Media Veteran Dyana Williams was a guest on Gary Johnson’s “Calculations Talk Show,” to discuss her role in the upcoming street renaming of a street for music icon Frankie Beverly. 

The event will take place on Saturday, May 18th, at 12 noon, in the East Germantown area of Philadelphia on North Norwood Street, between Church Lane and West Godfrey – the neighborhood where Frankie Beverly was raised.

Frankie Beverly will retire later this year after more than 50 years of creating and performing his classic hits.

More About Dyana Williams

Dyana Williams has been in the radio industry as an on-air personality and programmer for over 50 years.  She is one of the leading voices in Black music culture with numerous awards, among them, #7 on the “Top 20 Black Radio Jockeys of All Time” by News One, and RadioFacts.com recognized her as #8 on the “Top 30 Black Women in Media.”

In the 1990s, Williams founded the International Association of African American Music (IAAAM) to help educate, promote, celebrate, and preserve black music forms through discussion, performance, and other events. Williams was integral to establishing June as Black Music Month in the United States, having co-written House Concurrent Bill 509, which recognized African American music as an American cultural institution, thus earning the title “The Mother of Black Music Month.”

Since 2008, Ms. Williams has served as an expert commentator on TV One’s award-winning music documentary series Unsung, including episodes on the Supremes, Minnie Riperton, Jean Carne, Will Downing, and many others. Closely associated with The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP) and such Philadelphia artists as Patti LaBelle, Billy Paul, Jean Carne, and Teddy Pendergrass, Williams produced the PBS special The Philadelphia Music Makers in 1990.

In the 1990s, Williams founded the International Association of African American Music (IAAAM) to help educate, promote, celebrate, and preserve black music forms through discussion, performance, and other events. Williams was integral to establishing June as Black Music Month in the United States, having co-written House Concurrent Bill 509, which recognized African American music as an American cultural institution, thus earning the title “The Mother of Black Music Month.”

As CEO of Influence Entertainment, one of the leading media and entertainment consulting companies in the U.S., Williams provides essential media education and coaching to top-charting recording artists, actors, performers, business executives, athletes, and celebrities from a variety of industries. Her extensive client roster has included Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Fantasia, ASAP Rocky, Spotify, Tidal, Motown, UNCF, The City of Philadelphia and more.

In 2023, Williams, Kenny Gamble and Ed Wright were recognized by the Philadelphia City Council and Councilwoman Katherine Gilmore Richardson for their work as co-founders of June as Black Music Month.

Williams is a founding board member of the dynamic new National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, where she co-chairs the museum’s Music Industry Relations Collective. A past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Recording Academy (the GRAMMYs), she is also a proud member of SAG-AFTRA. She currently sits on the board of her alma mater, Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication, where she graduated cum laude.

From producing live cultural events to serving as an on-camera commentator for various media, from promoting African American music as an advocate via board service to appearing nationwide as a popular public speaker, Dyana Williams is committed to promoting the culture of American indigenous music at all levels of society.