Allison Keyes

Credit Doby Photography / NPR

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.

Winfrey Gives Millions To New African-American Museum In D.C.

Credit Allison Keyes / NPR

Oprah Winfrey gave $12 million Tuesday to help build the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture, seen here in a scale model (lower center). The facility is expected to open in 2015.

By Allison Keyes

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is giving a multimillion-dollar boost to the Smithsonian's new facility, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). She gave the museum, which is being built in Washington, D.C., $12 million Tuesday, in addition to a previous $1 million donation.

"I am so proud of African-American history and its contributions to our nation as a whole," says Winfrey, chairman and CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Network. "I am deeply appreciative of those who paved the path for me and all who follow in their footsteps."

5:59 pm

Fri May 31, 2013

What A Lawsuit Against The Redskins Could Mean For The Brand

Credit Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has vowed to never change the team's name.

By Allison Keyes

Originally published on Fri May 31, 2013 8:23 pm

Listen

Once again, the long-standing controversy over the name of the Washington Redskins is in the news. In May, 10 members of Congress sent a letter to the team's owner and several others urging a name change.

2:06 pm

Sun May 26, 2013

Wayne Miller, Photographer Who Captured Black Chicago, Dies

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Credit Wayner Miller / Courtesy Of Paul Berlanga

Father and son at Lake Michigan. (1947)

Credit Wayner Miller / Courtesy Of Paul Berlanga

Watching Dunbar vs. Phillips high school football game. (1946)

Credit Wayner Miller / Courtesy Of Paul Berlanga

Father and son at Lake Michigan. (1947)

Credit Wayner Miller / Courtesy Of Paul Berlanga

Mourners at funeral. (1946-48)

Credit Wayner Miller / Courtesy Of Paul Berlanga

University of Chicago anthropologist St. Clair Drake (rear) entertains Bucklin Moon (front), an editor from Houghton-Mifflin publishers. (1946-48)

Credit Joan B. Miller / AP

An undated portrait of Miller, provided by his family

By Allison Keyes

Originally published on Tue May 28, 2013 9:48 am

Pioneering photographer Wayne Miller, who captured some of the first images of the destruction of Hiroshima, died this week at the age of 94. The Chicago native was renowned for a trailblazing series of postwar portraits of black Americans in Chicago and for co-curating the groundbreaking international photo exhibition "The Family of Man."

"I believe a level of intimacy has been lost," says Paul Berlanga, director of Chicago's Stephen Daiter Gallery, which has mounted an exhibition in memory of Miller.

11:01 pm

Thu March 7, 2013

For Berry Gordy, Broadway Is Memory Lane

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Credit Andrew Eccles

Valisia LeKae, Sydney Morton and Ariana Debose play the Supremes in the show.

Credit Joseph Marzullo

Actor Brandon Victor Dixon (left) plays legendary Motown Records founder Berry Gordy in Broadway's upcoming Motown: The Musical. Previews for the show start March 11.

By Allison Keyes

Originally published on Fri March 8, 2013 10:50 am

Listen

There's hardly an adult anywhere in the world who wouldn't recognize at least some of the music of Motown.

The R&B label changed the course of music in the United States and made household names of Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5. Now, the man who created Motown — Berry Gordy — is headed to Broadway to tell his version of how it all began.

2:32 am

Mon February 11, 2013

Woof Out The Red Carpet: Westminster Dogs Take New York

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Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Jerry Grymek, doggie concierge at the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan, hands a treat to Rennet, a 10-week-old French bulldog. Rennet came to the hotel from Pennsylvania ahead of the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Grymek welcomes another French bulldog, Glamour, to Hotel Pennsylvania. The hotel is across from Madison Square Garden, where judging of the main events will be held Tuesday.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Buddy from Dallas, Texas, takes a stroll on a doggie treadmill, one of a number of amenities available to the special guests.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Leslie Simis trims her poodle Sharona's fur at the doggie spa, getting her ready for the big show.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

The needs of Hotel Pennsylvania guests range from baths to opera singers. Grymek, the doggie concierge, says one pooch enjoyed a personal performance before going to the dog show.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Dog handler Sandra Fulton dries off Lizzie, who traveled to New York from Minnesota.

Credit Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City is a favored destination for dogs attending the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and the hotel has a number of perks just for these guests.

By Allison Keyes

Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 1:30 pm

Listen

On Tuesday night, one dog will be named "best in show" at the 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York.

Many of the canines that have flocked to Manhattan are staying at the Hotel Pennsylvania across the street from Madison Square Garden, where judging of the main events in the show is held.

The hotel has special amenities for its four-legged guests.

"Hey, buddy," doggie concierge Jerry Grymek says to a border collie in a crate. "Welcome to the Hotel Pennsylvania."

2:23 pm

Sat January 26, 2013

Newtown Residents Join Gun Control Rally In Washington

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Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR

Newtown, Conn., residents Darren Wagner and Georgia Monaghan traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the gun control rally on Saturday.

Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR

Nicole Braden, 13, from South Orange, N.J. attended the gun control rally with her mom.

Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR

Movita Johnson-Harrell from Philadelphia marched down Constitution Ave. as part of the rally. Movita lost her 18-year-old son, Charles Johnson, to gun violence in 2011.

Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR

After their march, demonstrators gathered to for speeches and performances supporting efforts to ban military-style assault rifles and other gun control measures.

Credit Lizzie Chen / NPR

Newtown residents Darren Wagner and Georgia Monaghan traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the gun control rally on Saturday.

By Allison Keyes

Originally published on Mon January 28, 2013 5:47 am

Residents of Newtown, Conn., where 20 children died in December's school shootings, marched alongside other supporters of gun control at a rally on the National Mall on Saturday.

1:12 pm

Sat December 29, 2012

'Watch Nights,' A New Year's Celebration Of Emancipation

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Credit Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Pocket versions of the Proclamation of Emancipation were distributed through Union troops to be read to slaves.