Saturday Mornings with Joy Keys

Uwem Akpan short stories and autobiographical pieces have appeared in the special editions of The New Yorker, the Oprah magazine,Hekima Review, the Nigerian Guardian, America, etc.

His first book, Say You're One of Them, was published in 2008 by Little, Brown. It made the "Best of the Year" list at People magazine, Wall Street Journal, and other places. The New York Times made it the Editor's Choice, and Entertainment Weekly listed it at # 27 in their Best of the Decade. 

Say You're One of Them won the Commonwealth Prize (Africa Region), the Open Book Prize, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. 

The collection of short stories was the 2009 Oprah Book Club selection. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal #1 bestseller, it has been translated into 12 languages.

His second book and first novel, New York, My Village, was published on November 2, 2021, by WW Norton. In this immigrant story, Uwem writes about NYC with the same promise and pain we saw in his African cities of Say You're One of Them. 

Uwem teaches in the University of Florida’s MFA program

Actress/director/playwright & Golden Globe winner Regina Taylor is best known to

television audiences for her role as Lily Harper in "I'll Fly Away.” She received a Golden

Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series, 3 NAACP Image

Awards and two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama

Series for her role. Her recent guest starring credits include “The Blacklist,”

“Elementary,” and the upcoming CBS drama “Red Line” while other television roles

include “Dig,” “The Unit,” “The Education of Max Bickford," "Feds,” “Strange Justice,”

Masterpiece Theatre’s "Cora Unashamed," "Children of the Dust," "I'll Fly Away: Then

and Now" and "Howard Beach: Making a Case for Murder.”

She most recently recurred in the HBO critically acclaimed series “Lovecraft Country”

and starred in the Netflix feature All Day & A Night opposite Jeffrey Wright and Ashton

Sanders.

In addition to her film and television work, she holds the honor as being the first Black

woman to play William Shakespeare's Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" on Broadway.

Taylor’s critically acclaimed "Crowns" continues to be one of the most performed

musicals in the country and is the winner of four Washington D.C. Helen Hayes awards

including Taylor’s win for Best Direction and Best Regional Musical

Taylor has received honorary doctorates from Columbia College, DePaul University and

Lake Forest College.

Regina can currently be seen on BET Plus in A Jenkins Family Christmas.

Ayana Gray is a New York Times and Indie bestselling author of speculative fiction and a lover of all things monsters, mythos, and #MelaninMagic. Originally from Atlanta, she now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas where she reads avidly, follows Formula One racing, and worries over the varying moods of her adopted baby black rhino, Apollo, and her mini goldendoodle, Dolly. Her debut novel, BEASTS OF PREY, is being adapted for film by Netflix.

Penguin Young Readers is excited to present the most anticipated young adult novel of the year from breakout debut author Ayana Gray. BEASTS OF PREY (G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR; On Sale September 28, 2021) is the thrilling series opener that begins in the way all the best YA novels do: by striking a deal. Two teens agree to work together to track down a dangerous, ancient creature who plagues their city before they themselves become the hunted. Inspired by African mythology, Gray has woven a fast-paced fantasy filled with monsters, mythos, and a slow-burn romance that will leave readers clamoring for more.

Emerging actress LaToya Tonodeo stars in Power Book II: Ghost, the spin-off series to the STARZ original drama Power. LaToya portrays the intelligent and beautiful Diana Tejada, the daughter of Mary J. Blige’s character. Produced by series creator and showrunner Courtney A Kemp and Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, Power Book II: Ghost was renewed for a second season.

LaToya’s previous television credits include recurring roles in the SONY/CRACKLE crime drama The Oath and FREEFORM’s romance drama The Fosters. In 2016, LaToya co-starred in the LIONSGATE film The Perfect Match.

CHIBUNDU ONUZO was born in Lagos, Nigeria and lives in London. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and regular contributor to The Guardian, she is the winner of a Betty Trask Award, has been shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Commonwealth Book Prize, and the RSL Encore Award, and has been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and Etisalat Literature Prize. Her first novel was The Spider King’s Daughter. The author of Welcome to Lagos, Sankofa is her third novel.

Nadine Ellis is an in-demand actress who currently stars in the FOX series, Our Kind of People.  In the soapy and thrilling drama, Nadine plays Leah Franklin-Dupont, a strong, confident, elegant businesswoman who sits at the top of the food chain of the wealthy, long-standing Black elite in Martha’s Vineyard.  The show follows a single mom, Angela Vaughn, who risks it all and moves her family to Martha’s Vineyard with hopes of reclaiming her family’s name by taking her natural hair care line to the next while infiltrating the African American elite in Oak Bluffs.  Leah is wary of Angela and will do anything to protect her family’s reputation and name.   

