For Dreamers, Thinkers and Achievers
By 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 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 A man opens his home to strangers with two young children. Volunteers rescue a family stuck in the attic as floodwaters swirl a few feet below. Good Samaritans pluck drivers from flooded cars. These acts of kindness by ordinary people in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey don’t surprise me. During the […]
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 I’ve overheard and engaged in the most interesting conversations at the gym. Before my Zumba class started one day, Tony, a Venezuelan in his early 20s, said he liked my hair. We wear a similar curly hairstyle except his is blond. He asked if he could touch my hair. I let […]
Continue ReadingBy Cheryl Mattox Berry Here we go again. New allegations of sexual abuse have surfaced against R&B crooner R. Kelly. This time, Kelly is accused of holding several young women – all of them legally adults – in a cult-like environment at homes in Atlanta and Chicago. The parents of these young women claim Kelly […]
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