Saturday Mornings with Joy Keys

SPECIAL GUEST: Ric Esther Bienstock, one of Canada’s leading documentary filmmakers, has been producing and directing a diverse and eclectic range of films for over 15 years. Her most recent film Sex Slaves (aka The Real Sex Traffic) recently won a U.S. Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club of America, the 2006 British Broadcast Award for Best Documentary, a Royal Television Society Award in the U.K. and was nominated for a British Academy Award (BAFTA). Bienstock’s films have aired inte

Blue Note recording artist Dianne Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today. As a result of her virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Reeves was awarded the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings—a Grammy first in any vocal category. Reeves appeared and performed in George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the Academy Award nominated film that chronicles Edward R. Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy. The soundtrack recording of “Good Night, and Good Luck” provided Reeves her fourth Best Jazz Vocal Grammy in 2006. Reeves has recorded and performed extensively with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. She has also recorded with Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and was a featured soloist with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Reeves was the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the first singer to ever perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall. Reeves worked with legendary producer Arif Mardin (Norah Jones, Aretha Franklin) on the Grammy winning A Little Moonlight, an intimate collection of ten standards featuring her touring trio. In 2007 Reeves was featured in a documentary on the all-too-brief life of Billy Strayhorn. Dianne's most recent album is When You Know, which was released in 2008. Check out: http://www.diannereeves.com/

Meshell Ndegeocello was born Michelle Johnson in Berlin, Germany and raised in Washington DC.By the early 90's, she had landed in New York armed with a demo recorded in her bedroom, joined the Black Rock Coalition, and was soon signed to Madonna's label. Her records, 8 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. Genre defiant, Meshell has been celebrated for choosing the road less traveled - a winding adventure through her own musical ambitions rather than the industry formulas. Along the way, she has earned diehard fans, critical acclaim, the unfailing respect of fellow players, songwriters and composers, and 10 Grammy award nominations. http://www.meshell.com Devil’s Halo, Meshell's 8th album and her first for Mercer Street, harkens back to the way records used to be made: no click track or electronic synthetics, with a focus on musicianship and live band energy. Meshell feels that Devil’s Halo represents a return to a place that she truly appreciates, music that is created and performed by people's hands. Produced by Meshell and guitarist Chris Bruce, and influenced by a wide breadth of sounds from The Human League to Wu Tang to Yes, Devil’s Halo displays Meshell's vocals and diversity throughout.

World Community Grid brings together people from across the globe who donate their idle computer time to create the largest volunteer computing grid benefiting humanity. Robin Willner is IBM's vice president of global community initiatives. As such, she designs and implements programs that use technology in novel ways to address long-standing social issues in the communities where IBMers live and work. Ms. Willner oversees a global portfolio of corporate citizenship initiatives. These include a program with the International Finance Corporation to provide a toolkit of resources to small businesses. The portfolio she oversees also includes IBM's Corporate Service Corps, a kind of Peace Corps staffed by IBM volunteers. She manages IBM sponsorship of the World Community Grid, which IBM established and supports. In addition, Robin is in charge of IBM’s humanitarian response to disasters, including 9/11 in New York City, the 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina cleanup in the U.S. Gulf Coast, and earthquakes, typhoons and pandemics worldwide.Check out http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ Check out IBM's Try Science page:http://www.tryscience.org/ also Check out IBM's Reading Companion:http://www.readingcompanion.org/.

David Wilcots is a geologist, paleontologist and artist living in Philadelphia where he grew up. David is a registered professional geologist in Pennsylvania and Delaware. He earned his Bachelors degree at Temple University and Masters degree in geology from Fort Hays State University in western Kansas. He has 20 years experience working as an environmental geologist and has worked for several environmental/engineering consulting companies in the 5-county region. David's areas of practice has include; environmental property assessments, groundwater and soil contamination clean-up, well drilling supervision, subsurface investigations, storage tank management, environmental sampling, windfarm construction supervision for wind power and Brownfields redevelopment. Currently David is an independent environmental consultant professional. David Wilcots is also a volunteer paleontologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia museum located at 19th Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway. Paleontologists study fossils. He works in the dinosaur lab there which accessible to museum visitors. In addition to performing scientific work on the fossil specimens, David speaks to parents and children visitors and answers their questions about; dinosaurs, fossils and related sciences. Mr. Wilcots had also been an expedition paleontologist in the field for the • Burke Museum of Natural History, Seattle, WA • Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, UT • The University of Utah Museum and the • American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY As an artist David creates pen & pencil illustrations and does some digital nature photograpghy.

