For Dreamers, Thinkers and Achievers
By Cheryl Mattox Berry As the number of sexual assault cases rises on college campuses, it’s incumbent upon us to make sure young women don’t put themselves in a position to be victimized. There are public awareness campaigns about the perils of drinking and doing drugs, but sometimes the target audience overlooks the unwanted sex […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry To people fighting injustice and oppression in the United States and around the world, I heard the perfect song to serve as your anthem when I visited Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. The song is “Make Them Hear You.” It’s from the Broadway musical “Ragtime,” which tells the story of […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry I feel sorry for people who say they don’t need friends. I can’t imagine my life without them. Friends make life more fun, interesting and bearable. The importance of friendship was driven home recently with two poignant stories in the media. In one story, an elderly woman wrote a letter to […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry I was one of the lucky ones. I snared a one-way plane ticket out of Hurricane Irma’s path and headed to my mama’s house in Memphis. After 25 years in Miami, I couldn’t live through another hurricane. Hurricane Andrew was bad enough in 1992. I remember huddling in bed with my […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry Still. That’s what I become when the world turns chaotic and ugly. I withdraw from the voices that spew hate, intolerance and lies. I find solace in music, inspirational books and Bible verses. I make a point of smiling and being nicer to people. The driver who is honking behind me, […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry My daughter’s godmother, Rosalind, experienced the most frantic 48 hours of her life when her only living sibling, Dianne, fell ill in another city. She was unable to provide medical information to aid doctors treating Dianne. At first, doctors thought Dianne, a contract instructor at a professional school, had suffered a […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry My mother, Josephine, has always been an enigma. That is, until about ten years ago when she started divulging family secrets and telling anecdotes about growing up in rural Mississippi and the men in her life. Until then, this is what I knew about Mom: She was a dedicated nurse, disciplinarian […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry If we could get rid of bad stuff in our lives as easy as the folks in the TV commercial for the letgo app, life would be a lot easier. Unfortunately, we have to work hard at removing obstacles that keep us from being our best selves, but It can be […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry You never know what kind of day it will be, who you’ll run into or what you might stumble upon. Everyone has a story or opinion to share if given an opportunity. Here are my latest encounters. Training Ground Six long-legged brown girls, who looked to be in middle school, were […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry I’m always at a loss for words when a stranger approaches me in a department store and asks my opinion about something she’s thinking about buying – usually clothes. It happened again the other day in the dress department of Macy’s. A woman holding a navy cocktail dress wanted to know […]
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