Allison Keyes
Allison Keyes is an award-winning journalist with almost 20 years of experience in print, radio, and television. She has been reporting for NPR's national desk since October 2005. Her reports can be heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition Sunday.
Keyes coverage includes news and features on a wide variety of topics. "I've done everything from interviewing musician Dave Brubeck to profiling a group of kids in Harlem that are learning responsibility and getting educational opportunities from an Ice Hockey league, to hanging out with a group of black cowboys in Brooklyn who are keeping the tradition alive." Her reports include award-winning coverage of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York, coverage of the changes John Ashcroft sought in the Patriot Act, and the NAACP lawsuit against gun companies.
In 2002 Keyes joined NPR as a reporter and substitute host for The Tavis Smiley Show. She switched to News and Notes when it launched in January 2005. Keyes enjoyed the unique opportunity News & Notes gave her to cover events that affect communities of color on a national level. "Most news outlets only bother to cover crime and the predictable museum opening or occasional community protest," she said. "But people have a right to know what's going on and how it will affect them and their communities."
In addition to working with NPR, Keyes occasionally writes and produces segments for the ABC News shows Good Morning America and World News Tonight.
Keyes is familiar with public radio, having worked intermittently for NPR since 1995. She also spent a little less than a year hosting and covering City Hall and politics for WNYC Radio. Prior to that, she spent several years at WCBS Newsradio 880.
Keyes' eyewitness reports on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York earned her the Newswoman's Club of New York 2002 Front Page Award for Breaking News, and, along with WCBS Newsradio staff, the New York State Associated Press Broadcast Award for Breaking News and Continuing Coverage. Her report on the funeral of Patrick Dorismond earned her the National Association of Black Journalists' 2001 Radio News Award.
In addition to radio, Keyes has worked in cable television and print. She has reported for Black Enterprise Magazine, co-authored two African-American history books as well as the African American Heritage Perpetual Calendar, and has written profiles for various magazines and Internet news outlets in Chicago and New York.
Keyes got her start in radio at NPR member station WBEZ in Chicago, IL, in 1988 as an assistant news director, anchor, and reporter. She graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a degree in English and journalism. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Inc. and the National Association of Black Journalists.
When not on the air, Keyes can be found singing jazz, listening to opera, or hanging out with her very, very large cat.
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Thousands of men turned out for the annual "Real Men Cook for Charity" event last weekend. Allison Keyes has more on amateur and celebrity chefs sharing recipes and wisdom at what has become a summer ritual in several cities across the country — and has even inspired a book, Real Men Cook: Rites, Rituals, and Recipes for Living.
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On Feb. 21, 1965, Malcom X was assassinated at the Audubon ballroom in Harlem. On what would have been his 80th birthday, Allison Keyes reports on a new exhibit on the civil rights leader and the opening of the Malcom X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center on the site of the Audubon.
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In the wake of the media frenzy over the "runaway bride" saga, Allison Keyes reports on the story of Tamika Huston, the African-American woman who's been missing from her home in South Carolina for the past year. Is race an issue in how each case was handled?
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In New York City, designer Rodney Leon and AARRIS Architects have been chosen to build a $3-million permanent memorial on the site of a Colonial-era burial ground for African slaves. But the controversy that has surrounded the project since the gravesite was discovered in 1991 continues.
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With Black Entertainment Television's announcement that it will cancel its nightly news program in favor of a string of hourly news briefs, NPR's Allison Keyes examines concerns about the future of African-American news organizations.
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In New York City, a Muslim woman recently led men and women in prayer for the first time ever, according to organizers. In the days since, response from Islamic leaders at home and abroad has ranged from disapproval to outrage and stirred debate about the role of women in Islam.
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Operation Ceasefire, part of President Bush's safe neighborhoods program, is credited with reducing the murder rate of young African-American men in several cities across the nation. NPR's Allison Keyes reports on one of the latest places to adopt this community-policing program -- Rochester, New York.
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More than 2,500 champion show dogs have descended upon Madison Square Garden for the 129th Westminster Kennel Club's dog show. One of the top African-American handlers in the sport is there, hoping to make history. Allison Keyes reports.
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For nearly a century, civil rights organizations have fought for racial equality in the United States -- but the organizations that once led the fight so vigorously are now wrapped up in struggles of their own. Reporter Allison Keyes wraps up her two-part series on the state of American civil rights organizations with a look at what some are calling the "new" civil rights movement.
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Civil rights organizations can be credited with assisting African Americans with social, political and economic advancements. Now that achievements have been made, what's the current mission of these organizations? Are they outdated, or are they still useful? Reporter Allison Keyes begins her two-part, in-depth look at civil rights organizations.