Wes Moore is a youth advocate, Army combat veteran, promising business leader and author. He was one of Ebony magazine’s “Top 30 Leaders Under 30” for 2007 and Crain’s New York Business’ “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” in 2009. His first book, The Other Wes Moore, will be published by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, in late April 2010. Born in 1978, Wes Moore was three years old when his father died in front of him. His mother, hoping for a better future for her family, made great sacrifices to send Wes and his sisters to private school. When Wes continued to fail in school, she sent him to military school in Pennsylvania. After trying to escape four times, Wes finally decided to become accountable for his actions. By graduation, he was company commander overseeing 125 cadets. In 2000, as Wes was preparing to leave for England on his Rhodes Scholarship, he learned of another young man named Wes Moore who was just two years older, lived in the same neighborhood, and was heading to prison for life for the murder of an off-duty Baltimore police officer. Wes was shaken, wondering how he and his namesake could have such different fates. He wrote to the other Wes Moore, and much to his surprise, received a letter back. Through visits with him in prison, and conversations with his family and friends, he discovered startling parallels between their lives. Yet at similar moments of decision they would head down different paths towards astonishingly divergent destinies. Wes realized this was a much larger story about the consequences of personal responsibility and the imperative of education and community for a generation of boys.

Philadelphia’s 7th Annual Black Women’s Arts Festival is scheduled for Thursday, July 29th through Sunday, August 1st, 2010 at two locations: The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street, 19104 (Thursday - Films & Workshops from 11:00AM-8:00PM, Friday/Saturday/Sunday– Shows, Films, Workshops & Vendors), and Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, 19119 (Children’s Storytime 11:00AM – 1:00PM). (Please note the Opening Night Party has been cancelled.) This acclaimed, inclusive community event features interdisciplinary performances, exhibits, films, workshops, and vendors from Philadelphia and other states as far as California and Arizona. Some highlights of this year’s events include films like Jamie Walker’s “The Postwoman”, Damali Abrams’ “Self-Help TV”, the music & spoken word of Anonymous7, workshops and spoken word by Dr. Niama Leslie Williams, Pat McLean, the music of Lydia Rene, Danie Ocean, Cocosol, and many more. There will be at least one Open Mic and Sunday evening will close the event with an Honoring Our Elders & Ancestors Ceremony. As always, the BWAF is open to all respectful persons – all community members are welcome and encouraged to attend. (Schedule subject to change.) For more about this year’s events, to get an early start on BWAF Philly 2011, or learn how you can produce a Black Women’s Arts Festival in your town or city, please visit the official Black Women’s Arts Festival website at http://BWAFphilly.org, email info(at)BWAFphilly.org or call 215-951-0330 ext 2108. We’re also on Facebook as a Profile, Group, and Fan Page!

Chef Sylva Senat is 33 years old. He is a French speaking Haitian native. He has trained with Andrew D'Amico when he was at the Sign of the Dove; Marcus Samuelsson, who made Senat his sous chef at Aquavit; and Jean-George Vongerichten, who made Senat chef de cuisine at 66 Leonard Street and the Mercer Kitchen. Senat served as a judge in this year's Philadelphia C-Cap culinary competition, and spoke at an April awards ceremony, where local students received scholarships.C-Cap, a nonprofit that works with high schools nationwide to train urban teens in the culinary arts helped pave the way for Senat. http://www.ccapinc.org/history.php He was Michael Schulson's sous chef at Buddakan, N.Y., in 2006-07. p> In 2007, Senat signed on as executive chef at a new restaurant, Koco at El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico. Now in the Philadelphia Buddakan, Senat works under executive Executive Chef Mark Hellyar.http://www.buddakan.com/. Check out www.ccapinc.org for culinary scholarships.

Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole. —FROM THE NEW JIM CROW As the United States celebrates the nation's ?triumph over race? with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status—much like their grandparents before them. In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community—and all of us—to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America. A longtime civil rights advocate and litigator, Michelle Alexander was a 2005 Soros Justice Fellow. She holds a joint appointment at the Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in Columbus, Ohio, where she lives. The New Jim Crow is her first book.

Naturally 7:The band has now recorded four albums – “Non Fiction” (2000) the aptly titled “What Is It” (2003), “Christmas …It’s A Love Story” (2004) and “Ready II Fly” (2006).  The latter contains the YouTube-hit “Feel It (In the Air Tonight”).  Naturally 7’s now famous Paris subway performance of the song, has received over five million hits on YouTube .In January 2009, the group released a special album, ‘Wall Of Sound’ exclusively for the UK and Ireland, to commemorate their participation at the ‘Royal Variety Performance’. Naturally 7 are Roger Thomas (musical director, arranger, 1 Baritone, Rap), Warren Thomas (percussion, guitar, clarinet, 3 tenor) Rod Eldridge (1 tenor, scratching, trumpet), Jamal Reed (4 Tenor, electric guitar), Dwight Stewart (2 baritone), Garfield Buckley (2 Tenor, Harmonica) and “Hops” Hutton (Bass).  In March of 2010, Naturally 7 released a new CD, entitled ‘VocalPlay’. The package contains 14 new songs plus a 110-minute- DVD, which features excerpts from their ‘Madison Square Garden’-performance, original interviews and other exclusive footage as well as some of their videos. The CD will feature duets with Grammy-Winner Michael Buble (‘Relax Max’) and German Superstar Xavier Naidoo (‘Wild vor Wut’) . Check them out on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5MkNOXSdkA Website: http://www.naturallyseven.com             