Prior to Our Kind of People, Nadine was a series regular on BET’s comedy Let’s Stay Together as Dr. Stacy Lawrence and Netflix’s The Greenhouse Academy as Judy Hayword; and recurred on Showtime’s Shameless as Dr. Brenda Williams.  Earlier this year, Nadine starred in the backdoor pilot for the upcoming CW series All American: Homecoming, playing Ms. Sims, the mother of an up-and-coming college baseball player.  

The Queens-native got her start in the entertainment industry as a professional dancer.  Throughout her successful dance career, Nadine performed with Beyoncé at the VMAs; starred in the film Hairspray as the lead of the Supremes-like group, the Dynamites; and was one of the original cat Dolls.

Rémy Ngamije is a Rwandan-born Namibian writer and photographer. He is the founder, chairperson, and artministrator of Doek, an independent arts organization in Namibia supporting the literary arts. He is also the cofounder and editor in chief of Doek! Literary Magazine, Namibia’s first and only literary magazine. His work has appeared in AFREADA, The Johannesburg Review of Books, Brainwavez, American Chordata, Azure, Sultan’s Seal, Columbia Journal, New Contrast, Lolwe, and many other publications. He was shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing in 2020 and 2021. He was also longlisted for the 2020 and 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prizes. In 2019, he was shortlisted for Best Original Fiction by Stack Magazines. More of his writing can be read on his website, RemytheQuill.com.

Sherrill Mosee from Philadelphia, PA was crowned the winning entrepreneur after selling out of her product, the MinkeeBlue Mariah Backpack, and earning the highest dollar sales during the show’s buying window. 

Sherrill received deal offers from Macy’s and QVC & HSN, and then struck a life-changing purchase order deal with Macy’s representative Durand Guion (Vice President, Macy’s Fashion Office), valued at $100,000. You can watch Sherrill pitch her product HERE and strike her deal HERE.

Brittany Cribbs from Philadelphia, PA was crowned the winning entrepreneur after selling more than $25K worth of her product, the Cloud 9 Easy Go Rollable Memory Foam Seat Cushion, earning the highest dollar sales during the show’s buying window. 

Brittany met with the retail panel consisting of Lowe’s, Macy’s and QVC & HSN and ALL retail titans made purchase order offers. Having been inspired by Joy Mangano for years, Brittany chose to go into business with QVC & HSN.  Watch her pitch her product HERE and strike her deal HERE.

Music has always been a passion for Washington, D.C. native, Kevin Ross. He attended a performing arts high school and went on to earn a degree from Berklee College of Music. His career began as a songwriter, getting his first placement with Jamie Foxx, which was followed by Ross writing and producing songs for such artists as Trey Songz, Toni Braxton, & Tank.

In 2017 Kevin released his long-awaited debut full length album, The Awakening. The album’s first single, “Long Song Away” peaked at #1 on Billboard's Adult R&B Song chart and at Urban Contemporary Radio with the follow up single, “Don’t Go”, cracking the Top 15. The chart-topping success of The Awakening led to Ross receiving several award nominations: Best New Artist (Soul Train Awards), Outstanding New Artist (NAACP Image Awards), and New R&B Artist (iHeartRadio Awards).

Ross continues to make a significant mark on the contemporary music scene as he kicked off 2020 debuting at #3 on iTunes R&B Albums chart with Audacity Vol 1. “Thing Called Love,” the EP’s lead single, recently entered the Top 20 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Songs chart and was named the top song at Sirius XM’s Heart and Soul.  Audacity Vol. 2 which released in August made huge leaps with the single “God is a Genius” which gave Ross another #1 at Sirius XM and millions of streams across all DSP’s. Ross has finally released the last chapter in the Audacity series aptly titled, Audacity: Complete. Ross is gearing up to release his new project, “Drive 2.” “Looking for Love” debuted at #28 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay charts week of August 1, 2021. The record has since gone on to peak at #11 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart. On September 20th Ebro featured Ross as ‘Discovered on Apple Music’ artist for “Looking for Love.”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Special Guest: Natasha Coleman, MPH is the Senior Director of Cancer Control Strategic Partnerships for the American Cancer Society, Inc. Northeast Region. Natasha provides strategic direction to a team of cancer control managers who oversee a portfolio of integrated health systems, primary care networks and state health system partnerships.  The team is responsible for the implementation of evidence-based strategies to address the cancer burden and advance cancer control priorities. Natasha joined the American Cancer Society in 2001 and held previous roles as the health educator for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ.  She received her graduate degree from Rutgers University, School of Public Health and her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University in biological sciences.