For Dreamers, Thinkers and Achievers
By Cheryl Mattox Berry This Mother’s Day my daughter, Jasmine, flipped the script and surprised me by saying how proud she was of me for fulfilling my dream – writing “Memphis Blues,” my first novel. For the last 27 years, I’ve been her biggest cheerleader for everything she’s done – from her championship tennis days […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry SMH at the stupid conversations people allow themselves be sucked into every day. I spend quite a bit of time on the internet, researching ideas and topics. It amazes me that so many people believe everything they read. Their comments are hilarious, sad, unbelievable and downright ignorant. Some people have lost […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry Throughout March, which is Women’s History Month, I’ve been struggling with how to tell black women that they need to join the #MeToo movement to protest violence against black girls and women. I was tired of preaching and couldn’t think of a fresh way to deliver the message. My answer came Saturday […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry I dedicate this post to grade school and college students across the USA – especially those threatened with disciplinary action by insensitive school officials – who participated in a walkout today to demand tougher gun laws. It gives me goosebumps to hear them dismiss tweets by lawmakers who claim they empathize […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry Sometimes, I wish I could just yank off my hair and go bald like the female warrior Okoye in “Black Panther,” who snatched off her wig and used it as a weapon. I don’t want to attack anyone. I just want to be free of hair in my eyes or on my […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry Now That’s a Smart Mom I’d like to commend the Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., mother who turned in her 14-year-old son after his photo was aired on TV as a suspect in the carjacking of an elderly woman. It shows that mother had confidence that the police wouldn’t harm her son. I’m […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry The controversy over clothing giant H&M using a black child wearing a hoodie with the words “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” reminded me of an encounter I had with an opthamologist in the 1990s. When I took my 7-year-old daughter to see the eye doctor, he walked into the exam room […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry Sexual predators, like disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein, aren’t just in Hollywood. They have lived among us for years – in all professions. Problem is, few women have called them out because they fear retaliation, career suicide, isolation or being shamed by co-workers. My 82-year-old mother was one of the silent […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. When a woman wants something badly enough, she’ll figure out a way to get it. She’ll plot, negotiate and sacrifice until victory is hers. Ladies, it’s time we took up the mantle of leadership for tougher gun laws. We can’t sit around […]
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 […]
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