From New York Times bestselling author Kimberla Lawson Roby comes the hotly anticipated sequel to The Best of Everything, featuring Alicia, the privileged daughter of charismatic Reverend Curtis Black. In BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR , Kimberla—whose last book A Deep Dark Secret was hailed as “an intense gem in an authentic voice” by Publishers Weekly— returns, in her 14th title, to spin a tale of love, ambition, and betrayal. Kimberla Lawson Roby, has published 14 novels which include, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR, A DEEP DARK SECRET, THE BEST OF EVERYTHING, ONE IN A MILLION (a novella), SIN NO MORE, LOVE & 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 her debut title, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS , which was originally self-published through her own company, Lenox Press. Her novels have frequented numerous bestseller lists, including The New York Times and those in USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Essence Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Emerge Magazine, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, The Dallas Morning News, and The Austin Chronicle to name a few and both BEHIND CLOSED DOORS and CASTING THE FIRST STONE were #1 Blackboard bestsellers for four consecutive months in both 1997 and 2000. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS was the #1 Blackboard Best-selling book for paperback fiction in 1997. Check out www.kimroby.com.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu began soleRebels in 2004 as an idea: to bring jobs to the community, Zenabwork , a small community in addis ababa , ethiopia, a place where there literally were none . soleRebels brand is being sold by major online footwear leaders like Endless, AMAZON.COM and the USA’S #1 sandal retailer FLIP FLOP SHOPS . Furthermore, the shoes are being enjoyed by people in over 10 countries around the world. The shoes are eco-sensible and handcrafted by local artisans. They are created from recycled car tire soles and an array of recycled and sustainable ingredients like hand spun + hand loomed organic fabrics and a palette of unique natural fibers including organic pure abyssinian jutes and PURE Abyssinian KOBA. soleRebels has recreated and re-imagined the traditional “selate” and “barabasso” shoes , a recycled car tire soled shoe that has existed in Ethiopia for a LONG time [ in fact it was THE footwear from back in the day when the ORIGINAL “soleRebels” fought off the invading forces and kept Ethiopia as the only African nation to never be colonized!]. Check out the CNN African Voices interview with Ms. Alemu:http://cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2010/06/02/av.beth.alemu.global.brand.bk.b.cnn Check out http://solerebelsfootwear.weebly.com/

Sharon G. Flake was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. The Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh declared February 16, 2010 as Sharon G. Flake Day. Flake is ranked #1 African American author under Disney/Hyperion Books and #13 out of more than 500. She was selected by the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers to participate as a featured author in their 2010 NBA/Read to Achieve Program. Flake has received numerous awards and accolades including ALA Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for her

Special Guest: Mary Beth Campbell,Co-Founder & CEO, The Boomerang Project & Boom Boom! Revolution.Special Guest: Hélène Scott: Co-Founder & Creative Director, Boom Boom! Revolution.The Boom Boom! Revolution (BBR) is a company, located in Santa Cruz, California, with the audacious intention to change the world by creating an uprising of guerilla goodness. As a social innovation company, BBR creates positive consumer products that ‘do good’ around the world and advocate treating each other well.Boom Boom! Cards. Named for the karmic notion that every good deed comes back to its performer, boomerang-style, Boom Boom! Cards exist to inspire altruism. Available in packs of 26, the artistically designed cards each specify a particular act of kindness. It might be something as simple as saying “please” and “thank you” in every interaction over the course of a day, or it might be something more tangible, like buying a stranger a cup of coffee. There's also a pack aimed at teens that focuses on family, friends and school. Visit www.boomboomcards.com

Special Guest: Diane Ravitch, the nation’s foremost historian of education, warns that national education policy is on a path to wrecking our cherished tradition of public education. In this remarkable book, she describes how such strategies as accountability schemes based on questionable standardized tests, merit pay for teachers based on gains on the same unreliable tests, vouchers, and charter schools have been oversold as solutions for our educational problems. Ravitch explains why she became persuaded by accumulating evidence that policymakers are on the wrong track in pushing a market model of reform that ignores the realities of the classroom. The more they push these policies, she writes, the more they will harm our nation’s school system and undermine the quality of education. Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. In addition, she is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. Ravitch is the author of more than twenty books, including The Language Police, The Great School Wars, The Troubled Crusade, The American Reader, The English Reader, and Left Back. A native of Houston, she is a graduate of the Houston public schools. She received a B.A. from Wellesley College in 1960 and a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1975.