2004. Throughout his work as a marital psychologist, he as found one of the key factors in relationship or marital success is choosing the right partner. Dr. Shane received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the Ohio State University, and received his BS from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. He also completed Level I, II and III training at the world-renowned Gottman Marital Therapy Institute. He is regularly invited to speak at church retreats, has spoken at the Congressional Caucus on the topic of "What has happened to Marriage in Black America", blogs for Psychology Today; and has been featured in Ebony and Essence Magazines, the Washington Post": XM Radio, BET and TV One. He has also appeared as a guest expert in "You Saved Me", a film about marriage in the black community. www.TheBlackMANual.com

It is estimated that as many as 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer's disease. The mission of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) is "to provide optimal care and services to individuals confronting dementia, and to their caregivers and families-through our member organizations dedicated to improving quality of life..” http://www.alzfdn.org/ Special guest: Charles J. Fuschillo was appointed chief executive officer of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America in January 2014. Prior to that, he served eight terms as a New York state senator representing the 8th Senate District. Special Guest:  Amy McVeigh.worked with the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging for about 10 years. Currently working with the Caregiver Support Program as a Supervisor. She has a Masters of Gerontology and she has worked in the field of Aging for 16 years. www.pcacares.org

Special Guest: Singer, Model, and Actress Kristen Henry King  (http://kristenhenryking.com) - Kristen battles with Multiple Sclerosis. She was inspired to write the song IMPERVIOUS chronicling her experience with MS.. listen to the song here on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScJit0ET-pw Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body.  Signs and symptoms of MS vary widely and depend on the amount of nerve damage and which nerves are affected. Some people with severe MS may lose the ability to walk independently or at all, while others may experience long periods of remission without any new symptoms. There's no cure for multiple sclerosis. However, treatments can help speed recovery from attacks, modify the course of the disease and manage symptoms.

Special Guest: CYNTHIA BOND is a New York Times Best-Selling Author. Her novel RUBY was chosen to be an Oprah Book Club 2.0 selection. RUBY was also a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and an Indie Next Pick. A PEN Rosenthal Fellow, Bond attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, then moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She founded the Blackbird Writing Collective in 2011. Cynthia has taught writing to at-risk and homeless youth for over fifteen years, and is on staff at Paradigm Malibu Adolescent Treatment Center. http://cynthiabond.com

Special Guest: David Charmatz, SVP of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.Charmatz oversees marketing, public relations, research and analysis for Global, and his top priorities will be growing the personnel and revenue in order to better serve the needs of people with Down syndrome nationally and internationally. Before joining Global full-time, Charmatz was a consultant assisting with the launch of Down Syndrome World magazine and Global’smonthly electronic newsletter, and with the planning of a second edition of the Down Syndrome Prenatal Testing Pamphlet. The Global Down Syndrome Foundation is a public non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to significantly improving the lives of people with Down syndrome through Research, Medical Care, Education and Advocacy. www.globaldownsyndrome.org  

On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States--more than 12 million women and men over the course of a year.(www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipv-factsheet.pdf) Special Guest: Jeannine Lisitski, Executive Director and President for Women Against Abuse.the mission of women against abuse  is to provide quality, compassionate and nonjudgmental services in a manner that fosters self-respect and independence in persons experiencing intimate partner violence and to lead the struggle to end domestic violence through advocacy and community education. www.womenagainstabuse.org Special Guest: Vashti Bledsoe, Director of Lutheran Settlement House’s Bilingual Domestic Violence Program.Established in 1902, Lutheran Settlement House (LSH) is a non-profit, community-based organization committed to serving vulnerable children, adults, and families living in Philadelphia. Over the past century, the programs and services offered by LSH have changed in response to the evolving needs of the community. However, the core mission of Lutheran Settlement House — “to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency through an integrated program of social, educational, and advocacy services” — has remained constant. www.lutheransettlementhouse.org  

Special Guest: Toshi Reagon has been described as “a talented, versatile singer, songwriter and musician with a profound ear for sonic Americana—from folk to funk, from blues to rock” by critic/blogger Eva Yaa Asantewaa (InfiniteBody). “She masters each of these genres with vocal strategies that easily spiral and swoop from the expressively sinuous to the hard-charging, a combination of warmth and mischief.” While her expansive career has landed her comfortably in residence at Carnegie Hall, the Paris Opera House and Madison Square Garden, you can just as easily find Toshi turning out a music festival, intimate venue or local club. Toshi finds home on any musical stage. Toshi has had the pleasure of working with Lenny Kravitz, Lizz Wright, Ani DiFranco, Carl Hancock Rux, Nona Hendryx, Pete Seeger, Chocolate Genius and many other amazing artists, including her favorite collaborator, her mom, Bernice Johnson Reagon. Toshi has been the recipient of a NYFA award for Music Composition, The Black Lily Music and Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance. She is a National Women’s History Month Honoree, and is the 2010 recipient of OutMusic’s Heritage Award. www.toshireagon.com

Special Guest: Jeffrey Renard Allen. Born in Chicago, Allen holds a Ph.D. in English (Creative Writing) from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently a faculty member in the writing program at the New School. Allen is the author of two collections of poetry, Stellar Places (Moyer Bell, 2007) andHarbors and Spirits (Moyer Bell, 1999), and two works of fiction, the widely celebrated novel, Rails Under My Back (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2000), which won The Chicago Tribune's Heartland Prize for Fiction, and the story collection Holding Pattern (Graywolf Press, 2008), which won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. He is presently at work on a memoir-travelogue-meditation that uses his travels about the African continent to frame an exploration of subjects such as place, race, religion, music and culture, identity, and family. In May 2014, Graywolf Press published his novel Song of the Shank, which is based on the life of Thomas Greene Wiggins, a nineteenth-century African-American piano virtuoso and composer who performed under the stage name Blind Tom. http://www.jefferyrenardallen.com

Special Guest:  Margaret Avery moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career in 1968. In 1973 her Los Angeles Drama Circle Award-winning performance in the play “Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?” caught the attention of Clint Eastwood and he quickly cast her in his film “Magnum Force”, serving as an entree for guest starring roles in numerous episodic T.V. shows and Blaxploitation films including “Scott Joplin”, “The Lathe of Heaven”, “The Return of Superfly” and “Heatwave”. She eventually got cast in her most widely recognized Academy-Award nominated role as Shug Avery in Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple”. She is a new public advocate for continued Lupus research and education through the Lupus Foundation of America; a cause preempted by personally knowing individuals living with Lupus as well as playing a character who suffers from the disease on BET's Being Mary Jane. http://www.margaretaveryonline.com Special Guest: Annette Myarick is the CEO 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.   

JR Lemon was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. A Stanford University graduate with a BS degree in Management Science and Engineering, JR was signed as a running back to the Oakland Raiders subsequent to finishing school.  After being released from the Raiders, JR relocated to southern California with the intention of continuing his football training.  Little did he know at the time, but the move would expose JR to possibilities of a life he had never imagined in the entertainment industry. While appearing in numerous national commercial and print campaigns JR honed his craft with the intention of pursuing an acting career.  The hard work paid off when he booked a series regular role in NBC’s medical drama The Night Shift, which was recently renewed for a third season. He recently also made his big screen debut as one of the male leads in Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas – the next installment in Lionsgate’s successful franchise. In order to satisfy his football interest, JR still performs much of the Motion Capture for Electronics Artists on their extremely popular football video game, Madden.