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 °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ and Notes when it launched in January 2005. Keyes enjoyed the unique opportunity °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ & 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 °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ shows Good Morning America and World °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ 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 °µºÚ±¬ÁÏradio 880.
Keyes' eyewitness reports on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York earned her the °µºÚ±¬ÁÏwoman's Club of New York 2002 Front Page Award for Breaking °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ, and, along with WCBS °µºÚ±¬ÁÏradio staff, the New York State Associated Press Broadcast Award for Breaking °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ and Continuing Coverage. Her report on the funeral of Patrick Dorismond earned her the National Association of Black Journalists' 2001 Radio °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ 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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The memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. opens to the public Monday. The scaffolding came off the 30-foot granite statue last week.
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Guest host Allison Keyes and NPR Digital °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ' Corey Dade comb through listener responses, particularly to a recent conversation about kids misbehaving in public. Dade gives an update on the Danziger Bridge case and shares his report about whether political debates are needed in a world of social media.
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Singer-Songwriter Amy Winehouse – as famous for her battles with drugs and alcohol as she was for her stunning voice and her trademark blend of pop, jazz, r&b and soul – was found dead Saturday in London. She was 27.
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To help union troops scout during the Civil War, President Lincoln signed off on a plan to create a volunteer balloon brigade. A commemoration at the National Mall honored the event on Saturday, complete with a gas-filled balloon and period dress. Allison Keyes reports.
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Wearing black from head to toe, the Republicans' 2008 vice presidential nominee stopped at a thousands-strong motorcycle ride from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Palin, who is considering a White House run, was joined by her family. -
Legendary jazz/soul musician Gil Scott-Heron died Friday in New York City at age 62. The troubled genius inspired a generation of rappers and other musicians with his song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
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Horse racing is estimated to contribute some $10.6 billion to the U.S. economy each year. But in Maryland, which hosts the Preakness, there are concerns that the industry can't survive — it's been losing millions of dollars a year. -
Gritty streets, cops and human drama dominated many of the films of director Sidney Lumet. Network, 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and The Verdict are all instantly recognizable and socially relevant to their time. Lumet died Saturday at 86.
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The Freedom Riders challenged segregation on buses and in waiting rooms throughout the South. Some of those riders are using their experiences to motivate students today — to show them that the actions of one person can make a difference. -
Foul play is suspected in the case of a North Carolina teen who disappeared while visiting family in Baltimore in December. Police there say they have no physical evidence to help them find Phylicia Simone Barnes, now 17, and that their best bet is to keep her — and all other missing persons — in the national media.
